Show your MODS

[RobH2]

I'm starting a thread to show off your MODS to your MakerFarm printers.

What I intend for this is just a thread that shows the MODS. If you want to congratulate or discuss them, start a new thread. I don't want this to become 200 posts discussing each one in length. So just post your MOD and if someone wants to talk about it or get more directions, they and PM or start a thread. If this doesn't work and you want the conversations to occur inside this thread let me know but I think it might get so long and unwieldy that it will be hard to follow. But, I'm open to suggestions.

I added LED lights inside my main frame. My printer is in a cozy and dark office in my house so I'm always grabbing a flashlight to see what's printing. These LEDs aren't perfect as they don't illuminate from the front like a whopping light but, for 90% of the time I can see what I need to see. They are currently wired to a 16V DC adapter but I could easily wire them to the printer's power supply or to the RAMPS board.

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[RobH2]

Here's a MOD I did today that I'm pretty excited about. Changing a hot end on these printers is anything but fun. It's just tedious to get that screw up in the bottom of the mount, you can't see it, there's no room and it drops out 5 times before you ever get it started and tightened. Man, what a drag and I cringed every time I needed to change a hot end or pull one off. So something had to change. I came up with an elaborate system to do it and then I thought, let's keep this simple. I pulled the extruder off of the carriage and removed the stepper motor. At the hardware store I got some #10/32 all thread and put two nylon lock nuts on the end (metal nuts with nylon inserts to lock on the threads) and the nuts are upside down. The nuts are larger than the printed hex holes on the extruder body. By turning the nylon lock nuts upside down, the conical part on the top pulls down into the hex holes and centers things. I left 2. 5" of rod extending down. It came out the bottom and on that I put a brass sleeve that was cut short enough that it could go over the exposed threaded rod and give me enough room for a washer and a wingnut (there's a washer on top of the sleeve too so it doesn't cut into the bottom of the wood). Now to change a hot end, all I have to do is spin those two "easy access" wingnuts off, raise the extruder off of the carriage, change heads and repeat in reverse order. It takes about 2-minutes instead of 5, 10, 12....who knows? Plus, I'm cussing less because everytime that screw fell out as I was trying to get it up in the hole and stared, I barked out some obscenity. My wife is much happier now. The only downside is if you have Autoleveling. The lefthand bolt interferes with the sensor leg. I had printed out two parts to hold the servo (if you've done Zennmaster's autoleveling technique you know what I'm talking about) initially because the first one had a small flaw. So I pulled that left part off and sandwiched them. I had to cut away the front part of the inside one so the sensor leg could move but that left a good spacer on the top edge and back edge. I mounted that all lack and the sensor leg cleared nicely. But I now had one more issue that I think you "autolevelers" have discovered. The servo body eats up some of your Y-Carriage travel and you lose about 1/2" of print area. I've been living with that and sad about it but now I was taking even more away. So, I pulled the face off of the lefthand rod bearing box can cut away some of the plate so the servo body could move into it. Now I have all of my Y-Carriage travel back. And the wood is still strong enough to keep that bearing in place nicely. Here are some photos:

[clough42]

When I first built the i3v, the thing that annoyed me the most was the end stop switch brackets. The geometry of the Y stop seemed strange to me, with the bolt hitting the hinge side of the switch. I couldn't get the X end stop far enough to the right to use all of the bed and I never could get the Z switch to trigger, no matter how much I trimmed the wooden mount.

So, I designed a set of stop switch mounting brackets that solve these problems. The Y switch is reoriented so the ball end of the switch hits the screw. The X stop is turned vertically with a notch in the bracket to fit around the wheel bolt and the bracket has a place to zip-tie the wires. The Z switch is relocated around the side of the extrusion so it lines up with the X idler.

Downloadable files are here: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:321810

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[clough42]

If you miss the adjustable Z end stop from the i3, you can print out these parts to relocate the Z stop switch and add an adjustment screw. These parts fit the 8" i3v, but I'm told they do not fit the 10" model because the X extrusion is longer.

Parts can be downloaded here: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:336665

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[clough42]

This is a variant of my adjustable Z end stop that uses an inexpensive micrometer barrel instead of an adjustment screw. Micrometer barrels are available on eBay for less than $20 (USD).

The parts can be downloaded here: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:356819

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[AbuMaia]

So, I designed a set of stop switch mounting brackets that solve these problems.

I have downloaded and printed out your X and Y brackets, but I keep having trouble mounting them. It seems I cannot get the screw tight enough to keep the bracket from moving, even after REALLY torquing down on the screw. I think I actually crushed one Y bracket by tightening the screw too much, but it still was loose on the extrusion. I got the X to stay put somehow, but the Y won't cooperate. Any suggestions?

As for mods I've made, I haven't designed any myself, but I've just added this http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:285504 to my i3v, along with the requisite firmware changes. I've also added lights to my printer, both at the top of the frame and behind the hotend.

[printbus]

I have downloaded and printed out your X and Y brackets, but I keep having trouble mounting them. It seems I cannot get the screw tight enough to keep the bracket from moving, even after REALLY torquing down on the screw. I think I actually crushed one Y bracket by tightening the screw too much, but it still was loose on the extrusion. I got the X to stay put somehow, but the Y won't cooperate. Any suggestions?

Your screws may be bottoming out in the V-rail. I noticed that possibility during my i3v build. Look where you've tried to tighten something to the rail. If you see a circle being cut into the bottom of the channel where the nut plate rides, that's what is happening. If so, add a washer under the screw head or file the screw shorter.

[DrLuigi]

After Autoleveling, Some cylinder to support the Z screws rotating normaly, and a spool holder on the back i've made now a small switch holder,
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:414857

Now i'm kinda looking for a 40-50mm fan duct that supports the makerfarm gregs extruder with the auto leveling, might design one myself once i have more time.

Owye i also added a new Y stepper motor holder, as the old one wasnt very straight, at all.

[clough42]

Like many other people, I had a lot of trouble with the extruder motor overheating. Mine got hot enough to soften the extruder block and the motor screws pulled through. There are many ways to solve this problem, but I built a fan shroud to mount a 40mm fan to keep the motor cool.

The shroud is designed to keep stray air from blowing on the bed, which I found caused problems with print adhesion. With this shroud, the motor peaks at around 45C, even with the current set as recommended by the MakerFarm instructions.

The parts can be downloaded here: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:343026

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[clough42]

My LCD was rattling and buzzing as the printer was printing, and I was never comfortable with the way the LCD screws caused the PC board to flex, so I printed some spacers so I could tighten the LCD screws down without causing damage to the board. I re-mounted the LCD with the spacers and nylon lock nuts, and this solved the vibration problem.

I also used sandwiched some strips of double-sided tape between the boards to keep them from rattling against each other.

The spacer can be downloaded here: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:335589

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