I am running a club at my middle school and we are well-underway on a Makergear Prusa Mendel build. (Album below)
My question is on y-carriage installation and getting the spools / stepper motor lined up
I was noticing a good deal of travel back and forth by the band as it was initially installed.
- I think I got it right today by adjusting the rear-spool to line up bit better, and bumping out the motor assembly a bit. - the travel is very very small, but not totally gone – maybe 1 or 2 mm side to side.
Do I need to fuss over this until it is rock solid?
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/112862680625264059414/albums/5847405862612518993
Are you referring to the toothed pulley traveling along its bearings perpendicular to its axis of movement?
It you can get it rock solid, that would be best, but a mm or two really isn’t a big deal. That’s within tolerances, provided it’s not actually slipping off of the bearing entirely.
The band itself is sliding along the toothed pulley just a touch when the carriage gets to the opposite (rear) end of the rails.
I’ve seen my X axis traveling more than 2mm. It stressed me at first, but once I got it so there was no chance it would slip off, I just shrugged it off. It’s not affecting the quality of my prints detectably.
The Y axis (front to back) is a bit easier to adjust, so fussing over it will be more fruitful, but don’t make yourself sick over it. If you have it under 2mm already, then there’s not much worry.
Ok, i may play with it a little more, but I won’t panic over a little bit of play – do you think it might not be tight enough?
It is hard to gauge how taught the band should be from instructions and videos.
The belt shouldn’t rub on the washers on the bearings however. I have three 608s on the opposite end from my y and x motor.
The belt should be tight and make a sound like a bass string. thuuuummm.