My biggest 3D printer yet! Analyzing the CerbrisReborn design 

I've loved this video. Firstly, because you explained how you planned all. Secondly, because you explained the problems you ran into and how you solved them. Thirdly, because you explained how to improve your model. I'm looking forward to more videos like this one. They do not necesarilly need to talk about big projects like this one, but it's always interesting to find out about other's projects to gain experience.

Glad I'm not the only one who was crazy enough to try and scale a delta printer. I had a similar problem with my 1M tall Kossel I built. A couple of my notes on it: Tensioned wires, forming triangles helped a lot but didn't remove the wobble, your system is the simplest solution, and is the solution I've moved towards. The magnetic couples work, but if they hit the print, the entire system falls apart (even doing the bed leveling caused problems at time, especially when I switched to a force sensitive resistor). My arms are carbon fiber rods (from arrows), and they do a great job.

I've been running a delta now for quite some time, and you hit every one of the issues I've had while learning. Some notes on the effector, carriages and rod ends. If you have any play in these items, it shows in your prints directly, and also makes terrible noise with stepper vibration. Definitely go with the IGUS rod ends to minimize slop. Also you mentioned that you were working on strain relief for the effector and bowden tube. The best location to feed filament is half way up the printer frame with the feed going up and gently looping back down. This will allow for the most travel on tall prints with the least change in stress on the effector end of the tube. The bowden tube drags internally in tight bends or impinges on other components during tall prints when mounted anywhere else. If you have any play in the carriages, rod ends or effector, this stress again translates into imprecise prints as the head is bias irregularly by the tension in the tube. Maybe not as important if all possible rod end slop is eliminated. Thanks for the great series. I've learned quite a bit from your videos. Keep up the excellent work.

Thomas, I take my hat off to you for the very high content and production quality effort you put into your channel. Definitely stands out as a golden exemplar to other makers of such vids. More strength to your arm, I say! Excellent work.

Many people use springs to compress each two arms together help get rid of those play in ball end and I find that it work very well, effector move more quiet and there is less backlash now. Even simple rubber bands do the job, should be good temporary solution until you upgrade to better ball ends.

I've just started interning at a place with a 6ft delta printer (designed & assembled in-house), it's awesome. They put the electronics on the top of the printer though, for easier access (for tall people anyway).

to take the slack out of the ball joints, a small spring will hold the eyelet on one side of the ball. this is done in radio control to make suspension more consistent

A few ideas from a fan of deltas. You should look at Tricklaser's Trick Trucks for your carriages. They are similar to yours but are all aluminum. They do ride in the channels in the extrusion and not the corners, which I think is a better way to go because the corners are prone to getting scratches and nicks that damage the wheels. The channels are more protected. Tricklaser also makes carbon fiber arms with Traxxas ball joints, and is apparently tooling molds for ball joint cups compatible with the ball ends from SeeMeCNC. 713Maker offers some really gorgeous milled hardware for mounting the hot ends. As far as electronics go, it seems that the general consensus is that the Duet/Paneldue combo is the preferred controller for Deltas. A lot of people are excited because the latest version of the Duet has WiFi and removes Wired Ethernet. I'd be looking at upgrading myself, but having only WiFi and no RJ45 is a deal breaker for me in my shop. But it's worth a look, as it is quite an advanced controller. The specs are quite a bit more than the impressive smoothieboard.

You can get PTFE lined 0 lash ball joints too, the PTFE is used to seal, self-lubricate primarily, but as a side effect: No lash :) For PSU: Check out server power supplies, you can pick up a 800-1000W 12V only (yea 67-83A supplies!) for just 15-25$ :) These are usually platinum rated too, so excellent efficiency. Nice work on designing your own printer! I've been in process to do something similar, but maybe my goals has been ... Slightly too extreme

I also used those small tact switches as endstops. They work great!

