X motor questions

Okay, I sourced my own motors for my "Sturdy" project, and then found out, when I tried to mount the extruder and X-axis motors, that the motor bodies are apparently shorter than the ones normally supplied with the kit (by a good 1/2" or so). Wasn't much of a problem with the extruder motor - I just cut the supplied bolts down a bit shorter. The X motor, however, is a bit more of a problem, since one bolt goes through part of the bracket from the rear to hold it in place (the specced motor has a LITTLE space, according to the manual, and can be shimmed with a washer, but this is a bit TOO much space to shim with a washer!).

Any easy solutions for this? I'd really rather not have to buy another motor...

Also, while I am on the subject, the "Sturdy" uses printed timing belt pulleys for a T5 belt, rather than the metal pulleys. This may seem like a dumb question, but which way is the "flange" on the pulley supposed to be oriented - towards, or away, from the body of the motor? The metal pulleys for smaller belts have two flanges to keep the belt from slipping off; is belt slippage a problem with the printed T5 pulleys?

Chris, if you are reading this, there are enough differences between the "Dibond" and "Sturdy" models that it might warrant making some additions to the build manual to cover those differences. I know I've been a bit confused in places...

That is unfortunate as the bom specifies 47mm motors and shorter ones will have lower torque.

I don't see any reason why you can't pack it out with lots of washers apart from the fact there are not that many spare in the fastener kit we supplied. The two front screws hold the motor in place laterally and the back one just prevents it rotating around the Z axis. You could use something thicker like M4 nuts or an imperial equivalent followed by less washers.

The flange goes towards the motor, and no the belt doesn't slip off. The printed pulleys are long enough to prevent that.

I don't have the time to maintain three copies of the build manual. What it needs is a parametric version. I have made all the pictures external so you can build the assembly views for the sturdy version and copy the manual to the sturdy version of the tree and they will then show up. I need to find a way to do the same will the bom sections and the references to the fasteners, etc, in the text.

You can also open any of the assembly view scad files in OpenScad and pan and zoom to see exactly how everything goes together in any version. Change $exploded to 0 or 1 to make assembled or exploded views.

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[www.hydraraptor.blogspot.com]

How badly will lower torque affect the printer as far as function goes? 3 of them are 3.6Kg/cm, and 2 of them are 2.8Kg/cm. Will that mean the printer won't function at all, or does it mean it will function more slowly?

I don't know I have never tried smaller motors. The Y axis seems to be the closest to being on the limit. You may have to reduce the max acceleration. I don't know what effect that has on print quality as again I have never tried it.

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[www.hydraraptor.blogspot.com]

According to the original Mendel specs, the motors I have are well within capability (the originals were something like 14N-cm). I saved the higher torque motors for the Z-axis, since they are working against gravity, and the extruder. The two 2.8 Kg/cm motors I will use for the X and Y.