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The Truss gantry system

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Experimental gantry system based of a truss.

Suggested price: €3.00

The download contains the 3D printable (stl) files only. The Fusion 360 and/or STEP files are accesible to my Patreon supporters. Consider becoming a supporter yourself and get access to these files!
The download contains the 3D printable (stl) files only. The Fusion 360 and/or STEP files are accesible to my Patreon supporters. Consider becoming a supporter yourself and get access to these files!

Summary

This is an experimental system that is based off the structure of a truss to make it light and stiff. This is an unusual shape, but can create interesting structures. The idea sparked after I came across skeletonized gantries which already look like trusses, but these are still square to make it a better drop-in replacement. A triangle shape is stiffer and lighter since there are only push and pull forces internally and no bending forces.

The design consists put of individual segments at a length of 30mm and they are held together using M3 threaded rods.

It’s important to note that this design needs to be optimized, meaning that it probably will undergo changes. This means that the parts needed can change as well!

I show the thought process behind this design and how it’s put together in this video:

 

Print settings

Printer: Sovol SV06 PLUS
Brim: Yes, especially with the corner pieces
Supports: Yes, only with the individual segments
Nozzle diameter: 0.4mm and the rollers are printed with 0.2mm
Layer height: 0.2mm
Infill: 30%
Filament: Fluor Green PLA from 3D4Makers

Notes:

The corner pieces can be printed without using support, but require good bed adhesion since the first layers have a very small surface. This requires a brim of at least 8 perimeters and possibly two layers. Due to the shape, this brim can be removed easily.

Parts needed

This is still in concept phase, so chances are that this design will undergo changes probably making the parts as mentioned below obsolete! Only buy the parts if you want to test it out or actually see a practical use case!

The parts you need to create one gantry (without carriage) with a length of 240mm is:

QTY Description Link*
8 30mm segment
3 M3x250mm threaded rod https://geni.us/BiE6364
6 M3x8mm brass standoff https://geni.us/s4jl2
6 M3 washer https://geni.us/pMQqz

*Commissions are earned from the links above which help funding this project. If you have found a better alternative for a component, please let me know!

The gantries can be coupled together with the corner pieces (versions can be found in the corner pieces tab). These require 6 M3 x 10mm screws for each gantry https://geni.us/Xg6PYG

The parts you need for one carriage:

QTY Description Link*
1 Carriage body
2 Carriage holder
5 Roller
5 MR63ZZ ball bearing https://geni.us/8t2M
10 3mm seal washer https://geni.us/wFjsikc
7 M3 nut https://geni.us/BViqH
6 M3 x 15-20 mm screw https://geni.us/2DTvfGn
1 M3 x 10 mm screw https://geni.us/Xg6PYG

 

Corner pieces

There are multiple corner pieces and a lot of variants are possible. To create the gantry as shown in the video I needed two variants. Each variant has its own part number that is built up based on the angles. I recommend only using one of the four versions in the download.

The list of variants are:

Angle 1 Angle 2 Rot 1 Rot 2 Rot 3 Version (L/R) Part number Designed Verified
90 90 30 30 45 R CP9090303045R x x
90 90 30 30 45 L CP9090303045L x x
90 90 30 30 105 R CP90903030105R x
90 90 30 30 105 L CP90903030105L x
90 90 60 60 45 R CP9090606045R
90 90 60 60 45 L CP9090606045L
90 90 60 60 105 R CP90906060105R
90 90 60 60 105 L CP90906060105L
90 90 0 0 45 R CP909045R
90 90 0 0 45 L CP909045L
90 90 0 0 105 R CP9090105R
90 90 0 0 105 L CP9090105L
90 90 30 30 30 R CP9090303030R
90 90 30 30 30 L CP9090303030L
90 90 30 30 60 R CP9090303060R
90 90 30 30 60 L CP9090303060L
90 90 60 60 30 R CP9090606030R
90 90 60 60 30 L CP9090606030L
90 90 60 60 60 R CP9090606060R
90 90 60 60 60 L CP9090606060L
90 90 0 0 30 R CP909030R
90 90 0 0 30 L CP909030L
90 90 0 0 60 R CP909060R
90 90 0 0 60 L CP909060L
120 90 30 30 45 R CP12090303045R
120 90 30 30 45 L CP12090303045L
120 90 30 30 105 R
CP120903030105R
120 90 30 30 105 L CP120903030105L
120 90 60 60 45 R CP12090606045R
120 90 60 60 45 L CP12090606045L
120 90 60 60 105 R
CP120906060105R
120 90 60 60 105 L CP120906060105L
120 90 0 0 45 R CP1209045R
120 90 0 0 45 L CP1209045L
120 90 0 0 105 R CP12090105R
120 90 0 0 105 L CP12090105L
120 90 30 30 30 R CP12090303030R
120 90 30 30 30 L CP12090303030L
120 90 30 30 60 R CP12090303060R
120 90 30 30 60 L CP12090303060L
120 90 60 60 30 R CP12090606030R
120 90 60 60 30 L CP12090606030L
120 90 60 60 60 R CP12090606060R
120 90 60 60 60 L CP12090606060L
120 90 0 0 30 R CP1209030R
120 90 0 0 30 L CP1209030L
120 90 0 0 60 R CP1209060R
120 90 0 0 60 L CP1209060L

Mounting instructions

I show most of the process in the video as shown in the first tab. Things to keep in mind building this are:

  • The rods need to be 10mm longer than the stacked segments, so 8 segments of 30mm requires a rod length of 250mm. It’s important to not make it longer, otherwise the screw on the opposing end in the spacer will collide with the rod making it impossible to tighten it.
  • The rods are exposed due to the carriage, this means that during tensioning it can pop out.
  • The segments don’t slide on the rods, so after tensioning you can try and bend it a little to get it into shape better and tension it a bit more.

If you have suggestions on how to improve this design or if you have an interesting use case for it, let me know!

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