Aluminum Arms for the Replicator 2 & 2X

[Bottleworks]

Sorry for the delay. 

http://bottleworks.homeunix.net/replicator2arms/index.html

[Eighty]

Sweet!  Just ordered up a set.

 

Just a quick note:  The order confirmation said it would bill as "Rep1arms".  You might want to change that description, so as to avoid a bunch of "did I order the wrong arms" questions...

 

Thanks for putting this together! 

[Bradley Pearce]

Good catch. Thanks. My mental load averages are at 15.60, 25.80,
40.68 right now. (Who gets that reference?) So, I'm running a bit
behind.

> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the
> Google Groups "MakerBot Operators" group.
> To unsubscribe from this topic, visit
> https://groups.google.com/d/topic/makerbot/xbncyw9LncI/unsubscribe?hl=en-US.
> To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to
> makerbot+u...@googlegroups.com.
> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
>
>
>

[Avandss]

is it really worth upgrading the rep 2 arms? (not 2x) since it does not have a heated bed?

also the weight including a glass build tray is no issue?

[Bottleworks]

Well, I won't give advise on if it's worth it.  (Ok, I believe it is, but I'm bias).  Reduction of the spring board effect...  The redesigned arms weigh about the same as the plastic arms.  I didn't remember to weigh a set, but I will do so soon.  If your glass plate is working fine with your OEM arms, then I foresee no issues with using the aluminum arms. 

[Enginwiz]

Yes, upgrading a Replicator 2 with aluminium arms is worth the effort.

See this beautiful calibration cube printed at 80 mm/s accelerated to 150%

on a Replicator 2 with the latest Sailfish firmware. Sliced with Makerware 2.1

for a layer height of 0,15 mm - 2 shells and 100% infill.

 

[Bradley Pearce]

Correct. 

Sent from my iPhone

On May 2, 2013, at 2:28 PM, Robo <robo...@gmail.com> wrote:

Just ordered a full set, looking forward to it!  When you refer to the being able to download the bearing retainers, I assume these are included with the full set, but printable otherwise.  Is that correct?

[Michael Carnright]

Just ordered a full set

[Eighty]

Bottleworks,
I pointed some people your direction, and the question came up about installation instructions. Do you have any crib notes that I can point them to? Haven't done it myself yet, so I'd be shooting from the hip. Thanks!

[TobyCWoods]

The first thing i noticed and was pretty disappointed with when I unboxed my Rep2 were the Z-Arms and the platform. All plastic even though MBI touted the device as using steel instead of wood. Five months later IMO the z-arms are fine even with the heavier glass BP... but... I ordered a set just the same. Why? Because they look so COOL!!

[Bradley Pearce]

There will be a step by step manual for the 2/2X. I don't have that finished. I can post the one for the old style arms, but it isn't very relevant to the new style arms and machines.

Sent from my iPhone

On May 2, 2013, at 5:43 PM, Eighty <adun...@gmail.com> wrote:

> Bottleworks,
> I pointed some people your direction, and the question came up about installation instructions. Do you have any crib notes that I can point them to? Haven't done it myself yet, so I'd be shooting from the hip. Thanks!
>

[Ted Larson]

You will love it.  I can’t remember the last time I leveled my bed since installing these on my machine.  The old plastic ones I pulled off looked like bent whale bones.

 

-Ted

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MakerBot Operators" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to makerbot+u...@googlegroups.com.

[Dave Lockwood]

On Wednesday, May 1, 2013 3:55:07 PM UTC-4, Bottleworks wrote:

Sorry for the delay. 

http://bottleworks.homeunix.net/replicator2arms/index.html

I can't recommend Bottlework's arms enough.  I got his arms for the Rep1 and they work great!

[Guidozelf]

Thanks for the refund: I was under the impression from your PayPal account int'l shipping was an option ;-)

but instead of a refund I'd rather have the arms.

Can you drop me a line when you've got int'l shipping in place?

Thanks!

[Jake Dambergs]

Shipping to Canada possible?

Thanks

[John Watson]

yeh me too canada ...cmon pleeeese
dont make us make our own when u do such a good Job

[Pascal POECK]

Heuuu and what about France? Any idea when international shipping will be available?

Thanks

[Bradley Pearce]

Sorry, I running behind with getting international shipping sorted
out. This was caused by a set sent to the UK which was apparently
lost in transit. It looks like I am going to loose that money, so I
not taking any chances. Unfortunately, this will mean that the
international shipping costs will be higher then before. It should be
sorted out shortly.

> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the

> Google Groups "MakerBot Operators" group.

