Sunday, July 29, 2012

White Ant 3d Printer Build- Parts H and O

These parts finish the structural and mechanical components of the printer's
XYZ-axes.

The original WhiteAnt called for two 12" Simpson Strong-Ties to carry the
XZ-axis assembly. Since I elongated the X-axis to 17", I wasn't able to use the
Strong-Ties and instead I cut and drilled 2 steel strips ( 1-1/4" wide and 1/8"
thick) and mounted them to the length of Part H.
Overall, everything seems to move well and a cursory check affirms that the bed
and X-axis are parallel and the Z-axis is perpendicular.   


Saturday, July 7, 2012

WhiteAnt Build- Parts D,K,L and N

These parts make up the Z-axis rail assembly and the X-axis carriage. The only change I made was to eliminate the screws for the extruder assembly. Since I am not using the WhiteAnt extruder, I'm not yet sure how I will mount my own system.
Overall, cutting and assembling these parts have been easy. I'm actually more surprised by the weight of the entire system. It weighs in at 4 lbs 2 oz. When you consider the eventual added weight of 2 NEMA 23 stepper motors, extruder and hot end, this is going to be a heavy assembly to be moving back and forth on the X-axis rail.