Got the belts on and I’m happy to report that it works great. There are no clearance issues and the 2:1 belt reduction is very noticeable in terms of torque output. I have no worries about adding a double direct drive extruder setup in the future. The 9 mm wide belt also helps in adding rigidity to the drive system.
The extruder mount is magnetic with alignment pins so I can easily swap between extruder setups. The belt clamp design took some time, but I’m very happy with the way it turned out. The side of the X carriage is grooved to match the pitch on the GT2 belt (a little hard to see in the pics).
Nicely done. I see that you use some sort of bushings instead of bearings with a washer providing the flange part. Am I seeing it wrong? If not, isn’t the rubbing of the moving belt to the washer going to affect it?
Needle bearings for idlers, 6x10x9. Mounted with a shoulder bolt, 12mm X 2mm al. spacer at top. Shims were used on top and bottom of idler assembly as well.
Mark - Yes expansion is already noticeable in the frame. When I come in to my office in the morning it is cool and I feel slight resistance in the Y bearing blocks. As my office heats up only a few degrees through the day the Y bearing blocks become easier to move. Its small amounts of friction but I can def feel it.
I knew I was going to battle design challenges using a heated chamber and I may have to redesign some things like my X rail mounts to allow some built in spring tension in the mounts. I even though about pumping water through the aluminum extrusion on the frame. They do this on some commercial CNC mills to keep the Z column height in check.
I was planning on using a heated chamber, but may not heat the chamber and just have an open top. Filaments are getting better and better and they are being engineered to not require a heated chamber.
