Absolutely, but 90% of the magic is the same, just different parts are moving! The fact is my friends still need flatbed for sample printing etc, colour management testing anyway and the overlap is significant. The ink management, heads, driving electronics are some of the more interesting aspects, as are CMYK+ inks for extended gamut, so can share the technology.
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Open-Source Inkjet Printer Project
- Thread starter Smoke_Jaguar
- Start date
Smoke_Jaguar
Man who touches printers inappropriately.
Single pass printers tend to use industrial heads like the Toshiba CE4 (Mimaki's UJF3042/6042 MKII use them), 4 channels would be good, 8 ideal for white base coat, but all depends on materials. Never got anywhere with Epson, so no good deal on their heads. One of the Chinese companies that makes driver boards/kits for the i3200 stuff even sent all their firmware over, so hoping to have some of their boards coming in soon.
Seems lots of printers running over 2 heads uses a fiber connection for raw data streaming to the head and peeking at the firmware, it's pretty much straight streamed firing information. Might try and see if it's standardized to some degree and peek at the packets on the Mimaki and the aftermarket stuff to see if they're talking the same, or similar languages.
Heads are something that will always have to be sourced. Hoping to make open/custom driver and control boards. That said, when going to lots of heads, current handling can get pretty fun. Larger printers also need some mondo motor driving current. Playing with a JFX500 and that mofo has 3 stacked 36V 1KW PSUs packed into it.
Seems lots of printers running over 2 heads uses a fiber connection for raw data streaming to the head and peeking at the firmware, it's pretty much straight streamed firing information. Might try and see if it's standardized to some degree and peek at the packets on the Mimaki and the aftermarket stuff to see if they're talking the same, or similar languages.
Heads are something that will always have to be sourced. Hoping to make open/custom driver and control boards. That said, when going to lots of heads, current handling can get pretty fun. Larger printers also need some mondo motor driving current. Playing with a JFX500 and that mofo has 3 stacked 36V 1KW PSUs packed into it.
7_nebo_7
Premium Subscriber
Went across this topic. Very curios to see what is outcome going to be. I don't think you have many choices on electronics? I have done numerous projects on Mxtexr, AxWx, DxS, HxsxnSxft, and BxxX electronics. My latest experience was with i3200 and i1600 heads. Very good price per nozzle + head reliability. Keep in mind that hardware/firmware from China suppliers updating/changing almost every months. If you order today, it may not available next year or it could be not 100% plug an play. If you going to use full head speed at 43.2Khz at single drop mode, then you would need to use low viscosity ink 3-4Mpa*S. At multidrop or GrayScale mode at 21.6Khz you should be fine with viscosity up to 7Mpa*S. It will also depend on your head choose. i3200A1 or i3200U1H/L. I hope electronic supplier, able to provide you tool for wave form configuration otherwise you kind of stuck with default/limited wave forms and it is hard to match correct ink for your application. It is not hard to build a printer, it is hard to make it for a person with very limited technical knowledge to just press a button and it print you a nice image not on a paper!
dreko
New Member
Do you know of any companies in China, that might be making a printer that is pseudo open source? I.E. Allows end user to customize or put addon components onto a skeleton printer structure with all needed electronics?
User swappable inkjet heads, user swappable ink types/cartridges, etc?
thanks
Smoke_Jaguar
Man who touches printers inappropriately.
There are retrofit kits readily available, and lots of printers are dame near commodity parts nowadays. Skipping ink DRM and the like will help a lot since you just need to track ink with basic electronics like float switches. At the moment, it's mostly collecting parts and specs and going from there. For ease, I think a flatbed will be the first unit.
complexity increases exponentially.
dreko
New Member
Understood. Out of curiousity, what company do you work for? You mentioned ink mixing. Do you work for a company like STS inks? or similar?
How did all your Chinese vendor discussions work out?
Smoke_Jaguar
Man who touches printers inappropriately.
I co-own a small specialty print shop and do technician work for a Mimaki vendor on the side. We're broke, but we have fun, and it's good motivation to find solutions. As for Chinese vendors, sometimes you just have to ask. Offer them some of the work that I already plan to release, and they see it as a net benefit to their cooperation.
Smoke_Jaguar
Man who touches printers inappropriately.
Currently swimming in flatbeds, but about to do a 4 head conversion on a small UV flatbed for someone. Using a quad XP600 system, and will document as I go.
dreko
New Member
fHmmmm... tell me more about this conversion on a small UV flatbed. I'm currently looking around for a smallish UV flatbed, that can print on somewhat thick/deep materials.
What's the print bed size on this small UV flatbed?
Does the bed move up and down on the Z Axis to accommodate thicker items?
Very interested...
What's the print bed size on this small UV flatbed?
Does the bed move up and down on the Z Axis to accommodate thicker items?
Very interested...
Smoke_Jaguar
Man who touches printers inappropriately.
The unit I will be upgrading is sold under the "Xante" brand, just uses a single XP600 head and they charge like $30K for the silly thing. The carriage does have up/down movement over the bed controlled by a simple beam-break sensor to automatically raise the print carriage. Frame kit runs around $700, electronics are another $1200, heads are $160 (ea. x4), tanks, pumps, tubing and such, another $200ish. Overall, not a bad kit build. Freight is also a bit pricey on the larger bits.
Smoke_Jaguar
Man who touches printers inappropriately.
I think it's a 3000? White one on their site. The head control system is just Hoson Soft boards /controllers.
Hello everyone, my name is Felipe, and I’m from Colombia. I’m currently working on updating an old 4-foot by 8-foot UV flatbed printer. The original configuration features two Dx5 printheads on a Hoson platform. I purchased a kit from a Chinese vendor that includes four i3200U1 printheads and a newer Hoson platform, which I already have in hand.
Now, the challenge begins! Unfortunately, the seller didn’t provide any connectors, schematics, firmware, software, or any additional documentation. I’ve been searching for information in many places, but I haven’t had much luck so far. The mainboard version is newer than the popular boards, and the Hoson website doesn’t offer any useful documentation. The printing on the mainboard is also difficult to decipher.
As an open-source enthusiast and a maker at heart, I’m excited about this project. At this point, I would greatly appreciate any help, guidance, or experiences from anyone who has faced a similar situation. Thank you!
Now, the challenge begins! Unfortunately, the seller didn’t provide any connectors, schematics, firmware, software, or any additional documentation. I’ve been searching for information in many places, but I haven’t had much luck so far. The mainboard version is newer than the popular boards, and the Hoson website doesn’t offer any useful documentation. The printing on the mainboard is also difficult to decipher.
As an open-source enthusiast and a maker at heart, I’m excited about this project. At this point, I would greatly appreciate any help, guidance, or experiences from anyone who has faced a similar situation. Thank you!
Smoke_Jaguar
Man who touches printers inappropriately.
Contact HosonSoft and let them know your board version. They should be able to provide you with some of the useful information to hook it up.