Another snag in the build. This is the x carriage holder. We can’t get the smooth rods to seat in these holes because of the ridge. Any idea? Also, there are no screw holes to set the rods at a given length.
Drill or sand it down. Often with these things there’s a certain amount of hackyness that has to be done to get it all working.
Those little plastic pieces on the inside are supposed to be “springy” but in fact, I’ve never seen plastic more stiff in my life. What I suggest is that you just drill it out. If you’re state-side, a 5/16" drill bit drills a slightly smaller hole than 8mm, but should grab enough material so that your rods will fit inside.
I drill them right throug, so I easily can change the X bearings. You don’t need much tension on the rods, just check from time to time that they don’t creep out.
Thanks guys. I thought they were supposed to keep the tension, but I couldn’t get them to budge! I now understand why people print new parts after they have a working machine.
Commonly broken part during construction, mine are ABS so can probably take a little more writhing. Maybe use a dremel or a file to improve the ramp on that step?
@Nathan_O_Kane , I personally didn’t order a kit at all. I created my machine from a mish-mash of parts, and I thoroughly recommend the aleph objects x ends found on thingiverse (printed in ABS mind you) - they clamp around the X rods, they have interchangable adapters for LM8UUs, IGUS bushings, pillow blocks, PLA bearings, etc.
A little extra hardware is sometimes worth it.
Well I managed to crack the x-axis smooth bar holders trying to drill it out. This kit is unfortunately kind of cheap. I am now looking for x-axis ends to buy. Also I think my gears are not straight since the y axis is smooth until a tooth catches. Any idea or should I get a few gears as well. Where would you suggest I get this stuff from?
X gears, do you mean pulleys? Metal pulleys are great.
yes, pulleys
@Nathan_O_Kane unfortunately I don’t have any ABS right now, but if you do get new X ends, I suggest the Aleph Objects X ends. It’s actually a total of 3 pieces + hardware, but here are the relevant pieces:
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:15928 (if you have LM8UUs)
@Nathan_O_Kane I’d be willing to print you parts. I’ve got Black ABS hooked up into my printer right now. What parts do you need? If it isn’t too much I’ll just send them to you for free. Paying it forward.
@Ross_Hendrickson thanks for the offer, I’ll take you up on it but I’d like to compensate you. I’ll take @ThantiK suggestion with the parts. I’ll need the parts from both links in the above post since I do have the LM8UU bearings. I’ll pm you my address.
@Ross_Hendrickson on the LM8UU holders, use the “slightly tighter fit” version. There’s a top/bottom to the AO x-ends, a total of 3 pieces. @Nathan_O_Kane they require a little extra hardware, but worth it being able to disassemble if you need to adjust/modify things.
so you’ll need two LM8UU adapters then?
@Ross_Hendrickson yeah, he’ll need 2 lm8uu adapters. One for the motor side, one for the idler side.
Do you have an expected shipping date for these parts? Thanks very much for helping me out.
@Ross_Hendrickson wow, sorry for the late reply: shouldn’t need more than 30% infill. I That’s what I did mine at.