I was quite surprised at its size when you brought it up front! great video btw

I like your videos. You are discussing a nice collection of typical 3D printer topics in a very open minded way. Your arguments are usually very well thought. Like Scott Langevin I am in 3D printing for several years now, but always used a delta printer. I started with a Rostock kit but switched to a rigid 3030 vertical extrusion and 3060 for horizontal bars while still using rods and linear bearings. Instead of the usual geometry I used my own which avoids plastic connections and works much better. Especially I don't need these aluminium sheets to make it stiff. Because of this I usually don't need to calibrate the printer (well, now and then I have to calibrate, because some screws like to get loose). I have 12 mm rods with two LM12UU each. I found 8 mm or 10 mm rods to be too flexible. The 12 mm rods don't bend any more, but I have a remaining problem with the play of the two LM12UU for each carriage. The vertical positions of the two joints (magnetic in my case) on each carriage have a play of several 1/10 mm because of that. I could use the longer LM12LUU or better add a third LM12UU to reduce the effect of the play or use something like IGUS bushings instead. But to solve this more generally, I would like to use a wheel based design similar to yours. Do you think, the wear of the wheels is a big problem? In the video you are blaming the plastic springing for the poor stiffness of the slides. But I notice the extrusion rotating just as much as the carriage. So I think the very long 2020 extrusions are twisting over the length. Can you confirm this? The carriages could be improved by using some screws to adjust the tension applied to the wheels. There are several designs out there. Btw., the play of the ball joints could be reduced by adding some kind of springs between each pair of delta arms. My printer has magnetic joints, which are very convenient. The hotend platform is easily removable and in case of an emergency the joints prevent damage by getting loose. I use two of the usual ring magnets at each joint, which increases holding force and allows to insert some foil between ball and magnet, so they don't wear out. I found that mainly the length of the arms is determining the geometry, so you can simply add a second magnet by using it's magnetic force to hold it in place. The switching power supply without a case is very very dangerous, they use high voltages inside (not only the 220V you mention). I would definitely use an unmodified unit instead to not risk anyones life, especially because you can easily reach inside through the slot between the two extrusions near the power supply.

Yes, please continue to produce design breakdowns.

About covering the corners : maybe use acrylic and form a small piece of it in a half circle form? So that its formed like a tube cut in half

I really appreciated the open honest descriptions of what worked and why. I have not done coding in over 20 years. (Basic, Fortran, Pascal) It has taken me over a year to get back into "geek shape" to wrap my head around the whole 3d printing scope of things. My Delta is 4 feet tall (600mm) and originally a kit from China. I have replaced almost all of it and as of 2 days ago i am ready to write my own version of a Delta firmware for Marlin. Your video was one of the best i have seen regarding Delta do's and dont's. Unfortunately i was nodding my head while watching because i had already had most of the same problems, lol. On a different note i had an idea for creating a hexagonal grid surface for a Delta print base. Using 2 values for x, y, and z. (ie. x1-x2, y1-y2, z1-z2) I know that would require a slicer to accept but was wondering what you thought of the concept. Where as x, y, and z are linear up down left and right. The additional values would add x2, y2, and z2 as up-left, down-right, and so on. Values for 45 degree angles on a linear layer. Is this something that is feasible? Is somebody already working on something better? Am i thinking too much when i use the John? Any input is appreciated. Thanks and good job on the video.

Yes, please do a video about the Mendel90 as well! This was pretty good! ^^ I loved that Cat5 idea, I'm definitely gonna do something like that for my next printer.

Would love to hear more about picking the right power supply, why you don't think ATX is good choice, and what to use instead.

You can use 2/3 of a large PVC tube to enclose the rails. 3D print a few clips to screw them to the aliminum plates and you should be good. You can also make it into a fully enclosed build chamber.

I would love to see a video like this on the mendel 90

recommended strain relief solution: one of those industrial janitor key return . i built a 5ft/1.5M tall Delta(named takai-san), and that solution works perfectly for me.

an over kill delta. this is awesome tom. I would love borrow the Design files and get working on my own branch off your delta. I'm thinking a floating drive gear so I'm not pushing through a long bowden tube.

great video . for covering the corners , you could split some acrylic( if you like clear ) or PVC tubing . the parts would hold their own shape well and need minimal mounting , probably just few M3 screws. you might fie some with the same wall thickness as that sheeting you have . would end up with nice rounded corners with a flush transition to flat sides.

