Creating Your Own Printer?

hajo asks: "I am in need of a Large (60" plus) printer which can print onto any thickness material for a specific art/robotics project. I loved the earlier Slashdot story where the two students used two motors and an inkjet can for large mural prints; but I need a higher quality end result. I can build a plotter mechanism with two PC controlled stepper motors; But I would like to find out how to use head the parts from a cheap inkjet printer. Where can I find info on the hardware and drivers for such a project. I have a hard time believing that I'm the first who wants to use the ink jet head parts of a printer to do something with them. Any hints, tips and URLs deeply appreciated. I believe this project will make for an interesting read and as thanks for any help I will keep the Slashdot community informed of any results."

Comments

Barking up the wrong tree.

[sakusha]

Commercial inkjet carts will be worthless in this application. Very large format prints are typically done at 70 dpi, I've seen billboard proofs as low as 15dpi and they look great (well, when seen from billboard distance).
You want something that can blast out huge dots, not microscopic 1440dpi dots. Plotter mechanisms are difficult to engineer with precision at that size. Most of the largest format printers use a rotating drum like Iris inkjets. You should see Metromedia's custom printers, they use drums the size of railroad boxcars. It is much easier to keep a drum spinning at a constant speed and just run a printhead past it at a fixed speed, than to accurately advance paper in fixed increments through a conventional printer mechanism. Trust me on this, I used to be an Iris technician.