Hello all. Looking for help with lasercut mendel.

I posted in the General forum before coming here. (Getting plenty of views - but no comments.) This looks like the right place to get feedback on builds?

I have a lasercut Mendel. I have gotten through 90% the mechanical build but am not sure where to go from here.

My problem is that I cannot find instructions anywhere except for a blog or two. At this time I have three issues stopping me from moving forward.

(1) I cannot tell if the frog plate is oriented correctly (or if it is upside down)...



(2) I don't know if this part is assembled correctly. I do not know why there is a gap between the upper and lower parts? Is it supposed to be there or should the upper part be bolted directly to the lower with no gap? My guess is that there must be a gap so that the print surface can be bolted to this part using the 4 springs on each corner. If that is the case, then I think the gap belongs there, but it is too wide and needs to be closed down so the springs fit between the build surface and this part? As you can see, I am just lost right now, and would appreciate it if anyone could post a good picture of how the y axis on the LaserCut is supposed to be assembled and attached, or just let me know if I am in the woods or heading in the right direction.



Thanks

Your bearings are upside down.

The frog plate goes under the rods and the little feet on the bearings that you screw it together with go above the rods.

Maybe these pictures will help? This is my y-axis.

Mendel Y-Axis 1
Mendel Y-Axis 2
Mendel Y-Axis 3

Howdy,

I'm in the process of building a laser cut one too, and have been getting 99% of my 'instructions' from this page:

[reprap.org]

... it has the most complete set of images i can find, other than the ones I have been taking at 10min intervals during my own build.
I am uploading them now to my blog, so if you want to check back in about 30mins I'll have a link/post at the top that is just a dump of my photos so far.

BLOG >> [www.deadandburied.com.au]

I'll update it in about a week with text descriptions of as much as I can possibly describe with the intention of making it a complete unofficial Assembly Guide.

Good luck!
Steve

dazed.dnc Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Your bearings are upside down.
>
> The frog plate goes under the rods and the little
> feet on the bearings that you screw it together
> with go above the rods.
>
> Maybe these pictures will help? This is my
> y-axis.
>
> Mendel Y-Axis 1
> Mendel Y-Axis 2
> Mendel Y-Axis 3

Thanks, I am in business again. I will make the changes. I also like the metal springs you have installed. I think I will get a set to substitute for the wooden springs!

noonan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Howdy,
>
> I'm in the process of building a laser cut one
> too, and have been getting 99% of my
> 'instructions' from this page:
>
> [reprap.org]
>
> ... it has the most complete set of images i can
> find, other than the ones I have been taking at
> 10min intervals during my own build.
> I am uploading them now to my blog, so if you want
> to check back in about 30mins I'll have a
> link/post at the top that is just a dump of my
> photos so far.
>
> BLOG >> [www.deadandburied.com.au]
>
> I'll update it in about a week with text
> descriptions of as much as I can possibly describe
> with the intention of making it a complete
> unofficial Assembly Guide.
>
> Good luck!
> Steve


Be careful, the original author of that page does list some cautions about the build he describes - and about a fifth of the pics are supplied by ME. And you can see where I am today! When I get the frog sorted, I will be adding that to those instructions too.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/12/2010 10:27AM by blktoptrvl.

Noonan, most of the wiki is probably a complete unofficial Assembly Guide. Stuff some of your photos and documentation into it?

---

-Sebastien, RepRap.org library gnome.

---

Remember, you're all RepRap developers (once you've joined the super-secret developer mailing list), and the wiki, RepRap.org, [reprap.org] is for everyone and everything!

blktoptrvl Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I also like the metal springs you have
> installed. I think I will get a set to substitute
> for the wooden springs!

Yeah, I noticed that once the wood springs are collapsed they don't really spring back, which made leveling the build plate a bit more difficult since things could only go lower. That meant if one screw was too low I had to lower the other three instead of just raising the one screw. The springs also compress to a smaller length than the wood ones did, which will give me a little extra build height.

dazed.dnc Wrote:

> Maybe these pictures will help? This is my
> y-axis.
>
> Mendel Y-Axis 1
> Mendel Y-Axis 2
> Mendel Y-Axis 3


.... oooh, photos of a mendel from the future!
You mean you've been building yours for 85 years and it's still not ready to go? Sigh, i'll never get there!

Cheers for the photos, springs look like a good idea.

It took me a while to get what you were on about
Apparently I need to adjust the time on my camera.

It has been a long build though. I started somewhere back in June or July of this year. It has been one problem after another. Everything from shipping delays to blown arduino pins and seemingly temperamental firmware. I'm very hopeful that I finally fixed my last major bug last night though.

aww i just got here after like a week
i JUST finished building one of these, everything is still fresh in memory.
any other problems with your build let me know i just finished building(though due to calibration no prints yet) this exact printer.
good luck
ive been at it a while now....
but i generally do things the hard way
brian