Endstops are used so that the machine using them to know where the ends of an area is. The opto endstop uses a Transmissive Opto Sensor and a flag that tells the machine that the limit is reached.
A opto endstop also needs a flag to break to break the optical sensor, but that is a later thing to do; also needs a bunch of cables for the installation…
This is the components for one endstop laid out:
And the finished result:
By testing the stepper motors and the heater from the ReplicatorG control panel I found I had connected the X and Y motors to the wrong controllers.
The correct way to connect them is:
Cheat sheet to test them:
The final step is to put the plastruder on the Z board and to attach the [not] Ethernet wire between the plastruder and the motherboard.
I also clipped the USB cable on the power from the PSU to the Mother Board as a strain relief.
Next up, install the software; run the tests and then if nothing burns up make a first print.
The plastruder is possibly the most important part of the MakerBot.
This had the most pieces, the longest instruction and the most images (and it would benefit the wiki if some of the texts moved closer to the images) – but enough on that.
Hint: Twist the wires from the thermistor before cutting them to length.
Parts:
Assembly:
Having put the barrel back together. Hint for others, put the nut next to the PTFE heater barrier. Remove the barrier, secure the nut and then put on the Nichrome wire, it is a lot easier than the method suggested in the wiki (putting on nichrome, insulators and removing the PTFE barrier and putting in the big washer).
Only remains to run the wires and hook them up
The only challenge here is figuring out witch motor should go to each board.
Pictures:
I found a nice wise grip to crimp the cables with
Next step, the Plastruder.
Quick and simple.
The only trick here is to measure the hight of the nuts (that moves the Z table) before putting it in. That was a loot easier (and quicker) than trying to guesstimate where they should be.
The wiki says: *TIP* If the rods are too short they will move back and forth causing loss of resolution and additional noise. If this is the case for you, just insert something between the end cap and the rod to help compress it.
Well I put one of the M3 nuts in each of the two caps to press the rods into position.
Some images:
The parts needed for this laid out
Assembled and done.
This part was installing the drive rods and belt drive system for the Z-stage.
Pictures:
The parts for the Z-Stage assembly laid out
Even though there are teeth on the idler wheels, the teeth of the drive belt should be facing outwards (from the wheel).
The assembled Z-Stage.
Very simple stage to assemble. Probably took a lot less time than the wiki suggested.
Now it is simple to see what the completed cupcake will look like.
Some images:
This is the parts for the body laid out
The wood are stacked on each other
Completed assembly (and plastics in the back)
Tips for others:
The only problem I ran into (apart for the screw) was that when I made sure there was 1 mm clearance between the drive pulley and the motor the timing belt was not level with neither the Y-stage nor the idler pulley. I moved the drive pulley several mm’s up until it was level with the rest.
That was not a major problem as it was easy to reposition it, but it was time consuming to get the drive pulley to be 1 mm above the motor.
The parts laid out:
The parts for the X-Stage laid out.
The big screw is not the right one, the small image is with the right screw (before it was cut down to size)
Some construction images:
The drive pulley on the motor shaft.
And the completed assembly:
