May 20, 2015 | By Alec
Experienced 3D printers will doubtlessly know of the excellent SpiderBot Delta 3D Printer, as the various models from this small French company have enjoyed quite a bit of success amongst all of the different groups that together make up the 3D printing community. Home users, scientists and start-ups can all be found among the customers of SpiderBot, which is the brainchild of inventors’ couple Philippe and Myriam Boichut. While their latest innovations were released less than a year ago, there are now already back for more with the SpiderBot v2.1 dual extrusion head 3D printer.
The basic modular SpiderBot frame.
Now if you happen to own a SpiderBot yourself, you might have been one of the many convinced by the French 3D printer’s excellent extrusion system called TSS. For while most printers include an extruder with six attachment points, their SpiderBot Delta only has three attachment points. This Three Sphere System relies on a combination of magnets and not only looks great, but also ensures that the printhead is always perfectly aligned and cannot wiggle around or tilt. Not only does this improve movement, the magnets also ensure that maintenance is easy.
Of course Philippe and Myriam haven’t messed with this excellent basic principle behind their 3D printer, but they have incorporated a patent-pending tilting mechanism to allow this dual-headed 3D printer to maximize its extrusion options and 3D print more complex parts than ever before. The couple argues that this maximizes what you can do with a regular desktop 3D printer. ‘The existing limitations are only due to the FFF technology itself,’ they state.
The tilting printheads.
However they have also incorporated a number of other options to further improve the 3D printed results themselves, including improved ventilation and air flow inside the SpiderBot’s enclosure. ‘We completely took over the analysis of air flow inside the enclosure and we made several simulations. The idea was to create a hot air flow in the enclosure which allows to keep the temperature of the part, but also allows to avoid having an area which would be too warm due to large masses of material (eg. thick horizontal HIPS surfaces of support underpinning the printed part),’ they write.
This airflow has been realized by attaching the main fan with a Rubber Rivet Fan Mount and adding two further adjustments. The first is a slight inclination of the main fan, which essentially creates two separate air flows inside the enclosure (as you can in the image below). To ensure that these are optimally applied to the 3D printed parts, conical air flow deflectors have been added to the printbed region. What’s more, these air flow deflectors also thermally insulate the 3D printer’s electronics to avoid them from suffering from the increased heat.
What does this do? It ensures that 3D printed part receives more hot air than ever before, tremendously reducing the likelihood of part distortion (the infamous warping). Your 3D printed creations are thus more likely to be successful, which – they argue – will make filament far more cost effective. As the machine is otherwise similar in build to the previous SpiderBot 3D printers, it is also possible to purchase and install the airflow optimizing system separately on an earlier SpiderBot 3D printer model. For why replace a machine that works great?
Together, these additions ensure that the latest version of the SpiderBot 3D printer looks great. The 3D printer’s full specifications can be seen below, and you can find more information on ordering this excellent 3D printer here. For more help with creating optimal 3D printing results, Philippe has also written up a small article on common design flaws that quickly ruin your prints and waste your time.
Full specifications of the SpiderBot v2.1 3D Printer:
- Layer Height: 0.15 to 0.45mm
- Resolution: Z: 0.0056 mm (<6µm); XY: 0.011 mm (XY is variable due to the Delta Technology, 11µm in the center and better (smaller) on the outside)
- Printing Area: Single Extruder - 180 mm diameter x 200 mm (7" diameter x 7.8") high; Dual Extruder - 157 mm diameter x 200 mm (6.2" diameter x 7.8") high.
- Heated Build Platform: Temperatures up to 120°C; Easily removeable build plate; Semi Automatic Bed leveling.
- Nozzle Diameter: 0.3 to 0.8 mm;
Max Temperature: 260°C (High Temperature Option 360)
- Print Capabality: PLA, ABS, HIPS, using 1.75mm filament, 1 kg spool (Dia 160mm x 90mm)
Posted in 3D Printers
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I have found a very interesting interview about the founder of this french 3d printer : http://www.priximprimante3d.com/qualup/
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