Bottom-Up 3D Printer Build

I want to share the build of a 3d printer kit that is quite special. This is a Bottom-Up 3D printer that is cheap and very efficient, using 3rd party resins with no limitations for the use (hardware, resins, or printing parameters).

The tutorial focus on the build of the 3D printer, but you will require:

• a projector
• a laptop or pc to run the 3D printer

The advantages of this printer are:

• the price because it is cheap
• the precision
• no failure is possible from the contact between the cured resin and the metal plate
• easy to fix anything as the structure is open and large
• you can fix your parameters as you wish
• you can use any resin you want

For such a build, you require to buy the 3D printer kit, obviously, and the following hardware and tools:

• 15 mm and 12 mm plywood
• A drilling machine
• A jigsaw
• screws and nuts
• metal square supports
• stainless steel sheets
• motor support

I will not detail the full build as you can access this complete tutorial here.

The kit contains the metal hardware and electronics of the 3D machine so you just need to build the structure and printing supports.

You will need to cut to size the plywood sheet to be able to adapt the metal hardware to the plywood, bolted in place. I bolt the screws into the wood and it works perfectly fine.

The first step is to build the vertical guides of the moving platform with the endless screw in the middle which is then connected to the motor. At this stage, it is important not to put too many screws as your build would be hyperstatic.

Both vertical guides give the precision for X and Y axis while the endless screw gives the movement and precision on the Z axis.

You can fix the vertical wooden part on the base of the structure and build the plate on which will be mounted the projector. You can see in the picture, 6 rows of 2 perforations allowing you to move the projector in height and enlarge the printing surface at will (which cost you precision on the printing).

Then we can build the printing plate

The kit includes everything to generate and automatize the vertical movement of the 3D printer but you need to build the printing plate.

This latter is made from a metal square part connected through a large screw to a stainless steel plate perforated, as shown in the pictures.

This stainless steel plate can be adapted to the exact size of the container you will use.

The perforations are required to allow the resin to flow through the plate while the plate is moving up and down.

One of the few drawbacks of this design is that you require a container full of resin, half a liter in my case.

You can print your designs, once the build is finished.

Each print requires you to set the zero machine (that is always the same) with the top of the resin surface in your resin container.

The zero machine is the top surface of the printing plate.