FT5-1 upgrade to what?

commonlogic 2019-08-27 03:24:24 UTC #1

Hi, purchased a -1 just before the new -2 version came out
I was not a fan of the wooden parts on so I got alu. brackets and ordered some other alu. angles, U-shapes and so on to replace these components from the start.
Later ordered all the 24V parts with a new power supply to make it like a -2.
After the assembly of the frame it felt not as sturdy as I hoped for.
Felt like there was nothing in the assembly that pulled the frame together, thought about banding it like they do with shipping crates, wrap metal strip around it and secure with a crimp tool, but that might be a problem for later changes.
Instead I redesigned the frame and tapped all the ends of the profiles with M6 tread.
Moved the 2040 x 500 sides to the front/back and replaced them with 2 new 2040 x 460 long pieces.
Purchased M6 x 20 mm button heads and drilled the extrusions on precise locations with 6.2 mm holes.
These holes then where used to tighten the button screws with a hex key, see picture.
After this mod the printer could stand on its own without any corner supports, no deformation when moved.
So far only added 2 pieces 2040 by 460, used all frame components that came with the kit.

Also read here about a fire hazard that can happen with any printer so no wood is a plus here.
If you want to make a enclosure for this unit I was not thrilled about using any type of plastic.
Toxic fumes from burning abs, pvc lexan etc..
So I used Hardi backer board, does not burn, is a insulator but needs some attention to cut to size.
And cost $12 a sheet, 3 x 5 ft 1/4" thick

Top corner is secured with M6 x 20

Frame design with z-drive.
Used 60 teeth pulleys on rod, 20 on stepper with 8mm/rev travel on rod
this is 600 (3 x 200) steps for 8mm =75 steps/mm or 15 steps for every .2 mm.
using 1/32 micro stepping that would be 480 micro steps (15 x 32), 960 at 64 ms
good/bad?

Got the same power supply as mentioned in mlee post, power supply failing, review on amazon says it is noisy.
think this is due to the small opening for the fan exhaust.
Cut a 2.25" hole in mine and positioned the fan outside the power supply

Have not turned it on yet.
Made some more changes and will post them later
Ron

commonlogic 2019-08-27 12:25:12 UTC #2

The bed support is made from u-channel 2 x 1 x 1/8" 340mm long and 1 x 1 x 1/8" 476mm long.
center to center of the guide rod's is 425mm.
I had some high grade 1/2" guide bushings so I used them with new rods and mountings for the rods.
The platform is very stable but do not have a reference on how it was before this change.
Main purpose was to remove wood from a heated area, for possible fire and expansion problems.
Next I looked at the extruder/hotend
I had purchased a E3D hotend to replace the one on the Folgers delta but since that one was working good, don't mess with what is working.
But I did replace the extruder on both the delta and the FT5 with this one (or a similar version)

Used 1-1/2" square tubing to mount the extruder on top of the slide.
Reason for this is to get the mass as close to the guides as possible.
This will reduce the torque on the slide, a high end slide ($$$) will handle this but lower end will wear out faster.

Tin_Falcon 2019-09-01 00:22:04 UTC #3

Looks like a very nice set of mods. Looking forward to see it print.

commonlogic 2019-09-02 05:30:52 UTC #4

Clamped a dial-indicator to the hotend to check if the bed is flat
Leveled all 4 corners and found a 0.5 mm (.020) dip in the center.
This was measured at room temp, need to see what it is at 60C.
Ordered a glass plate 330 x 330 x 6.35 to put on top of the bed hope this will correct this

In this picture you can see a second extrudergear attached to the stepper, this will give me a manual option to retract or feed the plastic into the hotend.

The unit weighs now 28.5 Kg without the front and back panels, add those and the final tally is 35 Kg (77 lbs)

Here you can see the x-limit switch and wire chain angle.

here you can see the Y limit switch, top left, the X limit on the right and the Z is fixed on a piece of angle in the center.
adjustment with the M6 bolt below it.

below the y limit there is a corner bracket acting as a end-stop.
To the right you can see a M4 socket screw. this is holding the backer board in place

All alu parts were made with a bandsaw, stationary belt sander and a small drill press.
The large hole for the stepper mount was made wit a 7/8 hole saw, clamp in vice and use 3in1 oil for lube.
Do not try to hold it by hand, and give the chips time to leave the area
Cleaned it up with a deburring tool.
The Hardi backer plate was actually sanded to size using the concrete walkway, it had a 40/60 grid sandpaper texture.

Added 2 breakers for safety and a power bed module to take the load of the board.
Still need to run a ground wire to the frame
Got 5 TCM2208 as stepper drivers, one for each motor.
Think I am mechanically close now
Next is to look for the all the software need to run this.
Is the a book or manual called '3D programming for double dummies' ? I need this one