Solidoodle Workbench upgrade and replacement parts by somewebguy

Last crawled date: 3 years ago

UPDATE: I have uploaded the custom firmware for the MKS v1.5 board with support for the LCD12864 full graphic smart controller.
I have also uploaded the parts in STEP format for anyone who wishes to modify them in a CAD program.
I was given a Solidoodle Workbench and liked the large print area it had, however the original design had some serious flaws, so I set about improving upon the original design.
The redesigned parts and assembly gives the Solidoodle Workbench a larger print volume, a quick change system for any J head, E3D V6 style hot end, and uses linear bearings on the X and Y axis.
The maximum usable print area is now X=360, Y=320, Z=300, However the practical print area may be a bit smaller.
I have redesigned the centre carriage with only 1 extruder to gain extra print area.
Any J head, E3D V6 or similar extruder will fit and the entire extruder can be swapped out with just 2 bolts.
I have not included the bed leveling system that the originally came with the printer.
I have reused parts where I can however the X axis is completely new, only the 10mm rods are reused. The extruder filament idler pulley and spring arm have also been reused.
I have borrowed some design elements and some common parts like switches and GT2 pulleys from the excellent Solidoodle 4 CoreXY rebuild by Elenhinan, however all of the the printable parts have been designed from scratch using Solidworks.
I have included the original files so you can modify them if required.
I have also included a zip file with the parts in STEP format so most common CAD program can open them.
The smaller holes in centre of the X, Y and centre carriages are oil holes to enable lubrication of the bearings in situ.
The bearings should just snap in, but they might be too tight or too loose depending on your print settings. They can be glued in with some silicone if required.
I have changed the motherboard to a MKS Base V1.5 and have added a solid state relay to handle the power for the heated bed.
I am also using a 12864 LCD Display (RepRap Discount Full Graphics Smart Controller)
I am using the latest version of Marlin 1.1.x
The default axis steps per unit in the configuration.h file is below:
{ 79.8, 61.538, 800, 100 } // MXL (2.03mm)belt // x=20 tooth, y=25 tooth,
(These settings work for me as the default Y axis belt is MXL and the new X axis belt is GT2, they may require some tweaking on your own machine if you use different size pulleys or screw rod)
I have had my machine up and running for about 6 months now and it produces great prints. I print mostly in ABS and would recommend enclosing the printer to keep the heat in. If the heated bed cannot heat fast enough the firmware can throw an error, (I had to adjust this in Configuration_adv.h (( #define WATCH_BED_TEMP_PERIOD 480 // Seconds)) to allow the bed to heat up slower)
I would recommend a default printing speed of about 30mm/s as printing any faster can produce unwanted vibrations that affect the print.
The MKS Base V1.5 has proven to be a good board, however I cannot recommend using the TFT32 touchscreen with it as the touchscreen firmware is closed source and buggy, and does not run correctly with the latest version of Marlin. I had to change to the 12864 LCD Display which so far has run flawlessly.
If I built a printer from scratch I would build a Core XY style printer, but these parts and modifications can turn an old Solidoodle Workbench into a great printer with a huge print area
Parts required:
1x GT2 20 tooth idler pulley (with bearings and 3mm shaft holes)
1x GT2 20 tooth pulley with 5mm shaft hole to fit stepper
1x 2m roll GT2 belt
1x Nema 17 42mm stepper (for X axis)
1x Nema 17 30mm stepper (for extruder, but can take up to 42mm)
8x LM10UU linear bearings
5x SS-5GL microswitches (the smaller style of microswitch)
1x 12V Blower fan for filament cooling
1x J Head, E3D v6 style extruder and cooling fan
Various M3 socket head bolts of 10mm to 40mm length
M3 Nylock nuts and normal nuts