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MaybeCube: fully featured, rigid, high speed, affordable, coreXY linear rails 3D printer

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MaybeCube

The MaybeCube is a fully-featured, rigid, high speed, and affordable CoreXY 3D printer with a linear rails motion system.

It can be built in a variety of sizes: the standard size is the MC350, which has external dimensions of approximately 405mm by 475mm by 415mm and a build volume of approximately 225mm x 225mm x 200mm.

The self-sourcing BOM cost of the MC300 variant is approximately £430 with a genuine E3D hotend (or about £400 with a generic E3D compatible hotend), this does not include the cost of filament for printing parts, see spreadsheet. The MC350 variant is slightly more expensive.

Main Assembly

MaybeCube300

Assembly instructions

The "standard" size is the MC350 variant. I have built the MC300 variant for two reasons: to test sizing (if the components fit in the MC300 variant, then they will fit in larger variants); and because I had a quantity of 300mm extrusion and the right size heated bed from an earlier project.

The assembly instructions and the BOM (parts list) for the MC300 variant are here.

The assembly instructions and the BOM for the MC350 variant are here.

Please read all the build instructions before you begin assembly.

The STL files are on thingiverse.

The assembly of the different MC300 and MC350 variants is essentially the same, the main differences are in the printbed. Larger variants have a larger printbed and to support this can optionally have either Z-rods on both sides of the printbed, or a 3-point kinematic bed.

If you would like to build a smaller printer, you may be interested in the MaybeCube's smaller sibling, the BabyCube.

Design Goals

  1. Create a high quality engineered 3D printer capable of producing high quality prints
  2. Make the MaybeCube more easily usable in home environment (as opposed to garage or workshop)
    • try and make it easy to transport and store the MaybeCube, so:
    • integrated design: everything is enclosed within the printer's frame. This includes the motors, the motion system, the power supply, and the circuit boards. The only exceptions are the spool holder, which can be removed for transport and storage, and the extruder.
    • include base plate so underside of printer is not exposed
    • all protrusions from frame (filament spool, extruder, power connector) are on the right hand side to minimise desk clutter and allow the back of the MaybeCube to be pushed right against a wall
    • all protrusions from the frame can be easily removed for storage
    • clean wiring - route wiring in extrusion channels where possible and minimise exposed wiring
  3. Improve ease of assembly
    • Use internal blind joints on the frame
    • printed parts designed so that bolts are accessible and can be tightened when frame fully assembled (that is bolt holes are not blocked by other parts when assembled)
    • divide the main assembly into a number of independent sub-assemblies.
    • where possible printed parts push up right against frame and so "auto-align"
    • facilitate building in different size variants
  4. Use linear rails for the x and y axes
    • linear rails are now not much more expensive than linear rods
    • linear rails make design and assembly easier, reducing the need for custom printed parts
    • linear rods are used for the z-axis, since linear rails offer no advantage here
  5. Maximise frame rigidity
    • one of my goals is to experiment with high print speeds. A highly rigid frame allows higher acceleration settings
    • use 2040 aluminium extrusion, corner joints are about 4 times more rigid than 2020 corner joints and 2-3 times more rigid than 3030 corner joints
  6. Maximise build volume for selected extrusion lengths
    • Z-axis assembly is on the left side of MaybeCube. This means the Z-axis assembly does not impede travel in the Y direction
    • The printhead is quite compact, so does not significantly restrict travel in the X and Y directions
  7. Enable a fully enclosed print volume
    • The cubic shape makes enclosure straightforward.
    • A panel can be used to isolate the electronics and stepper motors from the build volume
    • A slide-in front panel can be added
    • A top enclosure can be placed on the frame
  8. Try and keep the costs down
    • the aim is not to be as cheap as possible, but rather to avoid unnecessary costs
    • use standard extrusions lengths, as far as possible, so no custom cutting is required
  9. Facilitate customisation and experimentation
    • Open source design
    • Parametric design in OpenSCAD
    • The open design of the frame and the easy accessibility of parts means the MaybeCube is fairly easy to customise - most parts can be changed without the need to disassemble large parts of the frame
    • The design of the X_Carriage means it is easy to customise to support different hotends and extruders
    • Support other printhead systems, including EVA, XChange, and, in principle, the Jubilee and E3D toolchangers
    • The independence of the XY motion system and the Z motion system means that in principle the Z motion system could be replaced (with, say, an auto-tramming 3-point leveling system)

Variations

The canonical form is the MC350 variant.

variant Extrusion lengths Rail/rod lengths Approx Build Volume Bed Size Exterior Dimensions
MC250 x250 y250 z350 x200 y250 z250 concept variant 180mm 290 x 290 x 370
MC300 x300 y300 z400 x250 y300 z300 185 x 185 x 200 214mm 340 x 340 x 420
MC350 x350 y350 y450 x300 y350 z350 225 x 225 x 235 254mm 390 x 390 x 470
MC400 x400 y400 y500 x350 y400 z400 275 x 275 x 285 310mm 440 x 440 x 520

Comparisons

The following table compares the sizes and build volumes of various CoreXY 3D printers.

