S.T.E.V.E - CoreXY 3D Printer

Want to know more about the design and assembly process?
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWL37f39O8e8jSmrYGKiWX6iMkNlrfwSp

Join the Facebook Group for discussion + Q&A + Future updates and upgrades
https://www.facebook.com/groups/266957403761491/

See the full Bill of Materials with supplied links here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1FVdSh7WRvvxo3kc_i1Jvbl6kwNt3XSbQIA1PcNw0xOk/edit#gid=0 (some affiliate links included but buy from wherever you feel comfortable)

S.T.E.V.E is an open source, single extruder, easy to modify 3D printer with a approx 240mm cubed build volume and CoreXY Kinematics. When starting to design S.T.E.V.E I just wanted to learn more about the CoreXY kinematics but things got out of hand, one thing lead to another, and I ended up designing an entire printer that I wanted to share.

He was designed with the intention of every part being easy to purchase or print, and easy to build with assistance of detailed instructions with very little needed in terms of tools. (For best results a drill and 3.5mm bit plus crimping tool for red crimp terminals would be ideal. You can probably survive without.) The obvious allen keys are also needed.

Instructions are currently in the form of PDF drawings and an extensive video guide. All the video links are down below. Some show some information about the design process, while the others explain how to assemble the printer.

One of S.T.E.V.E's most unique features is the gantry head assembly. It ensures that the centre of mass of the stepper motor is aligned as closely as possible to the rods to reduce torque on the bearings and improve print quality. The same assembly provides a modular system for adding, changing or removing different features from around the hot end such as cable management, fans, bed sensors etc.

While this isn't a remix, i'll give some credit to Tech2C and his hypercube printer. I did borrow a couple of design aspects such as the clamps used for round rods.

###Frame
S.T.E.V.E's frame is constructed from standard 6mm slot 2020 aluminium extrusion, held together with M5 x 8mm Button head screws and 90 degree angle brackets. All easy to get and easy to assemble.

One key design feature of S.T.E.V.E is that all the components are kept within the rigid 2020 aluminium frame so that it is simple to enclose the printer to form a heated chamber for printing of more exotic materials. (heat resistant plastic parts also recommended)

###Steppers
S.T.E.V.E uses a total of 5 NEMA 17 stepper motors, a 13Ncm pancake stepper for the extruder, 4 45Ncm D shaft steppers for the X, Y and Z motion.

###Control Board
The selected control board for version 0.1 of S.T.E.V.E is the RAMPS 1.4. This will be upgraded in the future as RAMPS was mostly for prototyping.

###Heated Bed
The bed is 6mm tool plate aluminium which is ideal as it has high thermal conductivity and won’t warp overtime becuase of the way it was manufactured. The Heating is provided by a 330W 230V silicon heater with a built in thermal cut off at 180C for safety (set RAMPS max to 150C).

###SSR
Because the bed heater is powered through mains voltage a Solid state relay is used to control power to the bed. The low voltage side of the SSR is attached to the control board as normal and acts like a switch.

###Hotend and Extruder
S.T.E.V.E uses the E3D v6 full metal universal hot end and titan extruder with a 13Ncm stepper motor to provide a lightweight, versatile and reliabile print head.

###Power Supply
Since the power supply is only for the stepper motors and hot end, there is no need for 300-400W power supplies. A high quality 12V unit that can supply 80-100W should be more than enough. Closet to 100W if you want some LEDs in there too.

Special Note: Recently i have noticied that the aluminium rods for X and Y are a little too flexible. I am going to test putting Steel rods on the Y axis and see how that does. Might have to upgrade the X axis to 10mm Aluminium or 8mm steel for rigidity. Will keep you updated.

Special Note 2: Not sure what makes these notes special but i have tested with 8mm steel on the X and Y axis. I have had good results with 8mm steel rods on both axis.

Final Note: Work on STEVE mk2 is now starting. In order to finish off mk1 I have uploaded a zip file (STEVE update Parts) containing a number of files that I considered unfinished work. These are all parts I was working on and are probably usable but not necessarily better. Up to you what you decide to use but I thought I should share them.