Received my phlatprinter boxes earlier this week and just got spooled up on the build today.

I watched the entire build video before starting just to get familiar with the build sequence. Mark and Trish did an awesome job on the build video. Very nice work guys.

I finally sat down and started the build this evening. Woohoo. Step 1 is done and I'm now working Step 2. I'm wondering how much the anti backlash nut spring needs to compress as the square nut edges obstruct part of the motion when I move the nut down with my fingernail. It can compress something like 0.25" without the spring hitting the nut edges and that seems adequate but I could open up the screw holes slightly or file down the edge of the square nuts to get full compression if necessary. Probably not a big deal either way. Just curious what others have done.




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Thanks for the quick response. I'm forging ahead this afternoon.

 

I took a few more pics of my Z axis build this weekend.

At some point I'm going to have to decide on some colors for my machine or it will wind up being white primer by default (a tribute to Dorsal). I will likely do a gray, white and black scheme. Still pondering it though.








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After a burst of work after Christmas I was able to complete the build. I started working on the calibration last night but noticed that the Z axis belt was loose so I need to address that.

It was a fun build and I enjoyed putting it together. The fit of the parts was great and I commend Mark and Trish for putting together such a high quality kit.

I'm still doing some touchups on the paint job but I'm going to postpone the final touches until after I have it dialed in.

When I was playing around with the calibration all the axis seemed to be moving very slowly. I probably need to adjust the speed settings in the PlanetCNC software but I'm being extra cautious to avoid hosing anything up. I'm still absorbing the details of the software as well.

Its fun to see the machine alive!








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Nice looking machine. Congratulations!

 

Thanks guys.

rcav8r, you are correct. I didn't paint those pivot parts as I was concerned that it would prevent them from sliding freely when opening and closing the door. They are inside the cabinet when the door is closed anyway and by the time I got to that step I wasn't painting anything that wasn't visible from the outside of the cabinet. The actual build was fast, my painting was slow.

 

Thanks Mark.

I figured out the jog speed yesterday. Everything is fine now. Zip zip.

I've cut a few test files but am still tweaking a few things. I think I'm losing steps on the X axis so I need to adjust that axis with the max belt tension method you mentioned in another post. It is great to set it cutting foam now. Very cool.

 

I did a little paint removal work on my pressure roller arm guide slots, completed the temp roller fix and am using the backlash adjustment in the CNCUSB beta. I wanted to try an actual cut file besides the table and the cal test to test her out so I cut out the pteradactyl last night. Everything turned out nice. I still need to run some additional checks but I am up and running for the most part.






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I forgot to mention that when I disassembled the pivot arm and spring assemblies I noticed that the inward facing button head fastener heads were sticking out just enough proud enough to score against the side wall. The counterbore depth was just shy of keeping them below the sliding surface. I dremeled the bottom of the c'bore and they don't stick out anymore. I should have taken some pics but forgot. Can't remember the part names but they hold the pressure roller bushings and the extension springs attach to them. After I fixed that and sanded the guide slots my pivot arms didn't stick at the bottom of the travel anymore so that is good. Just wanted to post to mention it in case anyone is having sticky pivot arm assemblies. Check the fastener heads and c'bore depth.

 

GBen,

I had the exact same problem with mine. My screw heads were scraping on the panel walls. I fixed mine a little differently. I used a dremel to grind off the tops of the screw heads. It looks like Mark may want to change the counter bore depth on those parts.

I painted mine the same color as yours, except I painted the Z-axis parts Orange. I don't know what posssessed me to do that, but I like yours better with just the grey. You can see pictures of mine at the bottom of this post.

http://phlatforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=266&t=2371

SlowBipe

 

SlowBipe. I think you have a nice looking machine and a very nifty roller stand. I need to get something built to support mine to free up my table.

I just checked out your website after listening to Crash's Podcast today. Very cool product you have there.