"Interested in files for the rest of the design? Let me know in the comments!" Yes Please! Especially the effector and carriages.

Thanks alot for giving insight into your delta printer build. Once you mentioned the electronics of the printer it came to my mind that the last video of yours regarding controller boards is relatively old. I am in the planning and designing process of an cartesian style 3d printer and am relatively unsure regarding the choise of electronics (specifically stepper drivers and controller board) although your older videos helped me a bunch I don't know if there aren't newer versions or totally new boards on the market that would suit me better. To be a bit specific the printer should use big NEMA 17 (maybe NEMA 23) motors with up to 2.2 amps (for the NEMA 23). I am concerned about the noise level of the steppers so i also consider(-ed) servo motors but there's barely any information regarding compatible controller boards, compatibility with Marlin and so on. I have some really crazy ideas for my machine which results in the need of a ton of motors (i think 3 or 4+, excluding the axis' and extruder) and a lot of heaters / sensors. So far the only board i could imagine capable for my printer would be the panucatt azteeg x3 pro.

Great work & report Tom, I am designing my own Delta printer & implementing your input, specially the reinforcement issue I am using a 25mm Al. sq. profile & be using Linear Rail Sliders, which will stiffen the structure, I also designing corners gussets. Probably be using magnetic ball rods, but I did not get to the effector design , I will be designing one for dual head. Thanks for the great presentation & looking forward to see more like this one.

it'd be pretty cool if you considered reviewing or analyzing the wilson II reprap printer design

I am upgrading a cheap delta and this video is amazing! I am totally interested in the design for the carriage. Which means that I would be interested in the rest of the files as the extrusion has been turned. I have just bought the v-slot wheels and have re-designed the carriage to allow for the difference in size. I will be going to my local fab lab to print out the new carriages tomorrow. It is a bit of a bummer that the standard 2020 extrusion is going to wear out the v-slot wheels, but it is going to be better than the horrendous wobble I can see in the carriage as it goes up and down currently. Thanks for this incredibly informative video. Would love to see how you setup auto calibration/leveling.

So 7 years later, do u still have it? I want to see it print. 😍

thanks tom, this is a great video as always. i am building a delta printer at the moment and am looking at various design approaches for different parts. if you have time and interest, a follow up video on different component options and why you chose one over another would be really REALLY interesting and useful for me. a bit like your new cheapest possible prusia i3 series only focusing on price/performance of different component solutions, specifically for a delta where control boards, part weight and tolerances can have an even more dramatic impact on resulting print speeds and quality than in other printer formats.

Hi Thomas, I am looking at building a delta printer, and would be interested in the design files for the CerbrisReborn. It's a bit big for me as-is, so I would use it as a source of inspiration rather than building a straight replica. As for connectors: On my current printer I use the standard XT60 LiPo battery connectors for the hotend and heated bed. They are cheap, safe and can handle very high currents. For low-power connections, once my current supply of Dupont headers and connectors runs out I will probably switch to the Molex Microfit 3.0 system. We use these at my job for industrial products, and they are great. They are a bit more expensive than the Duponts, but still pretty cheap.

This is great! I'm interested in seeing more of these videos and maybe an in depth tutorial on how you would design a 3D printer using accurate and reliable parts for maybe under $1000. Just an idea :) keep up the good work man. I love your channel.

