Thought I'd chime in here as although there is no reference, it seems you're referring to the Deltaprintr if I'm not mistaken :)
There are a couple of reasons that we decided to go with strings.
1. Scaling printers is costly. Strings are cheap and therefore let people scale easily.
2. There is a SLIGHT improvement in using strings over belts. When a delta bot prints fast, even if everything is tightened properly, the teeth in the grooves of the pulley may still move ~0.2mm from side to side under fast speeds and especially if your platform is heavy.
3. Yes, strings do stretch. This is why we use a 65 pound tested spectra fishing line which only needs tightening about 3 times after you first assemble it, then it works fine.
We think that although it may not be "industry standard" to use strings in mechanical designs, it helps us drive down the cost tremendously and does help improve resolution when it comes to fast speeds.
We'll be at Makerfaire NY if you're interested in seeing it in person :)
We're going to be sending out an email soon with our booth number if you're signed up at www.deltaprintr.com.
-Shai
There are a couple of reasons that we decided to go with strings.
1. Scaling printers is costly. Strings are cheap and therefore let people scale easily.
2. There is a SLIGHT improvement in using strings over belts. When a delta bot prints fast, even if everything is tightened properly, the teeth in the grooves of the pulley may still move ~0.2mm from side to side under fast speeds and especially if your platform is heavy.
3. Yes, strings do stretch. This is why we use a 65 pound tested spectra fishing line which only needs tightening about 3 times after you first assemble it, then it works fine.
We think that although it may not be "industry standard" to use strings in mechanical designs, it helps us drive down the cost tremendously and does help improve resolution when it comes to fast speeds.
We'll be at Makerfaire NY if you're interested in seeing it in person :)
We're going to be sending out an email soon with our booth number if you're signed up at www.deltaprintr.com.
-Shai
