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 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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