> To unsubscribe from this topic, visit
> https://groups.google.com/d/topic/makerbot/xbncyw9LncI/unsubscribe?hl=en-US.
> To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to

[Pascal POECK]

cool no matter the shipping price, I need it ;-)

[Bottleworks]

Well, unless I install and setup one of those full fledged shopping cart system, I won't be able to provide customized shipping pricing for international customers.  If you're international, email me at replicatorarms (at) gmail (dot) com with your shipping address and I will send you a PayPal invoice with the required shipping cost to your address.  A flat rate for international shipping would make everyone pay way too much because due to a few expensive countries. 

[Jake]

I see the bearings for the new arms appear to be ball bearings. I remember doing a search for replacement bearings, and coming up empty for the 15mm OD brass bushing used by MBI.

A few questions if I may:

- I read in this group that shafts need to be hardened or the shafts will get ruined by the ball bearings and the balls themselves may eventually skate, creating flat spots and eventually ruining the bearing as well. I'm not sure, but I don't think the OEM Z-rods are hardened. They're dull gray, and that makes me wonder if they may even be anodized aluminum bearing shafts. Does anyone know?
- What type, if any, lubrication should be used with the ball bearings? I'd imagine none, or something very thin. I guess Rep1 owners that have ball bearings would know better.

I guess getting some Z-rods in hardened steel from McMaster wouldn't be that difficult, if necessary. Does anyone know the length of the rods on the 2/2X?

[actionsport...@gmail.com]

Hey Bottleworks

I use a free shopping cart called Mal's e-commerce for one of my websites that works with paypal and allows you to integrate simple shipping tables or calculators etc. Requires you to do a little tweaking to get it working but its not hard.

If you are going to continue building parts and want to set up a working shopping cart you might want to take the plunge and check it out

[Joseph Chiu]

Oooh, I will have to check that out for myself.  toybuilderlabs.com currently runs on Squarespace.  The good thing was that it was fast and easy to get up and running.  $30/month, and SS doesn't charge you, but the payment processor (Stripe, similar to PayPal) will charge you on a per transaction basis.  

--

You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MakerBot Operators" group.

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to makerbot+u...@googlegroups.com.

[actionsport...@gmail.com]

My website that uses Mals ecommerce costs $6.99/mo - uses the Mal's free shopping cart, basic web hosting without any ecommerce features, no gateway fees or anything else - I use an obscure ISP called imagelinkusa.net that I found about 10 years ago when I first set up my website, but cheap hosts like Godaddy would work too - just make it features a secure sockets layer - SSL (almost all sites should)

Paypal has high merchant fees (a tad over 3% in my case all in) but any other merchant processor is likely going to be close unless you sell $20k per month and also require gateway fees etc. so if you do this really all you are paying for is a website and any Paypal fees. Its a steal compared to even the cheapest e-commerce hosting

My website is in need of a big overhaul (was done almost 4 years ago) but this page shows the cart. I have the pro version of Mals now because I have too many products for the free one (there are about 100 products on the site in total) and I use their m-orders link for Quickbooks to save on data entry but for about 7 years used the free one

http://snowboardmaterials.com/pages/materials.htm

[Mark Rudolph]

We used to use Mal's e-commerce at the company I work for (when we were paying someone to "maintain" the website part time). You now what happens when something goes wrong? You call Mal. I guess one guy in the UK runs it. Admittedly, he's been running it for about 10 years. We never had a problem with it (that we know of) when we used it, but I read far too many horror stories of people losing orders, calling, and being told "you're wrong... you must not have got the orders" or "you must have deleted it before our backups". When I took over IT the first thing I did was move to a different cart. If my shopping cart is going to be run by a tyrant, then I will be that tyrant!

[actionsport...@gmail.com]

Hey Mark

The only problem I have had in 10 years is when I forgot to pay my $6/mo "pro" fees and they downgraded my site to free which disabled my automatic data downloads etc. - Probably almost 10,000 transactions so far without issues. Can't say that no one has never had a problem, but for Bottleworks or Joseph to have 30 products on a simple site it seems like a no brainer vs $30 or $50/mo plus merchant fees for a full blown shopping cart.

I am certainly no shill for them  but just thought Joseph's comments about $30/mo for what he is getting sounded high vs what I pay

YMMV

[Mark Rudolph]

Like I said, we never had a problem, and they've been around for ~10 years, so they must be doing something right. As with everything, YMMV. I was just saying I didn't like the sound of how they did business. I tend to run self hosted/open source shopping carts. I don't think there is anything Mal's does that I didn't do for free when we changed over a couple years ago.

[Bradley Pearce]

I Haven't experienced any issues with the Z rods so far. The issue with the rods are going to be more severe on the Y and X axis. They move back and forth rapidly over hours and hours of run time. The Z rods only go through one travel at a snails pace. So, the concerns with damaging the rods are more with the Y and X axis. Standard PTFE grease should be used (the same that MBI supplies and recommends.

