A quick update of the openSCAD file to fit into the new printer. The screw holders and the joints have been updated as well to fix previous mistakes. Following are a series of photos and the improvements being shown by the photos.
Improved bearing slides to use ball bearings captured in acrylic cutouts for a smoother slide action. The dark acrylic parts holds the bearings in place. With a bit of filing the fit was perfect and has much lower friction than the previous iteration.The fit is spot on into the printer and it is much sturdier. It has a rigid metal frame and plenty of room to mount everything.The electronics have tidied up and mounted with standoffs. Data to and from the print head uses the original flex cables. The laser driver is implanted in the print head to eliminate high current pulses going down the flex cable. There is room left for an SD card holder and a screen.
So at the start of this project blog, I've already created a working prototype. The design was created with openSCAD and lasercut. Video below showing it in action. There are a few improvements that are much needed. While functional the design is held together by tape, zip ties and incorrectly size screws. The belt tensioner is makeshift and the encoder for the high speed axis is on the motor end, which means it includes back-lash. The slide is also quite sticky at times causing it to jump instead of moving in a smooth motion. The electronics is a bit all over the place and the driver software occasionally resends lines or loops over certain lines. The final output is workable but a newer version is much needed. This blog will look at those improvements.
The openScad model was designed around a carriage slide of an ink-jet printer for the high-speed scanning axis. The other axis uses a flatbed scanner belt drive system.