Hi Tom thanks for yourhelp

I'm building HoverPrint next. Hycrid between a Drone and a 3D printer. Battery powered, it'll save on floor space and be an entertaining Talking Point when guests come round. Serious Q tho, why didn't you mount the Bowden halfway up the frame so it only needs HALF the length/weight of wires/tubing to reach the upper & lower reaches of the build plate's movement? That's a lot of wiring getting in the way which is surely prone to flexing electrical wires (inc Hotend Thermisor) at their junctions and will stress-break them, as well as x2 as much bulk for the stepper motors to shift. I'd use a Midway mount with a loop through which all excess wiring is naturally pulled OUTSIDE the build area rather than raised and lowered inside it. Polite Comments welcome : )

Great looking printer! Its sad that the ball ends have such limited range of motion, there is a lot of height that could be better utilized. I like the way the wheels run on the extrusions, I haven't seen that setup before.

So dope. That's finally tall enough to print the high heel boots I wanna make. Lol. Love your channel

If you orient the ball ends vertically (rotated 90deg from how you have them) you can get MUCH more range of motion.

Duet is much nicer than Smoothieboard for a Delta, or anything really.

I want to see it run!

Thanks for the overview, very interesting. I would defiantly like to see a similar breakdown of your Mendel90. I'm working on a printer design and the feedback on what worked and what didn't is really interesting to me.

Great video, you have much to offer. I am getting my first 3d this week an your vids have been a real find and made my final decision better informed. At 60 this will fit my need for building, creating and analytical repair as a hobby. Enough about this old fart! (Me) I would like to offer a suggestion for making your metre tall delta printer frame as solid as a brick for not much more than the cost of the 6 aluminum braces you are using now. I am real, could be mistaken but will share my simple solution if you are interested. Thanks again for all your help & experience.

Hi Thomas, it would be great if you could make a Marlin configuration video tutorial for a Delta setup.

You didn't show or talk about any of it's prints!

can you make a detailed video on SLA type machines and their differences? there are very limited videos on the net.

Big thumbs up and thank you for this excellent video. I was about to ask you about that delta standing behind you since I first saw it. Please keep the delta related videos coming. Perhaps you can suggest some existing premade or kits of this kind.

You could have used 20*20th square aluminium extrusions. They are used for building bird houses and are insanely cheap. You could pull the wiring through them for a clean result. Expect to pay about 1,5 euro per meter.

wow, most impressing. So you mentioned it was affordable, how much would you estimate the total cost to make a similiar quality printer and do we get a video with your thoughts on delta vs cartesian now that you've clearly got your hands dirty with both of these kinds of printers? Great video as always tom!

I would really like to see this in action!

Lovely post/video. As always!

I really like it. Unboxing of allready built printers is to easy. Back to the (reprap) roots ;)

Interesting.... I'm kinda... skeptical towards Delta printers, but to each his own.. A thought on shoring up the printer and reducing play, just drop two 3 mm steel cable from the top of the printer down to floor 30-60 degrees at the top and opposite to one another. Then just keep it under tension while printing. That will stop it from wobbling but it might put added stress on the back aluminum strut. It's kind of like pitching a tent at that point.

would have loved to see a print from it

Hi Thomas! Another great video! Can you please explain how you figured out the dimensions of the delta printer? Like for any specified volume printer (say i want to build a 250*250*250 build volume) how do you calculate the lengths of the effector arms, height of the delta towers, the spacing of the towers and all the other measurements? I have been having a lot of trouble figuring that out!

It's been a year, would you do anything different now and what would it be??

I would love a video on your 90

Really enjoyed the breakdown! Do you run the hot end heater through the cat5? I'd imagine the current is too high though I suppose you could double up pairs like the UP's do on their ribbon cables.

Excellent video!

Really cool.

I love the Cat 5 tip! My weakness is wiring.

I run a mini kossel, what made you not decide on Traxxas rod ends? They have no play and they are self lubricated, you can also have no backlash with a tension spring or rubber band in-between rod pairs. plus greater rod movement.

Thomas, great video! I like the DIY spirit (I am building a CoreXY printer myself). I have a question for you: What do you print on all these machines? Do you print models for other people or for your projects? Could you make a video about that?

Loved the breakdown mate. Good job.

