I’ve noticed that there’s some flexibility in the bearing sleds, and there may also be some drag in swivel joints…whatever the source, it results in the effector not staying perfectly level while in movement, since it all translates to a (scientifically assumed) point source at the end of the effector, is it anything to worry about? Is there a way to compensate for it in any of the utilities used to make a final g-code file?
(or am I just looking for things to worry about while my J-head’s in the mail? )
Yes, it’s something to worry about. Any slop at all (in a delta machine ESPECIALLY!) is going to really stand out.
I’ve worked with a bunch of swivel joints (IGUS have made us so many different batches it’s not funny) and at DeltaMaker we found that a little stiffness in the ball joints doesn’t appreciably impact any kind of quality. We actually would have them a little stiff so they’re preloaded against any force. Too loose would be far worse than too stiff.
Flex in the bearing sleds though, will show up. When you do test prints, test a tall 20cmx20cm tower (maybe 60cm in height) and see if you get any waves or anything that spiral up your print. Spirals indicate something wrong with the linear motion on one of your bearing towers. Flex in the armature sled itself will end up looking like backlash (infill not touching the perimeters)
It’s not backlash, though, per se. its like there’s a deflection in two sleds while the third axis is pulling the effector in it’s direction…kinda sinusoidal with the acceleration.
(ignore the walking with Penguins in the background. )
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