BIQ
Huxley Seedling 3D Printer
The BIQ Huxley Seedling is a new 3D-printer that can print objects out of thermoplastics like ABS and PLA. It can be provided as ready built or as a flat-pack self assembly kit including mechanics and electronics. The frame is available in Acrylic/Perspex and MDF finishes.
The 3D printing process
The BIQ Huxley Seedling is based on the A-Frame design of a Mendel, with a horizontally and vertically moveable print head and a horizontal movable build table, providing the XYZ movement.
The heated print head will deposit a layer of molten plastic on the build table. The extruder is elevated along the z-axis as each layer is printed until the overall height is reached.
The PLA and ABS comes in many different colours. The BIQ Huxley Seedling current extruder is designed to print with 1.75 mm ABS or PLA.
Electronics
The X, Y and Z movement is performed by three stepper motors that are controlled by an RepRap based (RAMPS 1.2) board. A fourth stepper motor for the extruder makes sure the right amount of plastic filament is delivered at the nozzle of the printhead at the right time.
The Arduino firmware will accept and execute commands to drive the steppers and print the layers. The latest stable firmware is available free.
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