Starting big, making a SLS with Linux CNC

I already have a full set of bipolar steppers, and I have the parts on hand to solder together the matching drivers.

In regards to the print path I may do the same as a 3d printer, since SLS is a similar technology.

Would you be willing to share that slicer?

I feel like an idiot. Apparently Inventor now has "send to 3D printer". Can LinuxCNC work well with STL files or am I still gonna need a slicer?

Hey guys, thanks for the very helpful information! I have been chatting with some of my other friends and they have given me additional design ideas.

If y'all don't mind, Ill post my build progress here, on top of all my CADs/notes for building it. Why build something awesome if others cant enjoy it too.

Holy crap guys. I just got a call from a very very drunk friend. He's a material scientist.

This is just an idea but I would love to have your opinions. While I know LinuxCNC probably doesn't support it, I think it could be integrated using alternative means.

This dude just thought of a way to do multicolor plolycarbonate in SLS. His suggestion was to have a injet printer pass over the bed between every layer to deposit standard ink where the laser is due to hit. The SLS process causes the polycarbonate particulate to melt and fuse with the ink.

Being a printer tech, I know that the inkjet would have to pass within 0.003in of the bed. How would I prevent it from kicking up dust and clogging the heads? Maybe a large static charge?

Just food for thought. Ill research it later but I wanted to put that out there since I am somewhat impaired myself.

There are industrial inkjets, but the largest gap I know of is about 0.01in. Keep in mind that's a $2k+ printer. I'm cheap

I should be able to bring the printer up somewhat, but as it gets higher it becomes less accurate and skewed in the direction of travel. Then again, when at the proper distance a home inkjet nozzle can be about 12 microns off. If I were to move from 0.003 to 0.01 or 0.1 I should be looking at inaccuracies of no more than 40 microns or 400 microns respectively.

I'm not 100% on what you mean by consolidate. I assume your talking about somewhat packing the powder down? If so, I would have to say somewhat, but I don't know how much for sure. I could possibly do a double pass on the roller to pack it down more.

Again its food for thought. A stretch goal. In order to pull this off I would need to find a way to slice the model into color layers and print it over the bed using the existing driver with some positioning modifications.

Well, I am off to work. When I get back I am going to retouch on my CADs for the whole rig. Once I think its a final draft ill post it up here.