Thanks for the cart ideas. I'll take a look at the recommended shopping cart solutions when I get some free time...

Sent from my iPhone

[Jake]

I Haven't experienced any issues with the Z rods so far. The issue with the rods are going to be more severe on the Y and X axis. They move back and forth rapidly over hours and hours of run time. The Z rods only go through one travel at a snails pace.

Yeah, I would agree with this assessment.  I was just reading Jetguy's post from a while back (https://groups.google.com/d/msg/makerbot/YSX6ionbZJQ/F5A2tNfiVP0J) and it had me thinking that hardened rods were required for use with linear bearings.  

For the record, I think the Z-rods are in fact anodized aluminum.  I just did a quick check with a magnet.  They are non-ferrous.

In reading the maintenance pages for the Rep 1, I am surprised that MBI recommends the PTFE grease for the linear ball bearings.  I  would have thought something much lower viscosity, as to not impede the rolling of the balls.  <shrug>  My 2X has brass bushings so it doesn't really concern me I guess.

[Gary Crowell]

THX1138?

On May 1, 2013 2:34 PM, "Bradley Pearce" <bottlew...@gmail.com> wrote:

Good catch.  Thanks.  My mental load averages are at 15.60, 25.80,
40.68 right now.  (Who gets that reference?) So, I'm running a bit
behind.

On 5/1/13, Eighty <adun...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Sweet!  Just ordered up a set.
>
> Just a quick note:  The order confirmation said it would bill as
> "Rep1arms".  You might want to change that description, so as to avoid a
> bunch of "did I order the wrong arms" questions...
>
> Thanks for putting this together!

>
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the
> Google Groups "MakerBot Operators" group.
> To unsubscribe from this topic, visit
> https://groups.google.com/d/topic/makerbot/xbncyw9LncI/unsubscribe?hl=en-US.
> To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to
> makerbot+u...@googlegroups.com.
> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
>
>
>

--

You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MakerBot Operators" group.

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to makerbot+u...@googlegroups.com.

[Michael Carnright]

Good movie

Sent by electrons and some photons

[Bottleworks]

Things are moving along quicker then I thought.  I will begin shipping sets out this week.  Keep a lookout for an email from Paypal with your USPS tracking number. 

[Michael Carnright]

Yee Haw!!!

[Infinityplusplus]

sweet! My printer needs MORE aluminum!

[Michael Carnright]

Sorry to ask but has mine shipped out?

Thanks!

[Bradley Pearce]

You are #4 in the next shipment group. I'm doing them in groups to
avoid a mental break down. Sometime this week.

On 5/20/13, Michael Carnright <gern...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Sorry to ask but has mine shipped out?
>
> Thanks!
>
>
> On Sun, May 12, 2013 at 3:55 AM, Infinityplusplus
> <halb...@gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> sweet! My printer needs MORE aluminum!
>>
>> On Sunday, May 12, 2013 3:25:55 AM UTC-4, Bottleworks wrote:
>>
>>> Things are moving along quicker then I thought. I will begin shipping
>>> sets out this week. Keep a lookout for an email from Paypal with your
>>> USPS
>>> tracking number.
>>>
>>> On Wednesday, May 1, 2013 3:55:07 PM UTC-4, Bottleworks wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Sorry for the delay.
>>>>

>>>> http://bottleworks.homeunix.**net/replicator2arms/index.html<http://bottleworks.homeunix.net/replicator2arms/index.html>

[Michael Carnright]

Thanks and thanks for doing this :-) !!

[Bottleworks]

I hate to contradict myself after only a few hours...  An issue may have cropped up with the arms.  I'm trying to figure out exactly what's going on, but the end result is that there may be a small delay.  I don't want to ship any additional sets until everything is resolved/reconfirmed good and a-ok. 

[Michael Carnright]

No worries :-)

[Bottleworks]

Things are figured out...  Resuming. 

[Eighty]

Does the figured-out issue affect arms that have shipped already? 

[Bradley Pearce]

It's more clarification of installation. But, if any of the early
shipments have the plastic part that the bearings are pressed into
cracked, please email me. I'll send you replacements that are not as
tight of an interference fit. It was caught early, so hopefully no
one else will experience it.

On 5/20/13, Eighty <adun...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Does the figured-out issue affect arms that have shipped already?
>

[Mark Rudolph]

Got my arms today! They look really nice; unfortunately I don't know if I'll have time to install them this week. I guess it will give me a chance to do something out of the ordinary: read the manual first.

