My 3D printer was in dire need of repair. The glass platen had been irreparably shattered, and replacement parts were unnecessarily expensive. There was no guide online for replacing the platen of an XYZ Printing DaVinci 1.0 with generic parts, so it was going to be some fresh territory.
There were a few false starts to this project, including trying to make a printer bed out of two layers of polycarbonate that would only serve to confuse anyone reading this. With that said, here is where things seemed to go well.
Enough background.
----------
An aluminum plate was ordered to replace the part of the bed which required rigidity. The plate was 230mm by 230mm and 5mm thick. Holes for the plate were marked by using the old bed as a template. M6x35 bolts were ordered to replace the bolts which were part of the OEM parts. The replacement bolts ensured that the existing thumb nuts would be usable. Holes were drilled in the aluminum plate to fit the bolts and countersunk so the bolts would be flush when installed.
A heated pad was purchased for the printer since the old heater was integral to the glass and had to be discarded along with the shards.
The purchased heating pad had a bulbous patch where the wires exited heater. This would not work with completely a flat aluminum plate below it.
To modifiy the aluminum plate, a piece of clear plastic sheeting was taped to the aluminum plate on one side and the bulbous heating pad was positioned where it would rest during operation. The bulge was outlined on the clear plastic with permanent marker.
The heating pad could be removed and the plastic would still show the outline of where the aluminum plate needed to be cut away in order for the wires to exit and maintain flush with the aluminum plate. The outline was sketched onto a white paper sticky label and the plastic was removed.
At the local hacker space, the aluminum plate was abraded on all sides to remove any rough edges. This was not done for any structural or construction reasons, I just didn’t want to slice my hand open while handling the aluminum plate during this project or while removing a print later.
When the plate was safer to work with, the inside corners of the box where drilled with a large enough drill bit that a bandsaw blade could turn inside the diameter. The edges of the drill holes aligned with the edges of the square hole.
Additionally, the bandsaw at the hackspace was running backward. Since only a few millimeters of the blade was visible, this was not immediately apparent but the work piece was repeatedly jumping and would not cut well. Once the problem was discovered, it was a simple matter of reversing two of the wires inside the plug. This saw had recently been moved from a different part of the shop and the plug still had a price tag so it was freshly installed.
With a functioning bandsaw, the outline of the square hole was cut but the cuts were rough and uneven due to all the manuevering to cut all the edges. A bandsaw was still a good choice but a jigsaw would have also gotten the job done.
The rough edges of the square hole were smoothed with a metal file. Two files were used. A coarse file was used to refine the shape to the desired square and a fine file was used to smooth the edges so that none of the wires or fingers in that area would be damaged by rough edges.
First time here?
Completed projects from year 1
Completed projects from year 2
Completed projects from year 3
Completed projects from year 4
Completed projects from year 5
Disclaimer for http://24hourengineer.blogspot.com and 24HourEngineer.com
This disclaimer must be intact and whole. This disclaimer must be included if a project is distributed.
All information in this blog, or linked by this blog, is not to be taken as advice or solicitation. Anyone attempting to replicate, in whole or in part, is responsible for the outcome and procedure. Any loss of functionality, money, property or similar, is the responsibility of those involved in the replication.
All digital communication regarding the email address 24hourengineer@gmail.com becomes the intellectual property of Brian McEvoy. Any information contained within these messages may be distributed or retained at the discretion of Brian McEvoy. Any email sent to this address, or any email account owned by Brian McEvoy, cannot be used to claim property or assets.
Comments to the blog may be utilized or erased at the discretion of the owner. No one posting may claim property or assets based on their post.
This blog, including pictures and text, is copyright to Brian McEvoy.
2018-09-08
There were a few false starts to this project, including trying to make a printer bed out of two layers of polycarbonate that would only serve to confuse anyone reading this. With that said, here is where things seemed to go well.
Enough background.
----------
An aluminum plate was ordered to replace the part of the bed which required rigidity. The plate was 230mm by 230mm and 5mm thick. Holes for the plate were marked by using the old bed as a template. M6x35 bolts were ordered to replace the bolts which were part of the OEM parts. The replacement bolts ensured that the existing thumb nuts would be usable. Holes were drilled in the aluminum plate to fit the bolts and countersunk so the bolts would be flush when installed.
Drilled and countersunk holes
A heated pad was purchased for the printer since the old heater was integral to the glass and had to be discarded along with the shards.
Heater pad on top of the aluminum plate
The purchased heating pad had a bulbous patch where the wires exited heater. This would not work with completely a flat aluminum plate below it.
Wire bundle coming from heater pad
To modifiy the aluminum plate, a piece of clear plastic sheeting was taped to the aluminum plate on one side and the bulbous heating pad was positioned where it would rest during operation. The bulge was outlined on the clear plastic with permanent marker.
Marking the wire bundle location
The heating pad could be removed and the plastic would still show the outline of where the aluminum plate needed to be cut away in order for the wires to exit and maintain flush with the aluminum plate. The outline was sketched onto a white paper sticky label and the plastic was removed.
The area to remove from aluminum plate
At the local hacker space, the aluminum plate was abraded on all sides to remove any rough edges. This was not done for any structural or construction reasons, I just didn’t want to slice my hand open while handling the aluminum plate during this project or while removing a print later.
Smoothing edges of platen
When the plate was safer to work with, the inside corners of the box where drilled with a large enough drill bit that a bandsaw blade could turn inside the diameter. The edges of the drill holes aligned with the edges of the square hole.
Additionally, the bandsaw at the hackspace was running backward. Since only a few millimeters of the blade was visible, this was not immediately apparent but the work piece was repeatedly jumping and would not cut well. Once the problem was discovered, it was a simple matter of reversing two of the wires inside the plug. This saw had recently been moved from a different part of the shop and the plug still had a price tag so it was freshly installed.
Holes at the corners of the square being cut away
With a functioning bandsaw, the outline of the square hole was cut but the cuts were rough and uneven due to all the manuevering to cut all the edges. A bandsaw was still a good choice but a jigsaw would have also gotten the job done.
Square hole
The rough edges of the square hole were smoothed with a metal file. Two files were used. A coarse file was used to refine the shape to the desired square and a fine file was used to smooth the edges so that none of the wires or fingers in that area would be damaged by rough edges.
Cleaned up square hole
First time here?
Completed projects from year 1
Completed projects from year 2
Completed projects from year 3
Completed projects from year 4
Completed projects from year 5
Disclaimer for http://24hourengineer.blogspot.com and 24HourEngineer.com
This disclaimer must be intact and whole. This disclaimer must be included if a project is distributed.
All information in this blog, or linked by this blog, is not to be taken as advice or solicitation. Anyone attempting to replicate, in whole or in part, is responsible for the outcome and procedure. Any loss of functionality, money, property or similar, is the responsibility of those involved in the replication.
All digital communication regarding the email address 24hourengineer@gmail.com becomes the intellectual property of Brian McEvoy. Any information contained within these messages may be distributed or retained at the discretion of Brian McEvoy. Any email sent to this address, or any email account owned by Brian McEvoy, cannot be used to claim property or assets.
Comments to the blog may be utilized or erased at the discretion of the owner. No one posting may claim property or assets based on their post.
This blog, including pictures and text, is copyright to Brian McEvoy.
2018-09-08
Comments
Post a Comment