The ball joints are needed because the arms don't stay in one plane.
Many people won't agree with me but I think you can fabricate your own rails. I would curve the sides of the PVC rail to match some wheels. You can cut the wheels by angling you jet. (Press fit some bearings into the wheel.
[attachment 22972 wheel.png]
I left some striations so you can see how the jet would cut this out.
If you use a system like LISA you should probably stick with moving the hot end.
If cost is an issue, I would go with a string drive. I am sure you can water jet cut those pulleys. I am not sure if you could water jet cut timing pulleys.
The weight of the platform should be minimized. The heavier it gets the lower your top speed is. (I am not saying don't have a heavy platform. I am saying that a heavy platform will go slower.)
For the quantum the build area has less than 1/2 the diameter of the rail placement. It would be further reduced if you wanted multiple extruders. The need for a heated bed is up to you. They are only necessary for larger prints.
If you are willing to experiment with cut rails (again most people will disagree with me that that is an option) you might want to consider a Cartesian bot.
To get a build like this right you have to be prepared to do a lot of testing and iterating. 3D printing has a lot of gotchas in the first place.
Many people won't agree with me but I think you can fabricate your own rails. I would curve the sides of the PVC rail to match some wheels. You can cut the wheels by angling you jet. (Press fit some bearings into the wheel.
[attachment 22972 wheel.png]
I left some striations so you can see how the jet would cut this out.
If you use a system like LISA you should probably stick with moving the hot end.
If cost is an issue, I would go with a string drive. I am sure you can water jet cut those pulleys. I am not sure if you could water jet cut timing pulleys.
The weight of the platform should be minimized. The heavier it gets the lower your top speed is. (I am not saying don't have a heavy platform. I am saying that a heavy platform will go slower.)
For the quantum the build area has less than 1/2 the diameter of the rail placement. It would be further reduced if you wanted multiple extruders. The need for a heated bed is up to you. They are only necessary for larger prints.
If you are willing to experiment with cut rails (again most people will disagree with me that that is an option) you might want to consider a Cartesian bot.
To get a build like this right you have to be prepared to do a lot of testing and iterating. 3D printing has a lot of gotchas in the first place.