flatpack

There is not a lot to unpack. Like... for real.

VID_20220805_233304.0.mp4

VID_20220418_184109.1.0.0.0.mp4

S2FTFqy.-.Imgur.mp4

(flatpack and flathead printing gridfinity parts; flatpack with the old hotendsetup (4010 hotend, 3010 for partcooling)

Technical Data:

• folded volume of roughly 220x210x75mm (so, make sure your spoolbox has these inner dimensions at a minimum, as there are some with slightly different dimensions)
• buildvolume of 120x114x114mm, so 1.6 liters
• heated bed that can reach up to 110°C
• Hotend capable of temperatures up to 300°C, if you choose the Copper NF Smart 500°C
• powered through an external (!) powerbrick with 150W, uses 100W max
• the design can theoretically use an AC bed, and consequently a small psu enabling everything to fit in one box. For safety reasons I deemed mains wiring to be to dangerous and as a result I have selected a DC powered bed to make the build more accessible to the average user.

Firmware:

• Marlin configuration is available at firmware/Marlin. Tested with the AIO II.

Some words of caution:

• As you can imagine, a fixed bed cantilever is not optimal for fast speeds or larger printvolumes.
• Thankfully, we dont have to deal with a large printvolume. Speed and Acceleration are however a concern here. Rapid changes in direction can be challenging for any motion system and even more so with this motion system. As a result consider setting your print speeds and accelerations conservatively.
• So why the fixed bed cantilever? Because it simply looks cool.
• Dual rails are used for load distribution on both the Y and Z axis; these can be a bit tricky to align, and can and will cost you a few grey hairs.
• last word of caution: I encourage you to take your time building flatpack, and make certain everything is square, and all the motion system moves smoothly, while everything that should not move is rigid and secure without much play or flexing.
• its a (functioning) prototype, and will continue to undergo active development and improvements.

This is free for everyone to download and build, or of course to just look at it and take some inspiration or ideas from it. :)

ToDo-List

• the XY-joiner is currently not printable on flatpack. In keeping with reprap-fashion everything should be. That will be fixed
• with that said, the XY-joiner is also too complicated to print. While redesigning this part, I hope to not only make it printable on flatpack but easier to print in general.
• flatpack has no spoolholder. The goal is to design a spoolholder, that can travel along in the spoolbox along side the filament you´re carrying with you
• I may change to a Mellow Orbiter Extruder, as that seems to be a better extruder for this machine, while being nearly the same shape and price
• Further optimization of the fanduct/part cooling. I have encountered difficulties designing the fanduct. I have started a repo for "caterpillar", which is a partcoolingsolution I designed using CF tubes, which I intend to merge into flatpack eventually.
• the current 3 point-bedmounting is not optimal, as it is simply drilled and tapped M3 threaded holes. I would like to find a better solution down the road.
• you can twist the base and that's not supposed to happen! One solution is to drill through the aluminium extrusions to get screws into the extrusions under the bed. I am convinced there is probably a better solution.

(for a break, the latest switch from a totally different hotend/partcooling setup to the actual one. Thats not all steps, just a few)

Design files

Fusion 360

This link is sadly viewable only, as I am using the free version of Autodesk Fusion 360.

The link to the latest stable F360 file (Ver6) is here.

The link to the latest stable .step file (Ver6) is here.

Changelog:

• from V4 to V6 there are changes in the X and Y tensioner. Both clamps now feature copper pressfit bushings, and M3 rods. If you started printing already, you only have to watch out for "Y-Tensioner Clamp long v2" and "X-Tensioner Clamp v2".

A few words of gratitude:

The initial idea of a fixed bed cantilever was not mine, but came from apsu, a constant resident of the #reprap-and-custombuilds channel in the 3D Printing discord. With this i built flathead, the bigger brother of flatpack, and without apsu none of this would have happened.

The initial idea to make this foldable, came from @Ogre.

Also, special thanks to oliof, another extremely helpful member and Mod of 3D printing, and also a walking dictionary on obscure 3D printing and mechanical knowledge. And of course, a thank you to everyone else i forgot from 3D printing and especially the #reprap-and-custombuilds channel.

Also, everyone nagging me multiple times a day in the super secret #wheres-flatpack channel...

Flatpack is licensed under GPL v3.0.