Monday, April 13, 2009
Get your stepper to put splines on its own shaft
The new pinch-wheel extruder needs to be able to grip the plastic filament that it is extruding to drive it down into the melt chamber. A splined stepper shaft does that nicely, but splined steppers are both rare and expensive.
Here's how to get your stepper to spline its own shaft...
The only special equipment needed is a Dremmel or similar minidrill. The rest is stuff like bits of wood, cable ties, and an old door hinge...
See here for full instructions. The top picture shows the results.
Labels: extruder, pinch-wheel, pneumatic stepper motor, splines
