I ended up replacing the leadscrew in the third (free) motor. So, since I bought a 350mm leadscrew from amazon, I’m out $11. And I had to put the magnets in the vise to break the bond, and I totally trashed the first leadscrew (it was trashed and bent anyway). I actually did it twice, because the N and S magnets came apart and duh, they need to be misaligned when you reglue them.
[attachment file=55555]
My poor MP3DP1 is in such a bad state since I started experimenting with it. But it’s all for the sake of it’s younger brother.
Beat it up, if you break anything you can replace it. That is the best part!
I looked at a stepper I have sitting here the last time you were working on this. I think it could work for this even though it didn’t start out as a lead screw stepper. It seems to have some sort of 8mm insert in it and then the 5mm shaft. I actually do not have any dead steppers though to experiment with though.
Some of this design blockage has passed, and I think I have something I like for the XZ frame. I have two choices, I can paint the veneer, and carve into it, and leave the edges white. I can also just carve into it, and then paint the carving. I think I am leaning towards painting the carving black, so it’s not quite so black. I can either cut out the mountains, or carve them. The advantage of cutting them out is milling time, and the advantage of leaving them in is that the corners will be sharp. What do you think?
I like the white with the black mountains. Don’t know how dirty things get where you have your printer; that’s the only thing I’d think some more about with a white printer. Using a semi-gloss or glossy paint?
The white (in both options) is actually unpainted Baltic Birch plywood. I’ll add some finish, like water based poly to the whole thing, and it will end up glossy.
Well, it’s doing exactly what I told it to… But I messed up the depth on the mountain carving and I plunged into the letters vcarve. :(.
I’m pluggin on though. I can’t decide if I’d rather do it again or not. I just love irony and I’m lazy enough that I could convince myself that this is better…
The parts that don’t have errors are looking awesome.
I used the origin to set the Z height for the pocket operation on the mountains. I was planning on doing a vcarve around it, but it cut 3mm too deep, at least.
The plunge at the left of that box was because I had it aligned perfectly for the Z after I changed the bit to the v, but I didnt hit the reset on the Z coords, so it plunged right down and burnt off the little red plastic ring.
I’ve had another mistake on the front (or back, idk) where I didny leave enough clearance and the plate sucked down to the table again (I’ve made that mistake too many times).
I probably can squeeze in another front in the blank. Then I could start making my printer. I’m cutting the sides now.
I also didn’t plan to cut the me plate yet. So I guess I could just cut the XY and Base in another blank.
I feel you on the errors. I have the coordinate reset as my starting gcode. Used to really get me when I forgot to reset.
You have me second guessing the vac plate you are using. The new version was going to use your style. Maybe some extra holes or something in the plate to prevent vac lock?
Cool, I haven’t gotten that far yet but I am really trying to minimize the flat parts and make sure I can use a jig and router table for the biggest cuts. Use the CNC for the holes and slots.
I can’t wait to see this printer in action. Seems like a cool project that you get to take your time with.
I think the front is actually salvageable. The XY frame is a bummer, but the parts that worked look great. I will keep what I have for now. I don’t know when I’ll get more CNC time. Had a weird schedule today to make it work.
