Mark Rehorst wrote this instructable detailing the build of his 3D printer – Son of MegaMax (SoM):
I built my first 3D printer, MegaMax, using surplus machine parts over a period of about 2 years. I built it myself because when I started the project, the biggest build envelope you could get in a reasonably priced machine was about 5″ x 5″ x 5″ or so and I wanted to make bigger prints- full sized human skulls using data extracted from CT scans, for example. I decided to build for a 12″ x 12″ x 12″ print envelope. MegaMax produced high quality prints, but as I worked on him and solved many problems problems over a couple years I got some ideas for improvements and decided it was time for a rebuild using everything I had learned.
This Instructable is about the rebuild, and though you probably won’t be able to duplicate my machine exactly, I hope it will provide some ideas you can use in your machine. I wanted the new machine to be self-contained, smaller, and the electronics isolated from the warm print chamber. I also wanted the print quality and reliability pushed to maximum. SoM is the result.