This is a far fetch!

[Rackbox]

I am toying around with the idea that it is possible to convert a
desktop inkjet into a large format printer.

As for the physical change I have figured out how and where to buy
parts. I would actually just enlong the horizontal travel for the print
head moving one of the sides further away from the print heads initial
position thus replacing the carriage belt and the metal rod on which the
head slides with longer parts.

As for the "mental" mod, I have no idea. Would a printer throw up on me
because of this? Would it accept that the travel now is longer? And how
about the software?

I have calculated, that I need to scale e.g. a Canon PIXMA IP 5000 4
times in width in order to get it to print A0 sizes.

Anyone? (You are also welcome to call me crazy, whacky or what not)

 

[Anna Daptor]

I am toying around with the idea that it is possible to convert a desktop
inkjet into a large format printer.

As for the physical change I have figured out how and where to buy parts.
I would actually just enlong the horizontal travel for the print head
moving one of the sides further away from the print heads initial position
thus replacing the carriage belt and the metal rod on which the head
slides with longer parts.

As for the "mental" mod, I have no idea. Would a printer throw up on me
because of this? Would it accept that the travel now is longer? And how
about the software?

How would the printer know that the head guide shaft is longer? You'd either
need to reprogram the firmware or make the gear ratio on the carriage motor
/ timing belt larger to move the head further each turn of the motor. Doing
the later however would also place the ink droplets further apart too.

I have calculated, that I need to scale e.g. a Canon PIXMA IP 5000 4 times
in width in order to get it to print A0 sizes.

Anyone? (You are also welcome to call me crazy, whacky or what not)

Your a what not.

 

[zakezuke]

How would the printer know that the head guide shaft is longer? You'd either

need to reprogram the firmware or make the gear ratio on the carriage motor
/ timing belt larger to move the head further each turn of the motor. Doing
the later however would also place the ink droplets further apart too.

I know in flat bed scanners for example many don't care how long the
scanhead guide shaft is, they reference start point and end points with
a reflector. I have retrofited the main board and scan head from one
microtek to another and managed to do legal scanning. Now i'm not
saying that a printer would work this way as they are a tad more
complex.

I welcome the what not experiment.

 

[Bob Headrick]

I am toying around with the idea that it is possible to convert a desktop
inkjet into a large format printer.

As for the physical change I have figured out how and where to buy parts. I
would actually just enlong the horizontal travel for the print head moving
one of the sides further away from the print heads initial position thus
replacing the carriage belt and the metal rod on which the head slides with
longer parts.

As for the "mental" mod, I have no idea. Would a printer throw up on me
because of this? Would it accept that the travel now is longer? And how about
the software?

If this was a science project you might be able to make something sort of
work - you would need to extend the paper feed mechanism, extend the carriage
rod, extend the trailer cable that connects the carriage to the electronics,
extend the carriage encoder* and a few more complicated things. The motors
would probably need to have heat sinks applied to prevent overheating with the
longer swath. The firmware would need to be modified extensively - you would
need both firmware and driver work to provide the extra data required.

*if you replace the encoder with one of less resolution you might be able to
make the printer function scaling things by a factor in the carriage axis
without any need to change the firmware. It would not look good....

If you want to actually get a printer that will work then look on eBay for one
of the proper size .

Regards,
Bob Headrick, MS MVP Printing/Imaging

 

[Tony]

I am toying around with the idea that it is possible to convert a
desktop inkjet into a large format printer.

As for the physical change I have figured out how and where to buy
parts. I would actually just enlong the horizontal travel for the print
head moving one of the sides further away from the print heads initial
position thus replacing the carriage belt and the metal rod on which the
head slides with longer parts.

As for the "mental" mod, I have no idea. Would a printer throw up on me
because of this? Would it accept that the travel now is longer? And how
about the software?

I have calculated, that I need to scale e.g. a Canon PIXMA IP 5000 4
times in width in order to get it to print A0 sizes.

Anyone? (You are also welcome to call me crazy, whacky or what not)

Hmmm....an enormous task I think. The first problem I anticipate would be paper
feeding, wide format printers have a much more demanding task when feeding
paper and keeping it straight. Most A4 printers struggle to keep the paper from
skewing less than 1 to 1.5 mm (top to bottom), this is much harder with wide
format, I suspect the paper feed motor and gears would not be up to the task
either. If you get a chance have a look at the complexity in a wide format
paper feed mechanism. The next problem would be to modify the printer so that
it knows where the printhead is whilst printing and maintaining quality print.
Don't wish to be negative but I suspect the problems are huge. The mechanical
re-engineering would have to be precise, and there would definitely be some
electronic and/or firmware changes required and getting access to the firmware
details may be near impossible. Great fun if you want to do it as a hobby but
almost certainly not cost effective if you add up the hours (weeks!) needed to
complete the task.
Tony

 

[measekite]

This is total bullshit. What a waste of time.

Hmmm....an enormous task I think. The first problem I anticipate would be paper
feeding, wide format printers have a much more demanding task when feeding
paper and keeping it straight. Most A4 printers struggle to keep the paper from
skewing less than 1 to 1.5 mm (top to bottom), this is much harder with wide
format, I suspect the paper feed motor and gears would not be up to the task
either. If you get a chance have a look at the complexity in a wide format
paper feed mechanism. The next problem would be to modify the printer so that
it knows where the printhead is whilst printing and maintaining quality print.
Don't wish to be negative but I suspect the problems are huge. The mechanical
re-engineering would have to be precise, and there would definitely be some
electronic and/or firmware changes required and getting access to the firmware
details may be near impossible. Great fun if you want to do it as a hobby but
almost certainly not cost effective if you add up the hours (weeks!) needed to
complete the task.
Tony

 

[Arthur Entlich]

I suspect the driver, the sensors and firmware are designed to not allow
the carriage to travel beyond the normal limits, but good luck with it,
and let us know if you can get it going...

Art

 

[Tom]

I am toying around with the idea that it is possible to convert a
desktop inkjet into a large format printer.

As for the physical change I have figured out how and where to buy
parts. I would actually just enlong the horizontal travel for the print
head moving one of the sides further away from the print heads initial
position thus replacing the carriage belt and the metal rod on which the
head slides with longer parts.

As for the "mental" mod, I have no idea. Would a printer throw up on me
because of this? Would it accept that the travel now is longer? And how
about the software?

I have calculated, that I need to scale e.g. a Canon PIXMA IP 5000 4
times in width in order to get it to print A0 sizes.

Anyone? (You are also welcome to call me crazy, whacky or what not)

As some other people have mentioned, your biggest challenges would be
re-designing the paper feeder, and making the firmware modifications. One
thing that hasn't been mentioned yet is your need to get a much longer timing
strip and to somehow suspend it so that it doesn't sag in the middle.
--Tom.