Bernadette

Meet Bernadette, a large-scale 3d-printer (35x35x45 cm build volume).

I actually wanted to post this over a year ago when this printer was finished, but between a lack of time, and honestly motivation, it never happened. Yes, my last post was over 2 years ago, but that doesn't mean I haven't been building. This printer is a pretty good example of that. It is finished as in: it is able to print, but I'm still looking to improve it here and there. This project was really insightfull on how to develop something slighte more complex and how to get control over the melted plastic perfectly. I'm not saying that I am a 3d-printing master but I believe I'm getting close!

I started this project about 4 years ago. Not being the strongest in software engineering, I initially hard-coded quite a bit. Since then, programming has changed a lot, AI has been incredibly helpful. Still, the real complexity isn't in the software, it's in the hardware. If you don't understand what's going on physically, don't try to patch it with AI-generated code you don't fully grasp. That's how you end up with a big mess.

Getting this printer to work mechanically turned out to be the hardest part, especially at this scale. Bigger movements mean tighter tolerances, higher forces, and sometimes even the frame pushing back on itself.

I'll spare you the full (and probably boring) breakdown of how it all came together. For now, it's sitting in my living room. Not printing anything, just there as a reminder that I am a good engineer. And I should be more proud of that.