Printer EType Extrusion lengths Build Volume Exterior Dimensions
MC300 2040 300 x 300 x 400 185 x 185 x 200 340 x 340 x 420
MC350 2040 350 x 350 x 450 226 x 210 x 240 390 x 390 x 470
MC400 2040 400 x 400 x 500 276 x 260 x 290 440 x 440 x 520
MC450 2040 450 x 450 x 550 326 x 310 x 340 490 x 490 x 570
Bambu Labs X1 - - 256 x 256 x 256 389 x 389 x 457
BLV MGN Cube 2040 496 x 496 x 560 300 x 300 x 365 576 x 536 x 560
Clock 3 2020 620 x 620 x 800 (est) 300 x 300 x 350 640 x 675 x 875
Creality Ender 5 S1 2020/2040 375 x 440 x 550 (est) 220 x 220 x 280 425 x 460 x 570
Daedalus 1.5 2040 450 x 480 x 590 (est) 310 x 300 x 345 495 x 521 x 600
Denali 200 2020 320 x 320 x 590 200 x 200 x 200 380 x 380 x 620 (est)
Denali 250 2020 370 x 370 x 590 250 x 250 x 200 430 x 430 x 620 (est)
Denali 350 2020 470 x 470 x 690 350 x 350 x 300 530 x 530 x 720 (est)
E3D ToolChanger 2040 Z: 500 200 x 300 x 300 530 x 505 x 500
FuseBox3 2020 310 x 332 x 407 235 x 235 x 235 350 x 372 x 427
HyperCube 2020 340 x 303 x 350 200 x 200 x 155 380 x 343 x 350
HEVO 3030 420 x 410 x 500 300 x 300 x 300 480 x 470 x 500
HevORT 315 3030 410 x 420 x 880 315 x 315 x 340 640 x 480 x 890 (est)
HevORT 415 3030 510 x 520 x 980 415 x 415 x 440 740 x 480 x 990 (est)
Jubilee 2020 409 x 604 x 430 300 x 300 x 300 476 x 604 x 558
RatRig V-Core3 300 3030 440 x 505 x 510 300 x 300 x 300 518 x 583 x 560
RatRig V-Core3 400 3030 540 x 605 x 610 400 x 400 x 400 618 x 683 x 660
RatRig V-Core3 500 3030 640 x 705 x 710 500 x 500 x 500 718 x 783 x 760
RailCore II 300ZL 1515 400 x 370 x 360 250 x 250 x 280 522 x 445 x 496
RailCore II 300ZL 1515 460 x 425 x 445 300 x 300 x 330 572 x 495 x 546
RailCore II 300ZLT 1515 460 x 425 x 745 300 x 300 x 600 572 x 495 x 830
SecKit SK-Go 2020/2040 430 x 440 x 485 310 x 310 x 350 520 x 500 x 500
SecKit SK-Cube sheet metal N/A 200 x 200 x 250 405 x 400 x 470
SecKit SK-Tank sheet metal N/A 350 x 350 x 400 560 x 530 x 710
SimpleCore 200 2020 350 x 350 x 450 200 x 200 x 180 390 x 390 x 390 (est)
SimpleCore 300 2020 500 x 500 x 500 330 x 330 x 230 540 x 540 x 540 (est)
SnakeOil XY 180 3030 310 x 310 x 500 180 x 180 x 180 400 x 390 x 520 (est)
SnakeOil XY 250 3030 400 x 370 x 550 250 x 240 x 230 490 x 450 x 570 (est)
Ultra MegaMax Dominator 4040 300 x 300 x 695 610 x 530 x 1500
Voron 0 1515 200 x 200 x 200 120 x 120 x 120 230 x 230 x 280
Voron Trident 250 2020 370 x 370 x 500 250 x 250 x 250 410 x 410 x 500
Voron Trident 300 2020 420 x 420 x 500 300 x 300 x 250 460 x 460 x 500
Voron Trident 350 2020 470 x 470 x 500 350 x 350 x 250 510 x 510 x 500
Voron2 v2.4 250 2020 370 x 370 x 430 250 x 250 x 230 410 x 410 x 430
Voron2 v2.4 300 2020 420 x 420 x 480 300 x 300 x 280 460 x 460 x 480
Voron2 v2.4 350 2020 470 x 470 x 530 350 x 350 x 330 510 x 510 x 530
VzBot 2020/2040 530 x 460 x 530 330 x 330 x 400 530 x 500 x 570

