Kossel 3D Printer project illustration
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Kossel 3D Printer A self-built, high-precision delta 3D printer.

2016 hardware3dprintermechanical

Project Intro

Rebuild a delta printer around precision instead of compromise.

I rebuilt an existing Kossel printer with linear rails and a custom dual-fan effector to improve print quality.

Context

Kossel is a parametric delta robot 3D printer, built in 2012 by Johann in Seattle, USA, based on his Rostock prototype. It is named after Albrecht Kossel, a German biochemist and pioneer in the study of genetics. The philosophy of the Kossel 3D printer is to enable it to print other Kossel 3D printers—in other words, to be self-replicating. This idea inspired me to build my own Kossel 3D printer.

Original Kossel printer
CONTEXT / 01Original Kossel printer

Build

I initially had a Kossel 3D printer, but its low print quality motivated me to use it to build another one. For the new printer, I replaced the original roller-wheel slide blocks with linear rail slide blocks to increase accuracy. I also modeled a custom effector that mounts two fans.

Rebuilt printer frame
BUILD / 01Rebuilt printer frame

Here are some of the parts I modeled and printed:

Extruder assembly
BUILD / 02Extruder assembly
Spool holder
BUILD / 03Spool holder
Electronics enclosure
BUILD / 04Electronics enclosure
USB and power ports
BUILD / 05USB and power ports
Dual-fan effector model
BUILD / 06Dual-fan effector model
Dual-fan effector
BUILD / 07Dual-fan effector