Printrbot Play tiltup bed

thingiverse

This is a work in progress published for comment! Not ready for printing! With an extended bed the Play becomes much harder to store and to transport. So I decided to try to build a tilt up for the Play.The Printrbot Jr. V2 had a tilting bed. The Go style printers did also. The tilting bed makes these printers easy to store and to transport. The "bearings" have been designed for an 8mm smooth rod. The reinforce piece is for the opposite side inside to connect the base back together after cutting. The idea is to cut the base on each side of the bed bearings and switch. This means about 120mm of base will be cut loose. The printed long bearings will attach to the base ends the bar will be attached to the top of the base to bridge the gap. The short bearings will attach to the "tilt Bed" part of the base. These all will be attached with screws. I intended to make these parts out of Aluminum on a desktop mill. I decided to try to print it instead so you could make it for yourself. The printer that improves itself is just more fun and makes more sense. My worry is that the sturdy design of the Play, which makes it such a good printer, will be reduced by using printed parts instead of milled 6061. I think I will use magnets to hold the bed in the print position. These will be mounted in the "reinforce" printed part. One side of "tilt bed" will have to be shortened, on the bearing side, to allow the tilt. The wires are on the bearing side of the base. Unfortunately this cannot be printed on a stock Play. The parts are 160mm long. They can be printed on extended bed models. Most likely I will print them with PLA at 50%+ infill. To tilt the bed the Bridge will have to be lifted up out of the way. With the printer at the edge of the table you will pull the bed all the way over then push it down. Then you pull it up into the storage position. I will have to design a lock to hold it in the bed in storage position. EDIT: After looking at the base I think it would be better not to cut the entire bed base loose. Cutting just one side loose and across the top and then connect across the top. See top base2.png. See reinforce2. This piece will be mounted inside the base. Magnets will be inset into the top to lock the tilt bed down for printing. Not cutting one side the base will have more strength than before. Alignment will be not be an issue now. The corners of these parts are now beveled. There could still be issues with the wires being pinched, may have to design a wire guide to prevent this. Print Settings Printer: Printrbot Play extended bed Rafts: No Supports: No Resolution: .4mm Infill: 50% proposed Notes: Will be printed on a Printrbot Play with extended bed. Cannot be printed on standard bed as parts are 160mm long