RepRap: Blog

Carrying on from a couple of posts back, here are the remaining stages of assembly for the RepRapMicron V0.05 Axis Driver.

The things not obvious from the photos are:

• The red Flexure Coupling on the motor is in a separate OpenSCAD file.
• You can use different height NEMA17 Plates to match the length of your motor's shaft.
• Adjust the position of the pair of locknuts so that the base of the Drive Screw goes into the hexagonal socket on the Coupling. 
• Very lightly oil the drilled-out M3 nut bearings, the M3 x 50mm Drive Screw, and its washers. 

Pipe up if I've missed anything.

Labels: driver, Pantograph, reprapmicron

# posted by vik-olliver @ 1:15 AM 0 comments

The completed Maus C V0.03 XY Flexure Stage now joins the Axis Driver in the stack of completed parts. If you want to know how it was done, the assembly process for both has been documented and illustrated here: https://github.com/VikOlliver/RepRapMicron/wiki/Maus-C-Build-Process

 Time for a cuppa, I think.

Labels: assembly, flexure, reprapmicron, stage, XY

# posted by vik-olliver @ 6:35 AM 0 comments

We're having technical difficulties with the RepRap Wiki, so I have worked on the manual on the Github RepRapMicron Wiki for now. First stab at documenting the axis construction is complete and you can access it here https://github.com/VikOlliver/RepRapMicron/wiki/Maus-C-Build-Process

 The finished driver looks nice, but I have yet to test and post final V0.03 STLs - worn out for the day!

Labels: axis, manual, reprapmicron

# posted by vik-olliver @ 4:29 AM 0 comments

I believe I now have all the parts needed for a functional design. I've started an assembly manual of sorts on https://reprap.org/wiki/Maus_C_Build_Process which I am also using to test the final version prints before releasing them. Got the lightbox running, and so here's a complete set of printed parts for one axis driver (3 required):

Labels: fab25, manual, reprapmicron

# posted by vik-olliver @ 4:55 AM 0 comments

The microscopes are a pretty important part of operating the RepRapMicron, so it is very useful to have them arranged in a way that can me moved in and out of position. I've printed a posable clamp that can hold one or more USB microscopes on a single 16mm aluminium pole. This gives a top and side view of the probe, and the microscopes can be swung out of the way just by turning the pole.

This setup allows me to get this kind of view of the work area on my desktop. Side view for adjusting rough probe height is the inset top left, main screen is the downward view:

Labels: microscope, reprapmicron

# posted by vik-olliver @ 10:14 PM 0 comments

The endstop is nigh. I needed a small switch, independent of manufacturer types, with no click and a quick reset. What better choice than a couple of bent bits of wire a la drone. I'm using 28ga 316L stainless ("Vape Wire") here because I bought a bunch for my official (licenced) pyrotechnic endeavours a few years back. So a short length of this gets twisted 8 times into a piece of hookup wire, as you can't solder stainless with 40/60 solder:

 This end gets bent round 180 degrees so that the stainless wire points forward, and to stop it coming undone, 10mm of suitable heatshrink gets put over it.

Two of these wires get clamped against grooves in the drive motor pillars with a 2-hole Metriccano strip, and the free ends are folded over the strip's edge so that they cross but don't touch. You need to shove the strip upwards to take out any slack in the screw holes. I'll update the 3D printed parts in the next couple of days as part of the upcoming V0.03 release.

 

Labels: endstop, reprapmicron

# posted by vik-olliver @ 3:37 AM 0 comments

I hear there may be another attempt at making a RepRapMicron out there. As I have not done any build instructions yet, I thought I'd post a few photos here from various angles. Marvel at how bad my photography is.

Labels: assembly, maus, photos, reprapmicron

# posted by vik-olliver @ 11:07 PM 0 comments

For those wishing to play with Maus C, it is now at https://github.com/VikOlliver/RepRapMicron/tree/main/maus as OpenSCAD files. Early release, subject to change etc. Needs axis drivers and probe parts from the original Maus file.

Labels: flexure, maus, reprapmicron

# posted by vik-olliver @ 10:16 PM 0 comments

I stuffed up the slide mount on Maus C, and the probe head was colliding with it. So I redesigned the slide mount entirely to use magnets. This allows the slide to move in two dimensions while still holding it securely, thus allowing more of the slide's surface to be used in tests. The old slide jaws can still be fitted if needed, though slight hack needed for probe clearance. Looks like this:

 

This indicates that not only is Maus C in a vaguely working state, but that the magnets hold the slide sufficiently well to allow a probe to carve stuff off the slide's surface. Should be plenty robust enough to put drops of resin in place. I did notice a bit of resonance on the Z mount which a bit of strategic foam should dampen down.

Assembly of the thing still needs three arms and a prehensile tail, so I will be looking to make some modifications for captive nuts and so forth. I think the time has come to strip the rude words from the comments and upload to github.

Labels: maus, reprapmicron

# posted by vik-olliver @ 4:27 AM 0 comments

I've refined the X & Y mounts a bit, and had a crack at mounting the Z axis. That allowed testing of the X & Y axes with a calibration slide, which worked nicely on the Y axis, but not as well on the X (that axis driver is slightly suspect) through whatever it was doing was repeatable. A rotation of about 20 microns off-axis was observed at 500 microns deflection, which I will live with for now.

The whole thing still fits under the binocular microscope, but the USB microscope is better for getting an overall view of the build area and tracking movement as I do not have good USB optics on the binocular microscope. I might make a mount for the USB microscope just to make the whole thing more integrated.

Next step though is to install the ground probe and test out the Z axis a bit.

Labels: maus, reprapmicron

# posted by vik-olliver @ 2:08 AM 0 comments

Just as a side note, these are the prototypes that evolved into the Maus C ('C' for Complementary) flexure system.

I started out with a couple a flat designs. Top left is mine, top right one I tried off Printables. The weight of the stage caused the flexures to sag, but I noticed they didn't deform vertically so I flipped the whole thing 90 degrees.

The latest one (but 10mm too short, dammit) is in the bottom right. That has the middle section of the flexures as a more solid beam, which significantly reduces the tendency for the platform to torque. It might be possible to make a print-in-place version of the completed assembly but I'm still fiddling with the overall design too much, so it can stay as a kit of flexures for now.

I'm reprinting the latest flexure panel 10mm wider and will rebuild Maus C with those. Probably have fiddle a few bits of the driver framework to fit. In parallel, I'm working on affixing the Z axis and probe holder to bring the thing into a single unit. When it has tested good I'll pop it on github as part of the Maus library.

Assembling this has also spurred further development in the Metriccano library, as I discover new beams and brackets that need to exist to make Metriccano fit together in useful configurations.

Labels: maus, reprapmicron

# posted by vik-olliver @ 10:21 PM 0 comments