Hypercube Extruders

Direct drive and Bowden swappable extruders for the Hypercube design of printer.

Also available on thingiverse: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3761366

More details on the design rationale of the direct drive extruder here: http://designingoverload.com/2019/07/21/new-hypercube-extruder-designs/

Background

These extruders take a lot of their design inspiration from the original hypercube design by Tech2C. In particular the bowden extruder is very similar and credit for that original design should go to Tech2C. The Direct drive extruder is loosely modelled on the PrusaMk3 extruder but with a completely redesigned idler design.

Motivations

Both the Bowden and Direct extruders are designed to be swappable on the hypercube, and to fit within the build volume of a stock designed hypecube without having to move any of the other parts to make it functional. In particular, working out how to enclose the stepper motor and blower fans for the Direct Drive extruder was the most tricky. The latter allows the Hypercube design of printer to print flexible filaments like TPU.

Both extruders use the same print head mounting as Tech2C designed for the orignal hypercube and are designed to fit to a normal hypercube X-carriage.

Neither of the extruders include an inductive Z probe. They are designed for an AnyCubic Ultrabase bed (Glass), and so use a Z endstop rather than a probe. Anyone wishing to add a Z probe mount to the designs, pull requests will be considered, or people are welcome to duplicate and edit these designs on Thingiverse of fork this repository on Github. Please link back to this repository or the designs on Github, I'd love to help people find the right extruder for them.

Design and Assembly

All the CAD work is in OpenSCAD to enable people to edit the designs themselves if they like.

Given that these components will be near heat, I strongly recomment printing in PETG rather than PLA. All of these parts have been printed at .2mm layer heights and have worked fine. Some post processing/cleanup on holes may be required.

The OpenSCAD files also depend on the chamfered primitives library: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1305888

Bowden

This is really just the hotend, you'll need your own extruder. I use the compact bowden extruder from the original hypercube.

Components:

• Printed
  • 1x bowden-toolhead. NB: This toolhead has an integrated duct, rather than the seperate ducting piece required for the original hypercube design. This makes assembly simpler and also makes the design lighter.
  • 1x bowden-clamp-40mm
  • (optional) 1x 40mm Fan Grille from mightynozzle on Thingiverse
• Non Printed
  • 1x E3D V6 hotend (bowden configuration)
  • 4x M3 nyloc nuts (for mounting to the x-carriage)
  • 4x M3 full nuts
    • 2x for mounting the blower fan
    • 2x for attaching the clamp
  • 4x M3x20 Socket Head screws
    • 2x for mounting the blower fan
    • 2x for mounting the clamp
  • 1x Blower fan (same as for Hypercube)
  • 1x 40mm Case Fan (Designed around a Scythe Mini SY124020L) which is really quiet, but any 40mm fan up to 20mm deep fan should work.
  • 4x No4 (2.9mm dia) x 32mm (1 1/4") self tapping screws (to mount the 40mm fan)
  • 2x 2.5mm cable ties
  • (optional) Cable braiding and heatshrink to taste.
  • (optional) 1x MPX M6 connectors (if using these to make the extruders swappable as recommended by Tech2C)

Direct Drive

Components:

• Printed
  • 1x direct-toolhead
  • 1x direct-duct
  • 1x direct-clamp
  • 1x direct-idler-arm
  • 1x bowden-clamp-40mm
  • (optional) 1x 30mm Fan Grille from mightynozzle on Thingiverse
• Non Printed
  • 1x E3D V6 hotend (direct configuration). Ideally also drill out the end, to insert some PTFE tubing directly down the throad. A PTFE insert is also helpful.
  • 1x NEMA17 20mm deep stepper motor. This is less deep than the usual NEMA17 stepper motors but we need a lower profile one so that we don't hit the frame of the hypercube.
  • 1x 625 bearing
  • 1x M5x10 bolt for holding the bearing (I use half round head, but other style may also work).
  • 4x M3 nyloc nuts (for mounting to the x-carriage)
  • 5x M3 full nuts
    • 2x for mounting the blower fan
    • 2x for attaching the clamp
    • 1x for the tensioner arm bolt
  • 6x M3x20 Socket Head screws
    • 2x for mounting the blower fan
    • 2x for mounting the clamp
    • 2x for the stepper motor (one of which is also the axle for the idler arm).
  • 2x M3x10 Socket Head screws (for the other two mounting points for the stepper motor).
  • 1x M3x30 Socket Head screw for the tensioning arm.
  • 1x The spring from a biro, to go around the M3x30 bolt.
  • 1x Blower fan (same as for Hypercube)
  • 1x 30mm Fan, no more than 10mm deep
  • 5x No4 (2.9mm dia) x 19mm (3/4") self tapping screws
    • 4x to mount the 30mm fan
    • 1x to mount the duct to the base
  • 4x 2.5mm cable ties
  • (optional) Cable braiding and heatshrink to taste.
  • (optional) 2x MPX M6 connectors (if using these to make the extruders swappable as recommended by Tech2C)
    • One for the same configuration as the bowden setup, one for a line to the stepper motor

Mounting Point (2020 extrusion)

If you've got two print heads, it's useful to have somewhere to put the ones you're not using. This is a simple solution to that problem.

Components:

• Printed
  • 1x mount
• Non Printed
  • 1x M5x8 bolt
  • 1x M5 T-nut
  • 2x M3 full nuts
  • 2x M3x10 Socket Head screws