Shorten the Hobbed Bolt

I hadn't seen this done before (maybe I just missed it) so thought I'd post.

I chopped the hobbed bolt on my Wade's extruder variant. If I can get a hand I would like to drill the bolt and tap it for an M3 screw. Then the bolt would be held in just with a small screw and washer. Actually I think there isn’t even need for anything to hold the bolt in because once the filament is inserted it holds the bolt and keeps it from moving sides ways.

I also left a little play on the geared end of the bolt so it can shift in or out a little bit. That way the filament can force the bolt left or right thus centering itself perfectly on the hobbing.

This saved a whopping 16g! LOL. But I think it looks neater without the two big nuts and end of the bolt sticking out of the block.



[If I had the means to do it I would drill to the hobbing from either end of the bolt so it would be a like a hobbed pipe but for the weight savings - maybe 5g? - it would be a waste of time and effort .]

your wobble in the gear will increase because now load for support is all on the gear. this might make extrusion not work properly when the motor transfers the load from the little gear to the big one. gears might skip.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/07/2014 06:48PM by jamesdanielv.

Ah! I had not considered this possibility and - having not tested it with the motor driving the gear - have not experienced it yet. I will test it as my build progresses. If there are issues with extrusion I will know where to suspect problems. Thank you .. maybe this great idea wasn't so great.