Where did you get the aluminum build plate making my own printer and I want an aluminum build plate

should have used aluminium angle on the corners insted of aluminium sheet strips, that would have stiffen the frame and give you better acces...

Can you share the printing specs on the machine. Would be good to compare to mine (and others). What top speed are you comfortably running it for test prints, and what speed do you run it to have a consistent high quality print.

please do a similar review of your Mendel 90, I'm very curious to see what your go-to printer is

Hi Thomas. Nice idea to use cat5 for the wiring. How did you join/attach the cat5 to the stepper motors ?

if any parts can shake of few mm by hands the accuracy is about 6mm next step a titanium printer 3meter tall able to print yourself real size

holy f@ck, you just saved me money with the aluminium profiles idea

Nice printer! I also have a delta near the same size as yours. How fast can you move with it? With my printer I struggle to make fast movements without missing steps, which in turn causes problems with stringing.

Hi Thomas! Thanks for another great video, much appreciated! You mentioned a restricted vertical movement due to an angular condition of the ball joints. Have you tried rotating the joint ninety degrees and check possible movement?

have you posted the design of the effector online?

What about 1500mm delta on 2040 profiles and alu vertex?

Why the aluminium instead of six vertical shafts?

I know this is an older video. But maybe you stille keep track of the comments. I know you make it look easy to build a printer. I was wondering if I could rebuild my Ultimaker 2 go into a larger cabin to increase my build volumen and if it would be fairly easy to to for someone with adequate technical skilles in general?

wow what a monster !

Hey Tom! Thank you for this very informative video (and all the other ones, for that matter). I as well would like to see a similar run-down of your Mendel90. Do you think this design is still a good choice for a new DIY-printer or would you go for something else?

Thanks for that video, that's been interesting as I think of building a printer myself (not delta though). I'm really interested in the greenish filament behind you (the larger spool). Do you remember which that was and do you have a picture of it printed?

I'm really not a fan of these large delta printers. They have insane heights, but only half of that can be used in the Z axis due to the arms. You could get an Ultimaker 2+ extended and have a similar build volume but take up half the space.

Hey Tom, I love your videos and love how you share all of your experiences. I got into delta printers a few years ago so they are all that I know. I recently built a delta printer with 20mm CNC linear rails. When doing a calibration cube I noticed that one side was too long and the other side was too short. When doing a circle calibration test I had hexagons instead of circles. I have never had this problem until I swapped to a more rigid system. I am not sure if you had any problems like this with your machine, but any feedback would be greatly appreciated. I still do all of my calibrations by hand. I tried using auto bed leveling but it was a bit confusing to learn.

Is there any reason you didn't want to use Traxxas rod ends for your delta joints? You could've had a larger range of motion with those, and they have zero slop...

The ball ends have restricted motion because there mounted the wrong way. Rotate the rods 90° around their long axis.

Hey tom, I've been planning on eventually getting a delta printer together. I bought 20mm extrusions a few months back to get the frame ready and gradually finish it as I pooled more cash. Only problem is I cant find any rollers (shower curtain or otherwise) to run either in or around the extrusions. Do you think it would be possible if I printed nylon wheels (Maybe refined it on a CNC mill) and then jammed my own bearings in the middle? I have no idea on the en-durability of this. Also, would you ever consider releasing the STL of the frame joints? Otherwise would you recommend any quick tips when designing the parts myself? Thanks! (Sorry for the long post!)

Can you do a firmware video for delta printers.

how about to let the whole printer wobble? set mine on 3 sponges and it works well.

Hey Tom, have you had the chance to look at the Prusa I3 MK2, and would you be able to compare it to a Lulzbot?

Really interesting video! Well done like always!

Hi Thomas!!! nice building!!! i was thinking on building a big delta too....but my biggest worry is the firmware...i already have the arduino mega and the ramps 1.4 with the graphic smart controller, the motors etc....can you make a video of how to config the firmware having your own delta size etc? thanks in advance!!

