By sticking the auto-descending turntable on a linear carriage, I've turned the Meccano prototype into a 3-axis machine that only uses 2 motors for positional control. I've not fitted the carriage actuator yet, but here's the prototype:
Once a layer has been deposited, the stage will rotate through 360 degrees and thus lower by 0.25 mm automatically.
This simplifies the control hardware, though the software becomes more interesting.
More than one head can me implemented along the length of the carriage, so plastic/icing tests should be possible.
My PIC prototype board can be seen against the right edge of the photo.
Vik :v)
Yes, but I gear it off the rotation of the turntable first, to lessen the rate of descent. The method is in the Meccano document at reprap.org
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Vik :v)