The TIME-system – more information (Open Sauce exclusive)

You just scanned the QR-code and now you’re here, wondering WTF this is. No, this link is not a Rickroll. In this article I tell a bit more about the why, how and what of the 3D printer I brought with me (all the way from the Netherlands).

First of all, I’m Jón Schone and I run the YouTube channel Proper Printing in which I show my ideas, inventions and experiments with the goal to inspire excite and entertain people. One of the projects is this 3D printer that I designed from scratch and I showed the process in a recent video. The motion system of this machine is an independent Core-XZ system. These are basically two Core-XY gantries tilted at a 90-degree angle and moving along a Y-axis. I call this the TIME-system which stands for True Independent Multiple Extrusion. Both tools can move independent from each other which enables some cool stuff!

FAQ

Why?

I believe that this enables new possibilities and I explain a bit more about this in this article. The tl;dr is that the goal of this is to have an experimental platform on which we can do all kinds of experiments. Eventually it should be able to print 3 types of materials:

• Molten polymers (just the normal FDM printing).
• Liquids, pastes and glues. This can be several types of (UV) resin, dissolved polymers, concrete and ceramics etc. that will be pumped using a non-pulsating peristaltic pump or syringe pump.
• Fibers and wires. For continuous fiber printing or 3D printed electronics.

Especially combinations of these materials is what I’m interested in and therefore the two independent tools.

Why isn’t the second tool moving?

Right now it’s in an early development stage. I recently swapped out the linear rails for better ones and it looks like it’s printing reliably. I didn’t really test it before brining this printer with me. After it printed the first layer partially I had to take it apart and put it in the small Pelican case that’s below this table. The next step will be to experiment with the portal tilted at a 45-degree angle to print like a belt printer. Hopefully it’s doing that right now. After this I’m going to develop ways of printing with the second tool after which the fun begins!

What is it printing?

I’m currently making a YouTube video about this trip and this video is sponsored by Redmagic which is a phone company. They reached out with the question if I could print a phone case for them and this turned into the fun quest of bringing the printer to Open Sauce and print a phone case with it on site.

What are the advantages of this motion system?

• The bed stays stationary which makes it easier to connect high power connections to it in a reliable way. In this case it was extra important because it’s an 1800W grill plate! What? Yes.
• The X-gantry goes never out of sync with a core-XZ system. The belts make sure that this gantry always stays horizontal.
• The Z-movements are much faster and have no backlash which makes this an interesting system for non-planar 3D printing.
• This has the potential to add more gantries, so it’s a bit like the Autodesk Escher project. This makes it possible to print one part using multiple heads in parallel or combine more materials in the same part.

What are the disadvantages?

• The speed is limited at certain resonance frequencies. This can be mitigated by adding a second pair of linear rails at the top with extra Y-motors. This way the portals don’t wobble at these frequencies.
• It requires more hardware, so a production unit cannot be made as affordable as a regular 3D printer. With a production unit, I mean a system with a similar motion system, but using optimized parts. So no grill plate or truss system that is tensioned with wires. These are proof-of-concepts.

What materials are used to make this printer?

The gantries are printed out of individual segments printed out of PET with carbon fiber. These segments are held together with 4mm carbon fiber rods and put under tension with Dyneema wire. The carriages run directly on the CF rods with roller bearings and this combination looks very promising! The heated bed is made out of a grill plate which is controlled with a Duet board. Chances are that it’s not enabled because this system is built to run on 230V.

Are you going to release the design files?

The problem right now is that it uses very specific parts that need to be customized and it’s a lot of work to build one. I will share more generic parts like the Duet touchscreen enclosure and truss system, so you can use these for your own projects. If you are interested in this actual design, you can become a Patreon supporter and get access to all my design files in STEP or Fusion format.

If you have further questions, suggestions or want to work together, just reach out through the contact page!