Recently, I got my hands on a free Ender 5 Pro, whose Z axis was so bent it looked like a forklift drove over it.
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@3dprinting Next on the agenda is completing Stage 2, which means mounting the two parts holding the X axis on the MGN12 carriages. The original parts have... _suspect_ belt clamping, so I'll probably test-print the parts first to check if they actually can hold a belt under tension. If not, I'll have to modify them too.
I'll also have to finally thread and tension the Y belts too, since those mounts will stay with us into Stage 3. This is the _easier_ belting step at least.
47/n
@3dprinting I also need to finish mounting all the reinforcing brackets, but for _that_ I'm going to need a lot more M5 fasteners. They are arriving soon. I'll also need to properly mount the Y motors (those mounts have quite a bit of vertical play at the moment), and most likely will need a _different_ reinforcing solution for the rear top frame corners, as my original brackets collide with the Y motor mounts. I have some options for those, but they'll need test-printing too.
48/n
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@3dprinting I also need to finish mounting all the reinforcing brackets, but for _that_ I'm going to need a lot more M5 fasteners. They are arriving soon. I'll also need to properly mount the Y motors (those mounts have quite a bit of vertical play at the moment), and most likely will need a _different_ reinforcing solution for the rear top frame corners, as my original brackets collide with the Y motor mounts. I have some options for those, but they'll need test-printing too.
48/n
@3dprinting Also, somewhat tangentially, I'll need to finish the Z axis. While I can't do this yet (still waiting on some key parts), this will determine a lot of other things, including where the electronics will go. I'll have to print some parts for this as well, but I decided not to even think about that until I have the rods and extrusion in hand.
49/n
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@3dprinting Also, somewhat tangentially, I'll need to finish the Z axis. While I can't do this yet (still waiting on some key parts), this will determine a lot of other things, including where the electronics will go. I'll have to print some parts for this as well, but I decided not to even think about that until I have the rods and extrusion in hand.
49/n
@3dprinting #Endorphin progress picture! I've (mostly) finished Stage 2 at this point: only the X tensioner remains. I've also added (and tensioned) both Y belts, which was a lot more annoying than I expected.
I did some other stuff besides, which I will explain in subsequent posts.
50/n
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@3dprinting #Endorphin progress picture! I've (mostly) finished Stage 2 at this point: only the X tensioner remains. I've also added (and tensioned) both Y belts, which was a lot more annoying than I expected.
I did some other stuff besides, which I will explain in subsequent posts.
50/n
@3dprinting One of the additional things I did was mount both the top and bottom Z rod brackets. I had enough metal ones upcycled from the original to do the bottom, but the top ones had to be modified from the Mercury One. These aren't likely to be their final positions, as I won't be able to judge that until I get the rods and extrusion to build the axis.
Also, the clearance between the top brackets and the moving parts of the Y axis is _super_ close. Like, _millimetres_.
51/n
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@3dprinting One of the additional things I did was mount both the top and bottom Z rod brackets. I had enough metal ones upcycled from the original to do the bottom, but the top ones had to be modified from the Mercury One. These aren't likely to be their final positions, as I won't be able to judge that until I get the rods and extrusion to build the axis.
Also, the clearance between the top brackets and the moving parts of the Y axis is _super_ close. Like, _millimetres_.
51/n
@3dprinting These belt clamps are simultaneously wondrous and terrible. They're wondrous because, in spite of _repeated_ attempts to pull them loose under tension, I couldn't. They are held in with nothing but friction against the belt teeth.
They're _terrible_ because there is no way in hell to thread belts into them once the axis is mounted to the rail carriages. Seriously, I tried, it can't be done. Had to disassemble the entire axis to get those damn belts in there.
52/n
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@3dprinting These belt clamps are simultaneously wondrous and terrible. They're wondrous because, in spite of _repeated_ attempts to pull them loose under tension, I couldn't. They are held in with nothing but friction against the belt teeth.
They're _terrible_ because there is no way in hell to thread belts into them once the axis is mounted to the rail carriages. Seriously, I tried, it can't be done. Had to disassemble the entire axis to get those damn belts in there.
52/n
@3dprinting So, after the X axis tensioner, what's left?
1. X linear rail (easy).
2. Z axis (fairly easy, blocked on parts).
3. LED mount (fairly easy).... and then the suffering begins, because I have to build and wire the toolhead, set up (and wire) the electronics well, and probably figure out the skirt. All of these _will_ require custom parts and crimping.
Send help.
53/n
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@3dprinting So, after the X axis tensioner, what's left?
1. X linear rail (easy).
2. Z axis (fairly easy, blocked on parts).
3. LED mount (fairly easy).... and then the suffering begins, because I have to build and wire the toolhead, set up (and wire) the electronics well, and probably figure out the skirt. All of these _will_ require custom parts and crimping.
Send help.
53/n
@3dprinting Been a few days without an update, but not because I haven't been working! I've since mounted the X rail, (most of) the X tensioner, and even started on the toolhead. However, I'm bottlenecked right now, because the belt clamps don't align with the belt path. The fix for this _should_ be easy enough, but I've been a bit stalled because of that.
54/n
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@3dprinting Been a few days without an update, but not because I haven't been working! I've since mounted the X rail, (most of) the X tensioner, and even started on the toolhead. However, I'm bottlenecked right now, because the belt clamps don't align with the belt path. The fix for this _should_ be easy enough, but I've been a bit stalled because of that.
