Saturday, March 1, 2014

Fitting motors and belts

I fitted the axis-motors and got the belts in. The Y-axis (bed) went well after I used a hacksaw to widen the clamp. The clamp seems to be for a belt with a coarser pitch than my GT2 belts. Wel they are in there, pretty tight.

The X-axis (carrier for extruder) was a bit more tricky. The belt went in without too much trouble, since I now knew what to do. So I fitted the belt.
Then I took the whole assembly out to fit the Z-axis motors, and when I put it back I discovered the smooth rods didn't line up exactly. So a tap here and there got the distances better, but then the belt went slack.
So I had to pull the belt out (stuck quite well in there) and redo the belt. Got it a tight as I could.

So here's the first issue I have with this design: no way to tension the X-axis belt after fitting it. Perhaps it is just my lack of experience showing?

Anyway. The Electronics was next. Discovered that I had the support frames the wrong way around. The way I had it the Arduino and RAMPS board would be sitting inside the frame on the right. It has to go on the outside and on the left. I should have checked those mounting holes beforehand.

And then: powered up! And the motors turn, all the axis are moving. There is some software in the Taurino/Arduino that move the motors a few revolution back-and-forth.

With all the stepper motors mounted. Ready to test movement!

Position of Arduino and RAMPS board. 

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