Spokane Create Delta Printer

[ABearden]

We sorta have a printer for the space, but it's an older RepRap in disrepair with a burnt out hot end and a warped build plate. We could repair it, but it we'd end up with something slow, old, and not very impressive anymore; not to mention the small build envelope. After seeing Colby's Chinese Kossel clone delta (seriously, if you haven't seen it you should check it out next time he comes in; it's AMAZING), Dan and I realized it would be awesome to have a delta for the space and for marketing, because who doesn't think delta printers look cool?

Last week we confirmed the RepRap is still operational. It moved, verified hot end temp, and generally looks feasible. I just ordered the JHead hotend, complete with heater and thermistor. I grabbed one with a 0.4mm nozzle for 1.75mm filament, but if you guys decide we need even more speed over detail it's not difficult to swap out to a larger nozzle or even larger filament. Not sure if most people will be printing functional parts (robots and quads and machines, oh my!) or pretty desk pieces. Stock, it will handle PLA and ABS. If we decide we want to go fancy with something like Nylon, we'll need a different hotend.

The plan so far:

• Reuse the old RepRap RAMPS board, reprogram it with something like the Rostock delta firmware (Marlin base)
  
• Print and CNC what we need for plates/joints/brackets to build a new frame
  
• Configure it for the new dimensions
  
• Bowden tube extruder setup will allow for much higher carriage speeds. This will be very important for completing prints within the typical weekly 3 hour meet.
  
• Traxxis graphite rods to further reduce carriage weight.
  

If anyone has ideas, I'd love to hear them.