Hi All;

I've been away from this form for almost 8 months now, so I'm sure I have a lot of catching up to do. Just WAY to much going on with kids, vacation, work, flying, etc. In my "down time" I came up with a few mods. Pardon if they were already covered here.

1st mod was to get a Rotozip flex shaft in there. The Dremel I got with my kit didn't run worth a darn. I took it apart, and tried to fix it, but it still would bog down at full speed when cutting foam at 35IPM. On low it would almost stop. I figured if I was replacing the Dremel, might as well go for the RotoZip, as I cut more balsa/ply than foam.

I measured where the cullet was, both away from the base on the Y/Z gantry and above it. I had to shim with some scrap ply. I wasn't too happy about clamping due to the shape of the flex shaft handle. Then I got the idea to pot the thing in micro ballons and epoxy. I loaded it up with microballoons at about 10:1 as strength wasn't an issue. Attached files

 

Next up was a belt drive for the Y axis. I read about the mods back in the spring so I knew it could be done. I got together with some engineers at work and came up with the parts I would need. On a whim I checked the Platboyz site, and saw that they had the exact parts we speced out. Not only was I happy to give them the business, it meant I didn't have to try looking for the parts.

Nothing too exciting here as if I remember a kit was offered back then. I elected to mount mine on the outside to make it easier to make/mount/adjust. Attached files

 

Lastly was the Z axis. I was able to get a whopping 10ipm. I was going to switch from the 1/4-20 threaded rod to Acme 8 pitch so I had to take it appart. When I was taking it apart I could tell it was binding really bad. I had to rather vigorously shake the gantry just to get the Z axis to move...a little. I used brass inserts instead the supplied plastic tubes. It appeared that there was a slight misalignment. I ground out the mount for one side ( only the bottom needed it) so the brass bearing now floats. The Z gantry moves with almost no resistance at all. Smooth as a newborn's behind.
I put it all together, and adjusted the stepper steps to allow for the change in the 20 pitch rod to the 8 pitch of the new one.
Now I'm getting a whopping 10ipm still. Not sure what's going on here. Using the standard steppers, so I'm thinking of upgrading. I was still expecting a gain as the flex shaft is lighter than the dremel, I got rid of a lot of binding, and I went from 20 pitch to 8 pitch. Maybe the reduction in pitch caused me to loose enough torque to not make up for the other gains I had. Attached files

 

Nice mods!
I like the idea using the epoxy with micro balloons.

 

Rcav8r, it's great to see you back on the forum - I was wondering what happened to you!

Thanks for sharing your modifications. They are all quite innovative. Anyone thinking of belting their MKI will find it an easy task after reading your post and seeing your pictures here.

Those Vexta steppers are certainly the way to go in getting the speed out of your Z axis (Mark and Trish are selling them for only $12 in the PhlatStore). About the best speed I was able to get from my stock stepper on the Z was about 15. After changing to a higher powered stepper I was able to achieve 40 ipm, and that was with the stock 1/4-20 drive screw!

Keep us posted on your progress!

 

Impressive! These are awesome mods Rcav8r. I especially love the idea of the epoxy and microballoons for molding. The make the clamping system for the MKII to hold the flex shaft it was nothing short of wanting to create a 3d scan of the handle. That is what I would have done had I be able to.
Way to go on on these ideas, keep up the good work
Mark and Trish

 

Nice to be back
Kyyu, I'm using the ACME bearing block I got from you last year for the z axis now. Served me really well for the Y. Once flick of the bearing, and it almost spins the entire length of the Z axis rod.

Looks like I'll be getting a new stepper for the Z. I was looking at the Phlatboyz site the other day for some 1/6" bits to cut balsa, and saw the stepper there. Don't remember seeing it when ordering belt parts. So that's the one to get, huh?

With the epoxy and Microballoons the handle doesn't even think about moving.

In still trying to catch up here...
Mark./Trish... saw the new "toy" you got. REALLY IMPRESSIVE.
Also saw the balsa buddy... NICE.
Saw the piece about no more blue-core. Checked my lowes and the no longer stock it. Bummer

I'll have to look through the new ( to me anyway ) speeds and feeds forum... I did some test cutting of 1/16" balsa, and can't seem to get a good cut w/ either a 2 flute or 4 flute 1/16" end mill. Any ideas? I was thinking of getting the bit kit Mark and Trish are selling to try. I did a fair amount of cutting 1/8" and 1/16" ply with the 2 flute, and it worked great. Maybe I just dulled the bit with all that ply.

 

Yea, I mistyped/forgot... It is the 12 thread.

 

Glad to have you back rcav8r. Your mod is going to really help the next guy who is thinking about switching to the flex shaft. Thanks for posting the pics and details.

 

Well I ordered a new stepper last night from Mark and Trish. I'll post the results once I get it in, and tweaked.
THANKS

 

That would be a great project. I did a laser/web cam with mach using point clod software written by (art) same guy that made mach3. Made up a small carriage for the Phlatprinter and tried some test, but never really got any good results.
I hope that you are more successful.
Here is the YouTube video of it in action, it does not show much but it did work.
Also here is a link to the file for the carriage I made to hole the laser pointer and web-cam at the correct angles. Hope this helps you along.
Please share your results with the David software
viewtopic.php?f=206&t=1662&start=0

 

Good deal Dorsal