54/n
@3dprinting The observant members of the audience are probably yelling something like 'WHERE ARE THE CAT EARS KOZ', which is a fair question. I'll definitely have some, but I'm not 100% sure if this cowl design is the one I'm going for. To save myself potentially re-doing a bunch of work, I'll first figure out how all the parts fit, and _then_ remix as appropriate.
55/n
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@3dprinting The observant members of the audience are probably yelling something like 'WHERE ARE THE CAT EARS KOZ', which is a fair question. I'll definitely have some, but I'm not 100% sure if this cowl design is the one I'm going for. To save myself potentially re-doing a bunch of work, I'll first figure out how all the parts fit, and _then_ remix as appropriate.
55/n
@3dprinting So, good news bad news. The good news is that the belt alignment issues in _Z_ are fixed, using the stupidest possible method (chopping 3mm out of the part that mounts to the MGN9 block).
The bad news? With the stock belt clamps, I now have belt alignment issues in _Y_, which means at extremes of movement, belts now rub against the Y belt clamps.
Whee, time to redesign some belt clamps I guess!
56/n
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@3dprinting So, good news bad news. The good news is that the belt alignment issues in _Z_ are fixed, using the stupidest possible method (chopping 3mm out of the part that mounts to the MGN9 block).
The bad news? With the stock belt clamps, I now have belt alignment issues in _Y_, which means at extremes of movement, belts now rub against the Y belt clamps.
Whee, time to redesign some belt clamps I guess!
56/n
@3dprinting This seems to fix it. All I did was add a 'foot' to the belt clamp out to about 10mm. It looks a little off-square in the picture, but that's not the part bending under tension, it's the belt itself interfering. This _should_ be fine I think.
I also decided to see if the Tank shroud looks better. It doesn't. Going to work from the original Small shroud to add the nekomimi we all crave.
57/n
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@3dprinting This seems to fix it. All I did was add a 'foot' to the belt clamp out to about 10mm. It looks a little off-square in the picture, but that's not the part bending under tension, it's the belt itself interfering. This _should_ be fine I think.
I also decided to see if the Tank shroud looks better. It doesn't. Going to work from the original Small shroud to add the nekomimi we all crave.
57/n
@3dprinting Purrfect.
58/n
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@3dprinting Purrfect.
58/n
@3dprinting The build continues - we finally have an X belt! This was a _real_ pain, as not only did I have to build another shim stack for the idler, I also had to thread the belts _without_ the hotend mount attached, as there's literally no way to do it otherwise.
Next up - proper X rail stops for sensorless homing, assembling the rest of the hotend, and of course, the Z axis.
59/n
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@3dprinting The build continues - we finally have an X belt! This was a _real_ pain, as not only did I have to build another shim stack for the idler, I also had to thread the belts _without_ the hotend mount attached, as there's literally no way to do it otherwise.
Next up - proper X rail stops for sensorless homing, assembling the rest of the hotend, and of course, the Z axis.
59/n
@3dprinting Once the X axis rail stops are done, we will know _exactly_ how much X travel I'm allowed. I don't suspect I'll have any issues, given that the bed on an Ender 5 only has 220mm of usable X, but it would help for future mods to know _exactly_ how much slack I have in that axis.
I ended up going for the inductive probe instead of a Biqu Microprobe for two reasons. Firstly, this printer won't be enclosed anyway; secondly, the Microprobe mount I found didn't fit and I'm lazy.
60/n
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@3dprinting Once the X axis rail stops are done, we will know _exactly_ how much X travel I'm allowed. I don't suspect I'll have any issues, given that the bed on an Ender 5 only has 220mm of usable X, but it would help for future mods to know _exactly_ how much slack I have in that axis.
I ended up going for the inductive probe instead of a Biqu Microprobe for two reasons. Firstly, this printer won't be enclosed anyway; secondly, the Microprobe mount I found didn't fit and I'm lazy.
60/n
@3dprinting And now the toolhead is assembled! Note that the wiring is 100% not done, but I figured I'd get it all in there to figure out how it all has to be arranged. _Definitely_ going to need some wire guides, many of which I will likely have to design myself.
X total travel with this (and test bump stops) is 280mm, plus or minus 1, which should be enough.
61/n
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@3dprinting And now the toolhead is assembled! Note that the wiring is 100% not done, but I figured I'd get it all in there to figure out how it all has to be arranged. _Definitely_ going to need some wire guides, many of which I will likely have to design myself.
X total travel with this (and test bump stops) is 280mm, plus or minus 1, which should be enough.
61/n
@3dprinting The _sweatiest_ front clearance ever. I swear that's like, a millimetre.
62/n
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@3dprinting The _sweatiest_ front clearance ever. I swear that's like, a millimetre.
62/n
@3dprinting Figured I'd post a full photo. Mechanical assembly is almost done at this point: only the Z axis really remains. After this is installed, it's time for electronics and wiring, AKA 'the part Koz hates and cannot do properly'.
63/n
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@3dprinting Figured I'd post a full photo. Mechanical assembly is almost done at this point: only the Z axis really remains. After this is installed, it's time for electronics and wiring, AKA 'the part Koz hates and cannot do properly'.
63/n
@3dprinting So, it's been... over a month since the last update, phew! In that time, a lot has happened, but long story short, we have a Z axis for our #Endorphin, finally!
Unfortunately my leadscrews turned out too short (I need ones sized for the Ender 3, which are 365mm), so I'll have to wait on those. I also had _no_ end of trouble with this design, and ended up having to re-make the motor mounts, which probably need yet more re-making. But hey, progress!
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