3d printer/CNC mill

[outsider787]

Has anyone added a 3d print head to their CNC milling machine yet?

I see a lot of threads of people building or buying 3d printers, but if you already have a CNC machine, is not almost trivial to just add a 3d print head to the side of the Z-axis and start printing parts?

[hoss2006]

Yeah, if you read thru those threads you'll see it was discussed. I gave links to some folks that did that to a Tormach and we talked about adding the same to a number of mills and routers.
Thing is it can take hours to print parts and you'd be tying up your milling machine all that while.
Seems better to have a standalone printer that can be printing in the background while
you use your mill for more important stuff.
Hoss

[mhackney]

"more important stuff" like building a larger 3D printer!

I actually built an extruder last year with the idea of attaching it to my mini mill. But, that machine was always in production making parts for my reel kits so I never had time to try it. Given how inexpensive these little printers are - especially the H-1 kit from SeeMeCNC that I am building - it just didn't make sense to tie up my mill.

cheers,
Michael

[Fastest1]

mhackney is probably correct however the idea had been talked about for quite a while. If I wasnt so lazy (and lacking of the necessary knowledge) it would have been done by now. I have the heated bed, the extruder/hotend, separate controller for the temp of both. At this point I realized I also have 3-4 existing projects that need love.
My question for mhackney is, dont you believe the positional accuracy and rigidity of an actual machine tool would create better results than all thread? Dont get me wrong I have seen some great results actually in person with the small home units cupcake, makerbot, etc. (Houston Hackerspace) but it just seems it would be a better platform. Also my mill just sits so reallocating it for a while would be fine.

[outsider787]

Fastest,
I don't think rigidity has anything to do with it, since there are no external forces that need to be braced against in a 3d printer. All the machine is working against is air loads as it moves about.

I can see one of those machines working much faster, since there's less mass to move around, but rigidity wise I doubt there's a difference.

[mhackney]

I can't yet speak to the rigidity issue since I am still building my machine! Hoss has been making parts though with his. I can say that once all that all thread is tightened up, the machine isq pretty rigid. And, as stated above, there are no forces to speak of likes there are on a mill or router.

All this said, I am building this machine to get my feet wet. I think a really simple machine could be built in aluminum like a CNC router that would be much simpler to construct and quite rigid too.

Cheers,
Michael

[rwskinner]

Yes, I thought about it as well. I also thought about the wear and tear on my mill, having it tied up, and my mill doesn't do 400 ipm like most of these small printers.

Richard

[Fastest1]

Richard, really 400 ipm? Maybe not use my mill. I knew rigidity was not necessary for the actual extruding however the more rigid the machine, the faster you could push it, or so it would seem. Thanks for the reply. Eventually I will try it just for the challenge. That Sherline/A2ZCNC Monster mill isn't going to get used anymore unless I do make it into a printer.