[Bradley Pearce]

That's great to hear.
Everyone: be sure to check for cracks in the plastic part that the
bearings are pressed into. If they are cracked, I can send you
replacements or feel free to print them. I believe the cracking is a
mix of making the fit too tight and extreme temperature changes (in a
back of a hot shipping truck). I've attached the updated STL. The
bore is .005" larger then before.

On 5/22/13, Mark Rudolph <ma...@markslaboratory.com> wrote:
> Got my arms today! They look really nice; unfortunately I don't know if
> I'll have time to install them this week. I guess it will give me a chance
> to do something out of the ordinary: read the manual first.
>
>
> On Monday, May 20, 2013 4:18:54 PM UTC-4, Bottleworks wrote:
>>
>> It's more clarification of installation. But, if any of the early
>> shipments have the plastic part that the bearings are pressed into
>> cracked, please email me. I'll send you replacements that are not as
>> tight of an interference fit. It was caught early, so hopefully no
>> one else will experience it.
>>

>> On 5/20/13, Eighty <adun...@gmail.com <javascript:>> wrote:
>> > Does the figured-out issue affect arms that have shipped already?
>> >
>> > --
>> > You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the
>> > Google Groups "MakerBot Operators" group.
>> > To unsubscribe from this topic, visit
>> >
>> https://groups.google.com/d/topic/makerbot/xbncyw9LncI/unsubscribe?hl=en-US.
>>
>>
>> > To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to

>> > makerbot+u...@googlegroups.com <javascript:>.

[Eighty]

Got mine today too!
Unfortunately, the New Orleans mailman kicked mine down the street (as usual). So all four of the fittings are broken off. Do you think they'll be ok printed with PLA?

[Bradley Pearce]

I wish I could blame the post office, but it seems to be an issue on my side. You could try printing them in PLA. I haven't tried it. If you wish, I can send you replacements.

All packages that were shipped today and onwards are with the revised bearing plastic parts.

Sent from my iPhone

On May 22, 2013, at 9:43 PM, Eighty <adun...@gmail.com> wrote:

> Got mine today too!
> Unfortunately, the New Orleans mailman kicked mine down the street (as usual). So all four of the fittings are broken off. Do you think they'll be ok printed with PLA?
>

[Dan Newman]

On 22 May 2013 , at 6:49 PM, Bradley Pearce wrote:

> I wish I could blame the post office, but it seems to be an issue on my side. You could try printing them in PLA. I haven't tried it. If you wish, I can send you replacements.
>
> All packages that were shipped today and onwards are with the revised bearing plastic parts.

These retainers are not subject to significant temps so PLA vs. ABS softening is
not an issue.

They should have a good "fricition" fit of the bearings. If they are too tight and
you force em, they may crack sooner than ABS would owing to PLA being harder.
So, don't make them too tight. If they are too loose, apply your preferred
engineering solution to achieving a friction fit. I don't think it involves
hairspray, however. Maybe a small section of masking tape?

Dan

[Eighty]

I'll print 'em up in the morning in PLA and let you know how it works out. Thanks!

[Daniel Reetz]

How critical is the thickness of the retainer part? I'd like to laser-cut my replacements out of acrylic, and all I have is 1/4" material.

[Jetguy]

Um, I think you have parts mixed up there. You cannot laser cut the
bearing retainer parts. Simply put, they are 3D not 2D. It's a complex
shape and that's why people print them. Trust me, I have a laser
cutter too and plexi around for days.

The stock wood parts can be replaced by what you and I get here in the
US as 1/4 plexis in not even near 1/4 (6.35mm is 1/4 if I remember
right). Ours is about 5.2mm but that's OK, it's not critical.

I just think we are talking apples and oranges.

[Daniel Reetz]

I can easily laser cut this part.

http://danreetz.com/makerbot/Retainer_2013-05-22%2019.36.02.jpg

[Eighty]

Bottleworks,
Given the pending HBP upgrade for the Rep2, which I fully intend to buy from you, do you think PLA would still be ok for the press-fits? How 'bout Nylon?

[Bottleworks]

I would think 1/4" would be fine.  Reconfirm your measurements for the bore.  Mine were adjusted for fit.  You may have to readjust.  I would love to see them in acrylic! 

[Bottleworks]

You could give it a try.  I don't have a good answer for nylon because I don't have experience with nylon.  That could be a great material choice.  I would think PLA would work if the it fits well and has a good grip on the bearing without cracking.  I have some PLA that I can print some up and see how well it turns out.  I guess the good news is that these are small parts only take 10 minutes to print. 

I'll say again, I'm happy to replace the parts that have cracked. 

[Daniel Reetz]

I ended up printing them because messing around with the STL to get a DXF was painful. 

