MK3 Printarea lighting (free CAD files!)
Ey Guys! I'm working on something (it's actually pretty much done) that may be of use to you guys as well. I film
quite a lot of my prints and since I have my new lens the image is quite underexposed. So what does this mean?
Well There isn't enough light around the printer and illuminating the printarea (especially underneath the extruder)
The solution is a set of two COB LED panels that are on either side of the printer illuminating the print area from the
front. I allready finished the design, made the prototype and made the final versions. I plan to upload a video about
this build to youtube in a few days and when it's published I will also share the cad files and some instructions.
A sidenote: The parts are designed to be easily printed without support materials and to be installed on the printer
without a (partial) disassembly of the printer.
As of now that means the following files:
.sldprt (part)
.sldasm (assembly)
.slddrw (drawings)
.pdf (assembly instructions manual)
.pdf (3D pdf with solidworks MBD drawings)
.stl
.igs
.step214
Lateron I also want to make additional modules for a gopro and a timelapse slider (based on the same lower frame)
So on to a couple previews:
Render of the lights on the printer
Render of one of the lights seperate
One of the manual/buildinstruction drawings
A second picture of the buildinstruction drawings
The parts
And finally a testfit on the printer
So let me know what you think!
And if there are things you would like to be included in the manual, available files etc. let me know
Re: MK3 Printarea lighting
I forgot to mention: The files will be free of charge! (Creative Commons will apply though, so no manufacturing and selling without my concent)
Re: MK3 Printarea lighting (free CAD files!)
Lighting from the side helps eliminate shadows you get if lighting from above. It looks like a very nice solution!
Re: MK3 Printarea lighting (free CAD files!)
Looks very good and useful. Do you have a link to the lights that you’re using? How are you powering them? See no cables and no batteries....wireless electricity!?!? :ugeek:
Re: MK3 Printarea lighting (free CAD files!)
Thanks! I will include all the information with the cad files.
To answer your questions:
- 10W COB LED panels (12V) and they will be powered by a seperate powersupply. I initially wanted to power them directly from the printer but I read in several topics that it's best not to put an extra load on the PSU that is allready stressed enough ( especially during preheat)
- If you are referring to the first two pictures, those are not photo's but renders. Thats why there aren't any wires or batteries, they are powered by my GPU 😀
Re: MK3 Printarea lighting (free CAD files!)
haha. That is what happens when I read from my small iphone screen. Thanks for the extra info. Looking forward to the rest of the info.
Re: MK3 Printarea lighting (free CAD files!)
What sort of material do you recommend for printing? I've printed housings for smaller 48 LED panels and while they don't get too hot at that size, I've had issues with PLA. PETG did better, but still warped a bit with prolonged exposure. I've gone to Colorfabb XT and those are holding up well. Not sure how they'd fare with larger panels though.
Re: MK3 Printarea lighting (free CAD files!)
Lighting from the side helps eliminate shadows you get if lighting from above. It looks like a very nice solution!
Obviously the reverse is true as well. So, do you intend to have mk2 with lighting from above as well?
Looks good btw.
Re: MK3 Printarea lighting (free CAD files!)
I think he's just referring to a more common method of lighting the printer, by lights placed above it.
Thanks!
Re: MK3 Printarea lighting (free CAD files!)
it may be a bit premature but; if you guys have suggestions for the lights let me know! It may be that there are small things I overlooked and are easy to adjust at this stage.
As I said in the opening post, I plan to make a couple extra add-ons that mount to the lower frame, for example a simple go-pro mount or a timelapse slider for a gopro
This is how the lights are mounted to the printer frame:
I think I will replace the stock PSU with a more powerfull one. I have a couple on the shelf and I'm pretty sure now that I will use the one in the middle (24V 480W Meanwell)
Oh a sneak preview on the shelf below, linear rods and ballscrews for a future mod I have in mind.
Re: MK3 Printarea lighting (free CAD files!)
Looking good, simple and stable.
Re: MK3 Printarea lighting (free CAD files!)
Nice! Very professional looking setup.
Me, I have this:
...And soon one cheap fluorescent tube over the printer, hanging from the metal shelves, once I design and print the parts needed to hang the lamp there.
Re: MK3 Printarea lighting (free CAD files!)
Good idea, simple and effective! Unfortunately my camera setup is a bit more demanding when it comes to light. Especially when I use the macro lens, to get a somewhat usable depth of field I need to close the aperture to around f/16. I prefer not to up the ISO so I have to compensate with a lot more light.
Re: MK3 Printarea lighting (free CAD files!)
Apologies for the delay. I intended to finish the video and publish the files 2 weeks ago but had some things I wanted to figure out before that.
So what has happend in the last few weeks?
- I assembled two lights
- I Installed them on the printer
- I decided against the replacement of the stock PSU and bought a ledpsu
Noticed that the leds became too hot and ordered a couple of leddimmers that will be installed between the leds and psu. These dimmers are expected to arrive tomorrow or the day after.
And to finish today's update, a couple of pictures of the working lights without the dimmers and an example of the image quality without these leds (I did add lights in front of the printer but it wasn't enough) :
Lights:
Test recording without these leds:
Re: MK3 Printarea lighting (free CAD files!)
Lot of light... how powerful are those?
Re: MK3 Printarea lighting (free CAD files!)
According to the ad on ebay 1000lm each
Re: MK3 Printarea lighting (free CAD files!)
It took a while, but its finished! Link to the files is included in the video description.
Re: MK3 Printarea lighting (free CAD files!)
Allright! It sure was a bit of work but I added the manual to the project files.
Somewhere the next few weeks (when I have some spare time) I will add a version for the I3 MK2 and the CR10 3D printers.
Re: MK3 Printarea lighting (free CAD files!)
Very nice project, clever construction details and a great workshop you got there! 😯
Re: MK3 Printarea lighting (free CAD files!)
You sir, have a very clean workshop 🙂