Posts: 34
Threads: 1
Joined: Dec 2014
Reputation:
0
Design looks cool. few things I would pay attention to
- Raising the extruder to maintain the Z height may cause issue with running into bar across the front of the printer that the Y-Axis belts run around
- Closely enclosing the Stepper motor without any direct cooling my cause you heat issues with the plastic. I definitely wouldn't use PLA for that. Might get hot enough to give you heat creep issues from the stepper heat only.
- Having fixed holes for your bearings/bushings for both rails may cause you issues getting it to fit. Typically you see one rail going thru a fixed hole, and the other rail in an open channel so it can float a bit to accommodate tolerance issues. I'd suggest opening up one of the rail holes to give yourself a little slop
- Don't forget a method to fix the carriage to the belt. Don't see how your doing that
- Don't forget a feature to interact with the opto-endstop. Unlike a mechanical endstop, your going to need to have something that will fit into the opening of the opto-endstop
- I believe the wire connector for the Da Vinci stepper motor is located on a side, which means I don't think you have any openings to plug into the stepper motor.
- If your going to print PLA, you will probably need a layer fan. not sure where that will fit. The existing one won't be sufficient, in my opinion
My $0.02
Posts: 298
Threads: 5
Joined: Aug 2014
Reputation:
0
You also need to think of a where to put the breakout PCB that comes with the stock extruder, since you'll still need that too.
Posts: 34
Threads: 1
Joined: Dec 2014
Reputation:
0
Na, you don't need the breakout PCB on the carriage if you don't want. Plenty of places for it in the rear of the box.
Chris -
I think your mis-understanding my comment about leaving one rail bearing feature open. You said it yourself, "each machine prints a little difference" It doesn't take much more than a few thousands of an inch off to have your carriage not slide smoothly on the rails because the center-to-center spacing of the bearings/bushings isn't perfect. That is why nearly every carriage in the machine has one side fixed and the other side slotted and glued in place. If you include a slot and plan on gluing in place, it's nearly guaranteed that your carriage will work. If not, your at the mercy of the printing tolerance of your machine, and possibly the warping of the part......
Posts: 157
Threads: 17
Joined: May 2014
Reputation:
0
That's a good point. If the hole diameter isn't printed perfect it can be reamed to fit but if the hole spacing isn't printed correctly it cant be made to fit easily. I will change the design to the slotted arrangement for this reason.
I don't use the PCB on my Da Vinci but I can add some holes to allow it to be mounted somewhere. Once I have a working carriage I can see where there is enough room to mount it.
I am in the middle of a 12 hour print of the first carriage and crossing my finger that it goes well. :cheer:
Thanks for the replies,
Posts: 4
Threads: 1
Joined: Jan 2015
Reputation:
0
Chris - Following your project with interest, curious what led you the Hexagon vs the E3D? While both seem to be good hot ends there seems to be more reviews on the E3D although, I know it's a bit bigger.
Great Job on the design, seems to be well thought through. Can I ask was 3D Modeling software you used?
Look forward to your print results and your eventual Thingiverse post. Thanks!
Posts: 21
Threads: 3
Joined: Feb 2015
Reputation:
0
Any chance you could share the SLDPRT files? (Or STEP/IGES) I tried opening the STL in SW but it is pretty terrible with STLs and I can't make open it as a solid body to do modifications. Thanks!
Posts: 159
Threads: 7
Joined: Oct 2014
Reputation:
0
Did you try selecting .STL from the file type drop down then changing the options to mm and solid body?
Posts: 21
Threads: 3
Joined: Feb 2015
Reputation:
0
Yup. Won't let me open it as a solid body saying the model has too many surfaces. It suggest I open it as a graphics body, but you cant modify a graphics body.