When disassembling the arms, I noticed that under the bearing retainers there was some residual cutting/tapping oil. I wonder if that interacted with the ABS and made it brittle?

[Jake]

I was thinking that these bearing plates could have an "end cap" feature with a slightly smaller ID on the outside so that the bearing can't work its way up and out of the aluminum arm.  Also, the additional surface area of this area would add to the strength of the part, giving a little more plastic around the bolt holes.

Also, I was thinking that a c-channel of some sort could be printed that would sit in the arm's aluminum channel to keep the bearings from working their way closer together, while staying clear of the area for the Z-rod.  It could be slightly undersized to allow the bearings to move a little and self center, just enough to keep them from moving around.

The combination of the two would keep the bearings in the arms and prevent them from moving.  

Not sure if my textual description makes any sense.  I'm just not super keene on relying on a press fit into an ABS part.  That being said, I want to get these in, so I'm printing the as-designed parts and I expect they're going to be more than good enough.

[Jetguy]

Sorry, my fault. I have the Rep1 aluminum arms and while I knew
Bottleworks made changes on these 2 and 2X arms but did not realize
the design for retaining the bearing had changed that much.
The flipside is, I don't think acrylic is the best choice for that
part. Simply put, the part is so small and the holes are so close to
edges, I think a laser cut acrylic version will crack badly from
stress. I mean if the ABS part in the picture cracked, acrylic is
going to be worse. At least that's my experience. That part seems to
be the worse case scenario.

Every single one of my acrylic cases has stress cracks. I cut a
Cupcake, a T-O-M, an now the U-T-O-M http://www.flickr.com/photos/90025904@N04/8683809034/
Sorry, no close up pics but it tends to happen near holes or the tab
slots. Further, one thing that makes acrylic crack instantly is
alcohol. I imagine acetone does the same thing and both are sometimes
used to clean print bed surfaces.

[Andy Chen]

All my retainers were cracked as well. When I opened the package, the bearings were loose and rattling around in the box.

I printed up a new set in nylon. We'll see how they do. Otherwise, the arms look great. I'm looking forward to getting them installed.

[Eighty]

Got my retainers printed up in black PLA this morning.  The STL file you provided was a perfect fit.  Nice and tight, but not too tight. 

[Bottleworks]

I explored those options. I also tried using a snap ring with a modified plastic flange. I found it to be unneeded. Once you have the plastic flanges that arn't cracked, you're good. I've been running my set for sometime. The bearings won't move.

[Bradley Pearce]

I should also say to make sure your Z end stop switch is in the fixed location. Early bots were shipped with them in the adjustable slots. I will be adding a supplemental manual for clarification on that and tips on aligning the bearings.

Sent from my iPhone

On May 23, 2013, at 4:53 PM, Bottleworks <bottlew...@gmail.com> wrote:

> I explored those options. I also tried using a snap ring with a modified plastic flange. I found it to be unneeded. Once you have the plastic flanges that arn't cracked, you're good. I've been running my set for sometime. The bearings won't move.
>

[Jake]

Cool.  I just finished reprinting the flanges.  All is well.  I'll wait for the supplement with tips before installing.  (I want to do it once, and do it right, I've taken this apart enough times already.)

One note, I think your installation instructions say that you should only screw the backplate to the right arm, and not the left, but the picture shows the backplate with nuts on both sides.  Just a little confusing for people like me who glance at the instructions and then dive right in without reading.

[Bradley Pearce]

Good catch. That photo is out of date. That photo Was taken when I was experimenting...

Sent from my iPhone

On May 23, 2013, at 6:44 PM, Jake <jbor...@gmail.com> wrote:

Cool.  I just finished reprinting the flanges.  All is well.  I'll wait for the supplement with tips before installing.  (I want to do it once, and do it right, I've taken this apart enough times already.)

One note, I think your installation instructions say that you should only screw the backplate to the right arm, and not the left, but the picture shows the backplate with nuts on both sides.  Just a little confusing for people like me who glance at the instructions and then dive right in without reading.

--

[TobyCWoods]

Can one see the instructions now?

[Bradley Pearce]

It will be emailed to those who purchased the arm sets. 

Sent from my iPhone

[Eighty]

Got mine installed this morning.  Everything went smoothly.  Thanks for putting this together, Bottleworks!

 

[Dan Newman]

On 24 May 2013 , at 7:58 AM, Eighty wrote:

> Got mine installed this morning. Everything went smoothly. Thanks for
> putting this together, Bottleworks!

BTW, I found the installation of the Al arms on the Rep 2 to be easier than on the
Rep 1. Went faster and was a tad easier. Issue being the differences in the bot
chassis.

