The Death Star. A 3D printer newb story.

Still need to print a few more parts. Printing cable chain at the moment. Had some decent weather so spent a few days cleaning up the property and did a bit of fishing. Just getting back to this after nearly a week. Lol.

 

Cable chain came out great. However last night the bolts came loose that hold the linear rods for the bed and things got messed up pretty fast lol. So my frame braces failed. Will try again tonight.

 

There are no mistakes or mess ups...only ART...

 

The rods fell out on one end. Lol. So messed up is the term I'm going to stick with. Lol.

 

Back to printing the parts I need. It's working again. Lol. For now. Haha. Someday I will be able to walk away from this thing without the worries of it failing mid print hahaha.

 

Got just a few parts left to print and I can start the swap out of the frame. Not sure if I will do an x axis cable chain this time. Looking at other options.
Any ideas welcome.

 

Well the y axis chain I printed isn't going to work with my frame braces. The last few prints had issues and both chains have a pronounced twist in them after assembly. During disassembly I found melted and warped frame braces ECT so no way I could get a level bed. Will do it up temporary with cable wraps and print some new chains once it's up and running again on the aluminum frame.

Have a feeling I'm going to be sidetracked really bad after I get the superstructure printed for the two Scharnhorst's. I found all the stl files to fully print several different 1/14 scale Tamia type heavy trucks. I have long wanted one. Hint hint. Lol.

 

Things are progressing. However I will need to make some spacer blocks to raise the bed about 5mm so it will clear the new y tensioner. I am running a Gulf Coast robotics carriage plate and it hits the belt tensioner. Also doing a vertical y motor mod to get better belt tracking. This all makes it harder to get it all to play nice together. Lol.

Hardest part was taking it all back apart to square up everything and get the pertinent measurements set correctly. This thing should blow the old one away quality wise and easy of use will be much better

New cases for all the electronics. Mosfets will be mounted under the table. Mainboard on the table leg and the display I am not sure exactly yet but either inside the door on the right or just below the door on the outside on the right. Still have to redo the enclosure as I'm not happy with it for long term use. To floppy lol.

 

Forgot to mention that the vertical y motor also places the stepper against the aluminum frame using it a heat sink. Awesome.

 

My new printed x belt anchor makes contact where it shouldn't and is requiring modification of the lower bearing block so everything clears. Man these little issues tend to stack. Lol.

 

Hopefully I can find some 3mm screws in town today. Otherwise I get to Dremel 16 screws to custom length lol. Need a size I don't have to add spacer plates under the bed.

 

Ended up getting some longer 5mm screws for the the y axis mounts so I can raise the whole assembly on spacers.

 

New issue lol. Now that I've spaced the bed up I need to space the belt holder down to restore belt alignment. No problem just cut another spacer out of the acrylic salvage from the OG frame. Need some longer 4mm screws though. I have a bunch of 3mm screws but no 4mm long enough. But it's coming along.

When I'm done this thing should rival most machines on the market over triple what I will be into it. But dang what a long road lol

 

Had a small issue with the y axis belt holder. Needs to be printed about 3% smaller. Belt won't grab as the slot is too wide. Jammed some metal straps in there to take up the space for now till I can print a new one. But it's solid as a rock so not really worried. Going back to end stops as it's just easier to program. Lol.

Now I need to figure out how to drill a hole in a sheet of glass. Hmmmm.

 

glue!

 

Want to be able to remove the belt for maintenance. Lol.
It's down to wiring now. Then I can get to the refit of the enclosure.

Hope to have it back together and ready for reprogramming by this evening. Storming here so may as well work on it. Lol.

 

Decided to clean the bed and go back to tape for now rather than my glass plate as I can't see any way to safely get a hole I the glass for my 3 point leveling setup. Will need to get some more PTFE sheets ordered. That made first layer adhesion awesome. It was however a bit harder to remove the printed parts even after cooling. This led to eventual damage and man was that glue a PITA to remove from the aluminum. I will put down a layer of tape first next time. Lol.

 

I don’t know of anyone that puts holes in the glass. I use binder clips to attach the glass to the heated bed.

 

I was using thermal transfer putty. Works great. But my glass has cut corners for the screws. So you can level the bed with the glass in place.

 

Note also I am using silicone instead of springs.

Once it's set it almost never changes.
A little repurposing going on here. Lol.

Obviously this is a strain relief for the wiring. Older guys will know immediately what this is. Lol. Old pushrod from an OLD airplane project. I don't ever use these anymore as there's just so many better options.