I am assembling my tslot tantillus and was running into some issues with the x/y ends and binding during assembly, problems I don't recall on my first tantillus kit from sublime.
Initial Setup:
I remade the x/y ends so that the bushing was integrated into a single piece, I am thinking this was a mistake as they may need some ability to deflect a little like bronze bushing holders do.
I am using 5/16" O1 drill rod from mcmaster car, the rods seems straight and the finish is ok certainly not polished.
Also my PLA bushings had a dull finish when printed from not being printed at a high temp. The PLA is also purple ultimachine and not translucent so may have more additives / filler in it to get the solid color?
I was also using the pla bushing of the metric version and not the sublime / thingiverse one.
Problem:
While the x/y ends slide effortlessly by themselves, when the 2 ends are attached with a rod I could only slide the assembly one direction ... it would not go back the other direction without a lot of effort. I tried making the x/y ends much looser on the rods but this didn't help.
First Attempt to fix the issue:
I ended up ditching the integrated bushing, I reprinted the x/y ends as they should be without the bushing integrated.
I then printed the bushing at a much higher temp to get the print surface shiny. I switched to the bushing stl from sublime also.
It seems much better now but will still bind unless the x/y ends are held very parrallel (not sure how much binding when deflected is normal).
I imagine when the spectra is install and things are square this won't be an issue.
Other ideas:
- Polish the rods with polishing compound
- Use a different / clear pla
- Make the bushings a looser fit in the x/y ends
- Recheck aligntment between the rod pairs.
Any ideas and best practices and how much binding should be expected with the full x/y / spectra assembled unfinished?
Initial Setup:
I remade the x/y ends so that the bushing was integrated into a single piece, I am thinking this was a mistake as they may need some ability to deflect a little like bronze bushing holders do.
I am using 5/16" O1 drill rod from mcmaster car, the rods seems straight and the finish is ok certainly not polished.
Also my PLA bushings had a dull finish when printed from not being printed at a high temp. The PLA is also purple ultimachine and not translucent so may have more additives / filler in it to get the solid color?
I was also using the pla bushing of the metric version and not the sublime / thingiverse one.
Problem:
While the x/y ends slide effortlessly by themselves, when the 2 ends are attached with a rod I could only slide the assembly one direction ... it would not go back the other direction without a lot of effort. I tried making the x/y ends much looser on the rods but this didn't help.
First Attempt to fix the issue:
I ended up ditching the integrated bushing, I reprinted the x/y ends as they should be without the bushing integrated.
I then printed the bushing at a much higher temp to get the print surface shiny. I switched to the bushing stl from sublime also.
It seems much better now but will still bind unless the x/y ends are held very parrallel (not sure how much binding when deflected is normal).
I imagine when the spectra is install and things are square this won't be an issue.
Other ideas:
- Polish the rods with polishing compound
- Use a different / clear pla
- Make the bushings a looser fit in the x/y ends
- Recheck aligntment between the rod pairs.
Any ideas and best practices and how much binding should be expected with the full x/y / spectra assembled unfinished?