I do find it helpful to put a piece of tape over each of the holes for the square
nuts when you take the parts off of the old build platform. That way, the nuts
don't fall out and you don't have to put them back in either. Standard step anyone
who assembled a ToM or Cupcake is familiar with.

Dan

[Mark Rudolph]

After seeing some pictures of how the blue anodized alucarriage dual came out, I was inspired to print out a set of bearing plates in blue to match. 

Any chance of you posting the back plate and the the switch bracket stl files a well? I understand if you don't want to. Mine are perfectly fine, I just thought I might print out a colored set to match :-)

[Bradley Pearce]

You can get those files on Thingiverse. For all plastic parts, I post
them on Thingiverse ( http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:84729 ). (Be
sure to post a photo of your bot under the "made" section!) Turns out
to be quite helpful for those early
folks with the damaged bearing plastics.

An additional note on the bearing plastics. I discovered another
interesting thing. The plastic bearing bits that were breaking were
printed with
Octave black ABS. I still had one and tried to break it like a
fortune cookie. I broke it fairly easily. The -now fixed- bearing
plastics are being printed with black ABS bought from
toybuilderlabs.com. When trying to break one of those in the same
fashion, I can't. The toybuilderlabs.com ABS makes a significant
difference. It's truly a night and day difference. I feel confident
that I won't see any further issues with those parts now that I
changed plastic suppliers.

On 5/24/13, Mark Rudolph <ma...@markslaboratory.com> wrote:
> After seeing some pictures of how the blue anodized alucarriage dual came
> out, I was inspired to print out a set of bearing plates in blue to match.
> Any chance of you posting the back plate and the the switch bracket stl
> files a well? I understand if you don't want to. Mine are perfectly fine, I
>
> just thought I might print out a colored set to match :-)
>
> On Wednesday, May 22, 2013 5:07:26 PM UTC-4, Bottleworks wrote:
>>
>> That's great to hear.
>> Everyone: be sure to check for cracks in the plastic part that the
>> bearings are pressed into. If they are cracked, I can send you
>> replacements or feel free to print them. I believe the cracking is a
>> mix of making the fit too tight and extreme temperature changes (in a
>> back of a hot shipping truck). I've attached the updated STL. The
>> bore is .005" larger then before.
>>

[Bottleworks]

Looks Great!

[Eighty]

A couple of notes about my installation:

 

After putting everything back together, I sat down to tram the plate again.  After homing, I noticed that the platform was considerably lower than before (about 3 mm, maybe).  First thing I did was pull the back cover off, and moved the Z limit switch out of the "holes", and put them in the "slots",  Then I raised the switch almost to the top of the slots.  I couldn't go all the way up, or the top retaining screws (for the upper arm bearing keeper) would hit the frame.  So I got it as close as I felt comfortable, and decided to do the rest of the adjustment via tramming.

 

I've installed Carl Raffle's Alucarriage, which raised the nozzle a few millimeters (and required tramming the plate higher). So after raising the platform even more (for the new arms), I'm just about out of thread on the adjustment screws.  I've got maybe 1 mm left of exposed thread.  The compression springs were pretty loose at this point, so I shimmed them out to provide decent compression.

 

Anyways, everything is good, and I'm printing better now.  I decided to print a single-walled object first, so I could visually watch for the bounce effect at layer transitions.  On this same print (with plastic arms), you could easily see the vertical ripples as Z increased.  Now - nothing.  Solid as a rock.  I can also tell the difference by feeling the outer edge of the cantilevered arms as it changes layers.  When the arms were plastic, I could feel them vibrating.  Not anymore.

[Bradley Pearce]

And the tape tip will be added to the directions!

[Bottleworks]

Yep, they do net a slightly lower profile.  With the new HBP that I am beginning to make, those who are using the AL arms with the platform will have to use 1/8 spacers to keep proper spring tension.  I've attached that STL.  It sounds like folks who have the AL carriage will also want to use those.  I don't have the AL carriage.  That's interesting about the End stop switch.  Some have experenced the exact opposite.  Having it in the slots caused clearance issues.  It makes me wonder what the differences are in each situation. 

I'm glad to see you're seeing improved prints!

[Jake]

Well, I got impatient and installed my arms before the installation supplement.  Was really no problem at all.  Very easy compared to trying to get the Rep 1 arms to fit. :)

I also preferred the slots to the fixed location for the Z-home switch... And that Y endstop bracket works with very little room for error.  There's barely a hair between the stock carriage and the arms when at Y-home.  I have a aluminum carriage on the way so we'll see how that goes.

I took the opportunity to change the z rods for hardened steel similar to the X and Y rods.  I agree that it's probably not necessary, but I did it anyway.  If anyone wants to do for themselves, they'll need two rods 10mm dia x 300mm long.

