I managed to increase my machine's bed size from 35x35x35mm to 40x40x40mm. It may seem small but the 10mm increase in dimension is huge for me. Every millimeter helps!

It all started when I learned that there are stepper motor sliders similar to the ones found on CD-Rom drives but are longer. The screw length of the one below is 90mm, while the ones I found for my printer are only 50mm long.

This is when I realized that if the screw length of my sliders are supposed to be 50mm, why am I only able to print at 35mm?

I investigated my setup and learned that CD drives were designed to have physical endstops to limit the movement of the slider. I'm actually unsure as to the reason for this, my guess is so that the teeth of the slider that comes into contact with the screw would rest at a proper position that would not allow it to misalign. If this were the case, I don't think it would be an issue for me as I don't seem to get any problems even if I move the sliders past their limits.

So I cut off these endstops and the slider can now go way farther effectively making the range of movement up to 40mm.

As to why just 40mm instead of the full screw length of 50mm, that is because the holder for the slider teeth itself is 10mm (The white part in the picture below). There's no way to get extra length out of this aside from making a slimmer holder, which I'm not so keen on doing at the moment. Even if I do that, the most I might be able to get might be an extra 1 or 2 mm. Which does not seem worth it for the amount of work.

If I want more space I might buy the sliders with the 90mm screw length. I'd have to gut and remove the CD-Rom sliders that I currently have now and replace it with that. It's tempting but it's not going to be easy as I also need to extend the base from where the sliders will be mounted on.

For now I'll be sticking to 40mm until the next time that I yearn for more.

Up next: Not sure yet, but maybe finally get around to improving the spool holder?