Frame stiffness

The frame is a cuboid with 6 rectangular faces. Rectangles have no inherent rigidity and are subject to shearing. The rigidity of a rectangle is provided solely by the strength of its joints, and these often do not provide sufficient rigidity. A small movement at a joint is magnified into a much larger movement at the end of a 400mm extrusion. There are three main ways to increase the rigidity of rectangles:

  1. triangulation, where the a diagonal piece divides the rectangle into two triangles, this is exemplified in truss bridges
  2. using a shear plate, this is exemplified in the shear boards used to stiffen wooden framed buildings
  3. reinforcing the joints.

The MaybeCube uses 2040 extrusions, these provide significantly more joint rigidity than either 2020 or 3030 extrusions. Additionally the MaybeCube uses shear plates on the bottom, back, and (optionally) left and right faces to stiffen the frame.

The front face of the MaybeCube is the most subject to shearing, since it needs to be open to allow access to the printbed. Two measures are taken to counteract this: 2080 rather than 2040 extrusion is used at the bottom of the face, and the idler mounts at the top are extended to provide some triangulation and reinforcement of the upper joints.

Input shaper test results (MC300 variant with side panels)

X-Axis Y-Axis

Comparison of input shaper test results

Printer X frequency X amplitude X acc limit Y frequency Y amplitude Y acc limit
MC300 114 1,720 51,200 88 4,500 32,800
BabyCube 92 19,000 32,600 87 13,500 44,100
RatRig V-Core3 300 62 47,500 15,300 N/A N/A N/A
SnakeOil XY 83 110,000 27,400 56 49,500 12,100
VzBot 93 87,000 34,100 64 35,500 15,900
Voron 2.4 52 & 82 15,400 26,500 38 & 63 11,600 9,900
Voron Switchwire 70 11,000 N/A 48 16,200 N/A
Ender 3 30 & 88 4,100 3,800 32 & 57 19,000 9,300
Prusa i3 MKS+ 38 & 58 39,000 N/A 32 & 78 42,000 N/A

These input shaper results give a rough idea of the rigidity of various printers. The acc limit is the value of the max acceleration for the ZV shaper for each printer and axis - it is not that meaningful in itself, but it does form some basis for comparison.

It does seem that the MC300 compares very favourably with the other printers for which I have found results published.

Customisations

Voron Dragon Burner printhead

I've created an adaptor for the Voron Dragon Burner (as used on the Voron V0) printhead.

Dragon Burner

More details on using the Voron Dragon Burner adaptor are here.

The STL file is here.

Voron Rapid Burner printhead

I've created an adaptor for the Voron Rapid Burner (as used on the Voron V0) printhead.

Rapid Burner

More details on using the Voron Rapid Burner adaptor are here.

The STL fils are here.

Voron Mini Afterburner printhead

I've created an adaptor for the Voron Mini Afterburner (as used on the Voron V0) printhead.

Mini Afterburner

More details on using the Voron Mini Afterburner adaptor are here.

The STL file is here.

E3D tool changer

Currently there is no adaptor for the E3D tool changer, however I think it would be fairly straightforward to create one.

There should be room to dock at least two, and perhaps three E3D ToolChanger Tools in the back of the MC350, this would allow experimenting with the E3D docking system in a framework considerably less expensive than the E3D Motion System.

Jubilee tool changer

The Jubilee 3D printer has a tool changer compatible with the E3D tool changer. I have a proof of concept showing that this tool changer system can be used on the MaybeCube. Note that this is incomplete and still requires an X_Carriage adaptor for the Jubilee plates.

JubileeToolChanger Assembly

3-point Kinematic Bed

The MC300 and MC350 use a cantilevered print bed. For larger variants it is possible to use a 3-point Kinematic Bed.

KinematicBed Assembly

Dual Z rods

Alternatively, for larger variants, it is possible to use dual sets of Z-rods to support the print bed.

DualZRods Assembly

Pictures

In these pictures the power supply and PCBs are mounted in the back of the printer - I've done this in the development build so that I can easily change things around while I experiment. For the release build, the power supply and PCBs are mounted in the base of the printer.

Front Left Right Back

License

MaybeCube is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
Creative Commons License

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MaybeCube: fully featured, rigid, high speed, affordable, coreXY linear rails 3D printer

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