I haven't printed yet, and probably won't have the time for a while but everything seems to work as expected.  I'll take better photos this weekend and post to Thingiverse... but for now, just a quick shot attached to this post.

[Eighty]

Oh, that reminds me...I initially thought I had a problem with the Y limit switch location and the Alucarriage.  The Alucarriage extends back a bit further than the stock carriage.  After I installed the new arms (and the new Y limit switch bracket), I manually pushed the gantry to the home position.  Then I fired up the RepG control panel and jogged around slowly to watch for clearance issues.  Turns out, the little set screw (on the back of the Alucarriage, which holds the slide bearings in place) hit the side of the new aluminum arms.

 

After some head scratching, I finally figured out that it wasn't a problem.  By pushing the gantry back by hand, I had fully compressed the limit switch.  When the bot homes on its own, the switch is triggered a few mm further out.  So while the clearance is pretty slim, it still clears.  Provided, however, you're not fully compressing the switch like I did. 

 

Hope that made sense.

[Bradley Pearce]

Hey, that's even better news!  

Sent from my iPhone

--

[Andy Chen]

I got my arms installed. I also have an Alucarriage. My experience was similar to Eighty's. 

With the leveling screws all the way loose, my build platform was still about 4mm too low. I was able to address this by moving the Z limit switch onto the slots, and then using Bottleworks 1/8" build platform spacers.

The Alucarriage didn't have enough clearance. The carriage's set screws collide with the arms when the bot homes. Eighty's worked out ok, but I may have the Alucarriage set screws a bit farther out.  I'm guessing that his just barely clear the arms. To fix this, I modified the Y limit switch bracket to give the carriage a little more space. The STL is attached.

[Bottleworks]

Ya know, it's all fun and games until you ship something you designed/made to one of the biggest tech companies in the world.  Wow...Never thought that would happen. 



On Wednesday, May 1, 2013 3:55:07 PM UTC-4, Bottleworks wrote:

Sorry for the delay. 

http://bottleworks.homeunix.net/replicator2arms/index.html

[TobyCWoods]

Is it possible to swap out the screws and springs on the BP leveling tray to longer versions???

[Dan Newman]

On 25 May 2013 , at 9:53 AM, TobyCWoods wrote:

> Is it possible to swap out the screws and springs on the BP leveling tray
> to longer versions???

You're better off using spacers (I use hex nuts) than longer springs. You
want the springs reasonably compressed so as to remove potential up/down play
and to put decent tension on the thumbnuts. If you put in longer springs,
you may then just find that they are not adequately compressed and thus are
"soft". It's not the end of the world if the springs are only, say, 20%
compressed -- I printed that way for a while once on my Rep 1. It's just
another potential source of unwanted vibration and play when they are
undercompressed. And, it's easier for the adjusting thumbnuts to loosen,
thereby throwing off your tramming.

Dan

[TobyCWoods]

Chances are longer screws that drop fit will be hard to find anyways. The hex shape head, machined thread, Metric, small diameter... not likely...

[Dan Newman]

On 25 May 2013 , at 10:53 AM, TobyCWoods wrote:

> Chances are longer screws that drop fit will be hard to find anyways. The

> hex shape head, machined thread, Metric, small diameter... not likely…

Up to 40 mm long, countersunk (i.e., flathead) is available from McMaster-Carr
in stainless steel. They're M3 with a 0.5 mm pitch. Don't know that you need
quite that long.

Dan

[Bradley Pearce]

Yes, if your combination of upgrades causes you to feel the need to
change out the stock screws to 40mm long versions, you could try
McMaster P/N 91287A028 (http://www.mcmaster.com/#91287A028). With
that said, that's getting outside of the scope of these arms. They
are designed for use with an otherwise stock machine. Interactions
with other machine modifications and changes are out of my hands, but
it sounds like the carriage modification does work with the arms after
some minor tweaks.

[Robo]

I got my arms today, they are very nice.  The black bearing retainers were cracked, so I need to print some before installation.  Your instructions say they are to be printed in ABS, but is PLA ok?  I see some of the other users here mentioned doing them in PLA.

[Bottleworks]

I believe someone in this thread printed some in PLA with no issues. 

[Bradley Pearce]

I think I'm just going to start sending a backup set of these bearing
plastics.

[Infinityplusplus]

I am gonna install mine on monday. I printed up both a pla set and a nylon set of retainers. Not sure what to put on. The PLA looks better because my nylon printing still warps a bit. When the bed upgrade is ready and I jump on that, I dunno if the heat will be an issue. Perhaps try coloring the nylon?

