Printer suspension, any data?
Hi,
there are two mechanical extremes for the suspension (think "car") of a printer:
- Enforce zero movement: Place on a solid stone floor, maximum force / torque at the contacts but the movement vector is ideally zero
- Enforce zero force / torque: Place on Hula feet with thrust bearings or suspend between bungee cables (as an extreme thought experiment) or shoot into a low-earth orbit (hope your WLAN is good...) The boundary conditions don't allow force or torque, the printer can move freely.
Reality is of course somewhere in-between, and probably more complicated. E.g. the source of vibrations - the XY gantry - is actually quite far away in "Z" from the feet.
Is there already some consensus as to what works best? Of course, tuning needs to be re-run on the actual suspension, or results are meaningless.
RE: Printer suspension, any data?
Hi,
there are two mechanical extremes for the suspension (think "car") of a printer:
- Enforce zero movement: Place on a solid stone floor, maximum force / torque at the contacts but the movement vector is ideally zero
- Enforce zero force / torque: Place on Hula feet with thrust bearings or suspend between bungee cables (as an extreme thought experiment) or shoot into a low-earth orbit (hope your WLAN is good...) The boundary conditions don't allow force or torque, the printer can move freely.
Reality is of course somewhere in-between, and probably more complicated. E.g. the source of vibrations - the XY gantry - is actually quite far away in "Z" from the feet.
Is there already some consensus as to what works best? Of course, tuning needs to be re-run on the actual suspension, or results are meaningless.
I have both Hula feet and a very rigid tabletop. Subjectively it seems better. I have been planning to do a before/after comparison at some point.
RE: Printer suspension, any data?
I have both Hula feet and a very rigid tabletop. Subjectively it seems better. I have been planning to do a before/after comparison at some point.
@hyiger I think I need a clarification from you (not sarcastic meant, I am really trying to understand): I have a rather sturdy table and the core1 with standard feet seems completely swing-free (still has VFAs though).
So stable high-mass table, high friction rubber feet making a decently solid structure of table and printer, printhead movement will not make the whole print wobble.
How adding HULA feet would make this better? Since the reason for these kind of bases is to decouple the printer from the table, wouldn't the printer swing more freely thus negating the table mass advantage? TIA
RE: Printer suspension, any data?
How adding HULA feet would make this better? Since the reason for these kind of bases is to decouple the printer from the table, wouldn't the printer swing more freely thus negating the table mass advantage? TIA
I suppose the only real advantage in my case is the table itself vibrates less. It's a 40kg table with a 40mm maple top but it's sitting on a carpeted floor. I did a glossy black PETG print last night and it does nothing for VFA's.