Why are you copying the exact same part withing the CAD software? You would be better off to make the copies in the slicing software to avoid any problems like this. STL's are not the neatest of conversions and if you have lots of individual parts the conversion can do funny things with the faces.by scottybfg - Reprappers
QuoteAllan I guess that nobody is willing to help me. with my API problem, so I give up. Allan You would only need an API key if you were trying to print from a server. (At least that is my understanding) As Bee69 said start a new topic, and you will find someone to help you. Important information to include in that topic - Printer control board (If you dont know post a picture) - Firmware makby scottybfg - Prusa i3 and variants
Nah, Im stubborn (if you cant tell already). I got most the distentions from a quick google, Just need one more you. What height is the centre line of that 5mm shaft currently? With the rest of the numbers I found the bracket almost designs itself, If you give me this last dimension ill send you a solidworks file, (yeah, no more shitty paint haha)by scottybfg - General
Yeah ok. I had envisioned an almost cube bracket with two side faces missing to allow for the belts to pass through. With out dimensions of your parts (pulley, motor bearings) I cant do much else.by scottybfg - General
Yeah, I dont know how it got the name auto bed levelling, makes it really misleading. All it is doing is making a map of the bed in points, from there it can determine how to adjust the z axis during printing to account for high or low spots. What I find is that you want a bed that is already somewhat flat and level, then use the auto level to account for small variations that I just cant fixby scottybfg - Prusa i3 and variants
Are these the plates you cant change? If its all 3D printed apart from the 20*40 why cant you change?by scottybfg - General
If you want to go back to the belt idea, I made it simpler and would fit to the top with only a few part modifications and no loss in print area. By mounting the motor ontop you save belt and space, as for mounting the belt to the carriage just add a bracket to the top of your carriage design, and insted or just using one plate, use two (one on each side of the wheels, that way the have a tab oby scottybfg - General
I cant say that they will be perfectly straight (something you would need to ask the suppler) but they will have some flex, so as long as the bearings are aligned this shouldn't be a problem (you might need to add one in the middle depending on the distance between bearings). Its not going to deform when spinning and should take the tightening of the gt2 belt, depending on your supports (you haveby scottybfg - General
I said it a few times but may have been glossed over, Have you looked at carbon fibre rods? They are used in RC plane building because they are light, strong and offer a small amount of flex. It sounds like you are dead set on the shaft idea so you dont have to do too much re design, so maybe its time to look at different materials that will give you the shaft you want.by scottybfg - General
Just google "CNC mill frame" and you will get a million design ideas. Also without seeing your frame its hard to give surgestionsby scottybfg - General
It all really depends how much you want to print. 3D printing is good in the design phase as you can test new ideas and get a working prototype for little cost. Once you want to start mass producing 3D printing looses its cost advantage due to the time it takes, and depending on the quality of the machine you might have more failed prints. I ran some numbers a few years back for a universal bikeby scottybfg - General
I think you would pay more for a double pulley then just buying 2 and placing them together on the shaft (or glue them if you wanted to) So do you see this idea as a better solution to your design problem?by scottybfg - General
its paint mate, not a scale drawing. The red is belt As for the smooth rod, well whats the length of the pulley say 16mm (just measured one of mine) and a bearing width say 5mm. So the shaft lenght of the doubble pulleys (the longest you need) only needs to be about 37mm call it an even 40mm. If you cant find 5mm smooth rod that is dead straight over 40mm, then no one here can helpby scottybfg - General
Time for another one of my awesome quick paint jobs, motor drives a closed loop belt underneath, two belts on top drive the X axisby scottybfg - General
well, it could be done with one closed loop belt to drive the 2 pulleysby scottybfg - General
Yep I see, all you need to do is mount a section of 2020 (or even a plate) along the back that the assembly can bolt into Also disregard my motor placement in my sketch, I thought this shaft was coupled directly to the motorby scottybfg - General
QuoteDark Alchemist this has some merit only I can't figure out how I would implement it. I'm trying to help with the implementation of the proposed designby scottybfg - General
Do you have a cad reader or even a sketch of what you have, I'm happy to keep helping but without seeing more to understand your limits I cant do much moreby scottybfg - General
QuoteDark Alchemist Yeah, flex couplers is what I use for Z on my Prusa but with them in the horizontal plane on this printer they simply would not work. CV joint maybe?by scottybfg - General
The flex couplers are everywhere, most people use them on the z axis As for the flex shaft, do a bit of reading and see if its what you want, hard to explain that one on a forum. or use a soft shaft (something that can bend a bit) if you are worried about getting perfect alignment with the pillow blocks I get all my rods from a local guy in Australia so cant be much help thereby scottybfg - General
This was the first idea I was talking about, or did you want info on a flex system? (EDIT: My numbers for the length of the 5mm rod might be a bit off, you could almost half them) Also have you looked at carbon fibber rod? It has a bit of play so as long as your pillow blocks where aligned correctly you could force it to be straightby scottybfg - General
I also find it hard to believe that you can t find 2 sections of 30mm to 40mm 5mm straight rod, or maybe I have been blessed with my suppliers of smooth rod (usually use 8mm or 10mm) The only other thing i can suggest is to use flex couplers to take some of the miss alignment of the shaft. Or as there is only radial load, use a flexable shaft that is constrained by the pillow blocks. you might hby scottybfg - General
So my thinking is you only need 5mm where the pulleys are needed, and what you are trying to make is just one big drive axial, so use 5mm for where the pulleys need to be placed and then use a coupler to join it to a rod of another diameter that is straight. Using pillow blocks ( bearings) to help align the shaft. See bad paint drawing for referenceby scottybfg - General
If you only need it to be 5mm so the pulley will fit on the end why not get a bigger diameter and turn down the ends? I know not easy with a long rod but can be done. Or use small bits of 5mm for the pulley and then use a coupler to step up to the diameter of the straightest rod you can find, a pillow block each side of the coupler should keep it alignedby scottybfg - General
Leave your extruder vref as it is. What i was trying to say is it should be set to the lowest current that still allows it to operate, sounds like you have done that so all good. You are also right about the non-conductive screwdriver (or toothpick for you), I always assume the worst as most people will just use a metal screwdriver to turn the dashpot, but sounds like you are all over it. The waby scottybfg - Prusa i3 and variants
my first prusa mendel was powered off a 200 watt power supply, so 12V at about 16 amp. This was for 5 1.8° steppers and a 200*200 PCB heat bed and nozzle, It would let me print with a hotend temp of about 240°C and bed temp of 100°C I would say if you are going to buy a power supply anyway, get one that could handle a heated bed in the futureby scottybfg - Reprappers
Looking good mate, The E step calibration is for filament feeding into the extruder and not out, you dont need to worry about how much comes out of the nozzle (thats for the firmware to sort out) As for the current of the steppers, I would advise against changing the current with the power on. You will find lots of posts here about people shorting out their drivers and even control boards. Theby scottybfg - Prusa i3 and variants
That full 12 Watt wont power much. A quick google would have told you how to calculate the watts, and DC42 posted a link on how much Amps you should need to run your printerby scottybfg - Reprappers
I remember when I was working with a K8200 printer, when the thermister shorted out on the heat block the temperature displayed was 750°C (obviously it wasn't!!!) connect the printer to the computer and watch the temperature graph, with out heating the nozzle jiggle around the thermister wire near the heatblock and see if you get any temperature spikes. If you do it would indicate a short.by scottybfg - Reprappers