[Bradley Pearce]

The heat from a HBP shouldn't cause this. I've been using a HBP on a
replicator 2 for...A couple months. I haven't had an issue. This
problem is happening during shipping.

[Eighty]

I printed mine in PLA, and they're working fine so far. No that I've clocked a zillion print hours since the upgrade. But I see no reason they'll have problems. I may have to revisit that if/when I put on the HBP upgrade, though. They'll be in close proximity to heat, as well as being in contact with the aluminum arms (if those warm up at all).

[Eighty]

It wouldn't be a bad idea to countersink the bolt heads just a hair, though (in the printed retainer brackets). I found the clearances at the top to be *tight*. Probably wouldn't be wise to make the brackets thinner, but countersinking (recessing) the heads shouldn't hurt.

[Jake]

Eighty, meant to ask, is your custom logo plate printed?  Is it on thingiverse somewhere?  Or just a decal?

My Makerbot stock plate came pre-scratched with a scratch through the logo.  Wouldn't mind replacing it. :)

[Eighty]

Printed. I'll post a copy when I get to my laptop next.

[Michael Carnright]

I just got mine in the mail!  I checked them over thoroughly and found no cracks whatsoever. 

[Eighty]

Jake,

Here's the STL file for the logo.  It's 10 layers (at 0.1mm).  Do a Pause at 0.50mm, and switch from black to red.  Zero shells, 100% infill.

[Bradley Pearce]

That's good to hear. Hopefully all the cracking issues are now resolved.

On 5/25/13, Michael Carnright <gern...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I just got mine in the mail! I checked them over thoroughly and found no
> cracks whatsoever.
>

[Robo]

I've got my arms installed! I printed the bearing retainers in PLA with 100% infill.  The whole Z assembly is rock solid now.  I found that the rear leveling screw wasn't quite reaching the height I needed, so I printed a quick set of the spacers at .34mm and everything's good to go now.  (thanks to  Wingcommander for the profiles)

I did start screwing in the left arm as pictured, but I remembered someone on the group here talking about the photo, and took them out while I still had everything taken apart.  Thanks to Jake in this thread for pointing that out.

The only thing I've noticed is that if you Home Axes the platform tends to drop back down a bit, presumably because the motor's not holding it in place, but for me the point there is to put the carriage in the corner more than anything else, so no harm done.  During the entire process I was careful to keep testing for drag and readjusting the retainers as necessary, and it moves up and down manually about the same as before, perhaps a bit easier.

I'll post a photo when I'm able to.  Thanks Bottleworks for providing this excellent upgrade!

[Eighty]

Yeah, the Z stepper will unwind now after homing (and the steppers are disabled). Not a big deal, since that never happens in real life...

[Dan Newman]

On 26 May 2013 , at 3:33 PM, Eighty wrote:

> Yeah, the Z stepper will unwind now after homing (and the steppers are disabled). Not a big deal, since that never happens in real life…

You can

a. change the start gcode to not drop the Z stepper current as much after homing but whil
waiting for heat up,

b. not home until after heat up, or

c. home z again after heat up.

b and c are in line with suggestions made previously by Jetguy.

Dan

[Dan Newman]

On 26 May 2013 , at 3:33 PM, Eighty wrote:

> Yeah, the Z stepper will unwind now after homing (and the steppers are disabled). Not a big deal, since that never happens in real life…

BTW, I figure that the modified Rep 2 platform mass is probably no more than the stock
Rep 2X platform mass. Makes you wonder if the real issue is taking the time to better
align the Z rods and the reduced friction of the linear bearings vs. bronze bushings.
Either that, or the 2X has a similar issue with it's more massive build platform.

Dan

[Jake]

The Z-rods on the 2 and 2X are in fixed mounts.  There is no adjustability.  Also the assembly is overconstrained.  Based on my measurements that top mount's rod separation is different than the bottom mount.  I did this measurement a few weeks ago when I was trying to install the Rep 1 aluminum arms, so I don't remember the particulars.  Also I was using a crappy pair of calipers, so it could have been measurement error, but I don't think it was.  I think Bottleworks has noted this as well in his instructions.

I haven't yet really played with my installation enough to observe the z-axis drop, but I'll play with it tomorrow some.  With the heavier 2X HBP I should probably notice it pretty readily.  I can say that the setup does have a little less friction than the old brass bushings.  Only after reinstalling the assembly, I noticed a little bit of a drag near the top of the Z travel.  The sensation was like a flat spot where the bearings were catching on something, but not enough to hold the platform's weight.  I loosened all the bearing plates and retightened them and things improved.

The "moaning noise" when the Z-axis is traveling through its range that some people have reported is gone, but replaced with new sounds.  Again haven't used the machine really enough to categorize it.