Nice video! Definitely enjoy the run-down of your delta. Can the 0.9 degree steppers produce the same torque as 1.8s? Seems like it ought to but I suppose that depends on whether or not equal permanent magnet to electrical coil "surfaces" internally. When is somebody going to make automatic bed leveling? True bed leveling, say 4 little highly geared motors (probably a worm in there to hold the position) instead of bed leveling (tramming) adjustment screws. Maybe it'd be easier to add a 2nd micro with 4 little motor drivers and communicate with bed leveling sensor.

Great build! im building my own printer right now, but cant seem to find a reliable, and verified source of good quality stepper motors in Europe. Im afraid getting some no-name stepper from ebay, that would cause problems. Could you recommend a good place to get the steppers from?

why not you change the wheels on the 3 carriages with a linear rail instead? just rotate back 45 degree the profile and lock in a linear rail and then secure the carriage it to. there will be no play on the carriages anymore. just need some teflon spray occasionally

For your electrical connections you should look at www.wago.us they make all types of electrical connectors even pluggable ones without the need to solder or crimp. They are a German company and pioneered the screw-less terminal block. They are far superior to screwed blocks which allow you to place the wire under the clamp if you are not paying attention. They are made for solid wires.

Hi Thomas, quick q: why did you decide to orient the v heels the way you did? I am designing a delta and am considering using v wheels/v slot, but at 90 degrees to your setup. Any disadvantages?

I like this machine and built my own only a little bigger. 600mm base and top extrusions with 1500mm verticals. I used ball bearing linear rails and all aluminum brackets and end effector. I am using Arduino and Ramps 1.4, but I have the problem no one would expect and cannot find anyone that can help. The arduino will no let me run less than about 110 mm/sec, it stops and reboots. I've tried 1/16th steps but only gets me slightly slower. Mind you I am getting some pretty decent prints for the speed but I need better. Would you have any advise?

Hey few people asked! Did you ever get this printer going?

I am planning to replace my printrbot metal plus heatbed with silicon heater to increase the heating time. Do you think it is wise thing to do?

Cat5 for power? Are you sure the wires are good enough for a few amps of current? I bet your steppers are using a bit more power compared to the generic Reprap... :P

Hi Thomas, I have come to the conclusion that I need to build a Delta/Kossel printer. I have no experience with them (I almost got one instead of the tarantula I now own) and am seeking a bit of advice, and you are well educated in this matter. I know that I want to build a tall unit, main riser shafts of around 880mm tall made from 2040, 600mm for support brackets, 2060 on the base and 2040 on top, I have found Aluminum brackets that will accommodate these materials, and I have decided on a Duet WiFi for the controller. Now all the rest I do not know, I know I want to get 0.9 deg steppers for this, I plan on running high resolution, I am wondering if you have advice on which one's to get? I don't mind going a bit overkill. Also things like the length of the arms? my delta base length will be the aforementioned 600mm (I plan on getting CF rods and, possibly magnetic joints) Auto leveling, I know that smoothieware has this option, I'd really like to look in to options for tip auto leveling as well, hotbed 24v for this device? Silicone? My Power supply solution is a pair of 575 watt HP Power supplies which I plan on wiring for 5v, 12v, and 24v, so power should be well taken care of. Are there other considerations I should look at? specific items where one would be better than the other? This is all still in concept phase right now, I just like to get all my ducks researched and in a row before embarking on new projects, and any advice you may have to offer would be greatly appreciated.

we have delta 3d printer for 6m but only thing is we have problem in surface we are not using glass we are using wood,metalsheet,now are trying on stone. its not printing and we are using PET plastic while printing the first layer is not sticking to the surface..and the extruder keeps on printing we tried hair spray, glue...can you suggest me anything? there is nothing problem with the printer or extruder....only with surface..and i think may be with plastic we use

could you please make a video where you can suggest a dual extrusion/color printer? I have a CR-10 I am very happy, but after many prints I start to need a dual material/extrusion, but I wouldn' spend much. what do you think about?

What if you replaced the plastic plate joints with aluminum and use liner rails instead of wheels?