Prusa i3 Plate stabilizer?

Hi all,

I've had my Prusa i3 (single plate, no support wings) up and running for a number of months now and I have had some VERY good results. But I recently tried to print a tall part meant for an assembly and noticed that my z-axis is not square with my y-axis. I have searched the web and found only two solutions for my problem. The first is to print out a pair of Braces for the connection between the M10 rods and the Plate (which would not work anyways because my z axis would end up skewing the print anyways) [www.thingiverse.com]
The second option is to buy some m6 and m8 rod and create a diagonal support for the backside of the printer. This seems like a better option, but I was wondering if anyone here has done this mod and seen a significant improvement along the z-axis? [www.thingiverse.com]

If anyone else has found a (preferably cheaper) alternative to these two mods lemme know, because I really would like to finally smooth out this last mechanical issue asap.

Thanks,
Shrub

There's not a lot of rod in the second approach. It's a bit dated, but it might fit the printer you have. There isn't going to be a better / cheaper approach than that one.

If you have access to a drill press or a drll guide that would help you drill at right angle, then you can drill precise holes that fit tightly around the 10 mm threaded rods on four pieces of thick flat hard board roughly sized to take the place of that printed support. If you slide that in the threaded rods that mount to the aluminum plate, then it should help keep it square when you tighten the nuts. I think this approach would be more accurate the tighter you make the hole for the threaded rods. You can then print that thingiverse part or a plastic version of the what I suggested.

I placed my printer on a piece of corian and am now designing levelers to level the corian.

I have made my printing bed permanent (three nuts on each screw).

Used a square to make my aluminum plate square to my corian.

No matter were I place my printer, all I have to do is level the corian.

Hi all, just wanted to update this post and say that I came up with a solution that reduced the cost and time required for adding YZ axis reinforcement. My I3 m10 Y-rods were slightly longer than required so I took advantage of this and mounted some angle brackets to the M10 rod instead of the M8 x-rods which appears to be the norm.

This upgrade made my Prusa i3 SUPER rigid, and also gives me a way to square up to Y and Z axes by changing the tension on the support rods. Overall, this upgrade was totally worthwhile!

Thing is here: [www.thingiverse.com]

thx guys!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/28/2014 12:01PM by THE_SHRUB.

I have just finished building a couple of tall i3 machines, and because of the extra height I also needed to stiffen up the frame.
This is how I did it.







The top and bottom brace connections are easily printed and I added two M8 threaded rods for braces. The top rear threaded rod for the base assembly I changed for one that is a bit longer.
Works very well and you also have the means of adjusting the angle to get the frame square by tightening the nuts.

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[regpye.com.au]
"Experience is the mother of all knowledge." --Leonardo da Vinci

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regpye
I have just finished building a couple of tall i3 machines, and because of the extra height I also needed to stiffen up the frame.
This is how I did it.

braces-added.jpg

top-brace.jpg

bottom-brace.jpg

The top and bottom brace connections are easily printed and I added two M8 threaded rods for braces. The top rear threaded rod for the base assembly I changed for one that is a bit longer.
Works very well and you also have the means of adjusting the angle to get the frame square by tightening the nuts.

All of your VERY valuable pictures are missing.

I have to say I am about to give my printer to the Goodwill as I have had nothing but trouble and no matter how much money I throw at it it still is a lemon. Sort of like having a car and knowing you can't do anything else for it. Prusa I3 single frame design has just too many issues for me. I don't mind spending a few minutes to an hour leveling a bed but I am going on over 150 hours and it can't be done. The biggest pain in the ass is the lack of buttresses for the aluminum frame because it doesn't help that the slightest movements causes all sorts of pain when using a dial indicator. If the I4 is like the I3 with that single frame design some please kick Josef in the nads for me and I mean so hard he coughs them up.

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I await Skynet and my last vision will be of a RepRap self replicating the robots that is destroying the human race.

This issue was one of the reasons I decided to build a Mendel90. Also threaded rod for a frame seems to involve a lot of fiddly calibration.
Have you looked at the sgraber mod? [www.thingiverse.com]

Quote
Ralph.Hilton
This issue was one of the reasons I decided to build a Mendel90. Also threaded rod for a frame seems to involve a lot of fiddly calibration.
Have you looked at the sgraber mod? [www.thingiverse.com]

Well, mine is all aluminum or I would have already added the wings (just too humid here for wood to be stable).

I know I read on Prusa's blog that he designed the i3 to be pretty but not practical. Well, he was right and without a lot of modding, which the community did, it was extremely unstable. I now know I wish I had gone with a MM2.

Lets be honest once a printer is set up and everything is dialed in you shouldn't have to touch it for at least a few prints but I have never been that lucky.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/07/2014 03:29PM by Dark Alchemist.

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_______
I await Skynet and my last vision will be of a RepRap self replicating the robots that is destroying the human race.