I haven't tried it but I know it would be possible. The NEMA14's I looked at had 1/3rd the torque of a NEMA17. (Note: NEMA14's come in all shapes and sizes and so do NEMA17's. The NEMA17's we use are on the top end of the spectrum so you will have to get a NEMA14 from the top end of the spectrum to get 1/3rd the torque.) That means to accomplish the same acceleration you will have to modify the mechanical advantage (MA) by 3.
Ways to increase you MA...
1) Instead of attaching to the carage directly, loop over a idler and then attach to the frame. This will double the mechanical advantage which will probably be enough. [www.thingiverse.com]
2) Decrease the size of your drive pulley.
It is not necessary to increase the MA by a factor of 3. It is a balance between top speed and top acceleration. If you replace NEMA17's with NEMA14's and change your MA by 3 then you will get all the same performance during normal printing except you top speed will be reduce by a factor of 3. You may want to keep some of that top speed but sacrifice some acceleration by picking a smaller MA.
I was hoping to use NEMA14's for Wally or Simpson but they are slightly more expensive for me. For a Rostock, weight isn't really an issue so I would discourage going that route unless you already have some on hand or you found a cheap source. If you found a cheap source for some NEMA14's with decent torque please share. :-)
Ways to increase you MA...
1) Instead of attaching to the carage directly, loop over a idler and then attach to the frame. This will double the mechanical advantage which will probably be enough. [www.thingiverse.com]
2) Decrease the size of your drive pulley.
It is not necessary to increase the MA by a factor of 3. It is a balance between top speed and top acceleration. If you replace NEMA17's with NEMA14's and change your MA by 3 then you will get all the same performance during normal printing except you top speed will be reduce by a factor of 3. You may want to keep some of that top speed but sacrifice some acceleration by picking a smaller MA.
I was hoping to use NEMA14's for Wally or Simpson but they are slightly more expensive for me. For a Rostock, weight isn't really an issue so I would discourage going that route unless you already have some on hand or you found a cheap source. If you found a cheap source for some NEMA14's with decent torque please share. :-)