You back from never never land ?
Printable View
Entirely mechanical.
For instance, they put the extruder/extruder-motor/extruder-nozzle on the end of essentially a diving board. So it flexes like crazy and precision is affected. They used bronze bushings on steel shafting, which is good when things are cut with a CNC and the holes are truly concentric. But when the bushing holders came out of the printer, it took me 2 days to get them aligned so the mounts (with 2 bushings per side mounted on) to move freely along the shaft (ie fall down a vertical shaft when held at top and let go). The linear guide rails and carriages they used were plastic, so I can't clamp the extruder carriage down enough to ensure it won't move when the x-axis motor belt tugs on it in either direction. The z-axis motor mounts are not gusseted, so they flex under the weight of the motors/shafting. The flexible shaft coupling for the z-axis introduce a spring like effect since the bottom of the leadscrews are not supported. So the distance between the threaded nut and the motor could change depending on how fast the motor changes direction. The glass build plate is overconstrained (by a clamp) that doesn't allow it to expand/contract as it heats/cools. This introduces a rise/fall in the center of the plate when the heater turns on/off to maintain a set temperature (70degC). Uh... I'm sure there are a dozen more but can't think of them at the moment.
Anyho's, did anyone get banned while I was gone?
Heya buffalobo [Wave]
I might be able to check in here every once in a while during work. I really don't have any free time at home anymore, which is when I used to hang out here the most.
Yea, quite a bit of flex on a few key areas. The quick disconnect is basically disconnecting the z-axis uprights from the x and y-axis base. The issue is constraining the z-axis shafts so that they don't change in relation to one another or the bed once reinstalled.
Oh yea, did I mention that I printed my first gun part the other day? I made a couple picatinny rail clips (aka index clips). Best of all, I can customize them with initials across the top. Still working on the design for a knurling that comes out well during printing.