Post date: Jul 28, 2013 12:50:56 AM
Firstly, the X axis upgrade (or part of one):
This is part of my eventual threaded rod to acme rod axis upgrades. This is for the X axis, and will hold the nut against the back of the Z axis mounting plate to facilitate driving the X axis. Another plate will go on top of the nut to clamp the nut in position. If this explanation is completely insufficient, just admire my milling work.
This was my second foray into manual milling, and it worked pretty well. In case it's relevant in any way, shape, or form, I used a 1/4" end mill.
To avoid any confusion, this is in no way related to the work described below (or really any other work I can remember posting about).
Next up, I finished up the Z axis tube, that will rotate around the Z axis acme rod and make it move up and down:
The second picture isn't terribly interesting, just that I got the delrin nut screwed in to the aluminum. The first picture shows how it'll go through the Z axis stepper mounting plate- the bottom nut is a spacer to allow it to not hit the plate itself. In the middle, you can see the bearing that will sit on top of the Z axis stepper mounting plate and support the whole assembly (it's clamped down by an aluminum disc in practice). The top nut holds the tube in place. The shaft sticking out of the top is the rest of the bolt, turned down to 1/4" to mate nicely with the stepper shaft.
This is how the assembly looks from above. The bearing previously mentioned is hidden in the aluminum disc.
And THIS is the whole shebang, The tube is hidden in the square tubing; you can see the Z axis acme rod going up into it. The stepper will eventually sit on top of all of this, though I haven't drilled holes to screw it down yet.
With this all assembled, you can turn the shaft and make the carriage move up and down! That's really good to see. The only challenges left with regard to the Z axis (at least for the moment) are mounting the limit switches (preferably without running wires down to the bottom of the Z axis), and centering the bearing noted above over the acme rod.
In short: Progress!