In the last four work sessions, I've done several things.
I printed Ben Jackson's laser pointer holder, got the right screws, and affixed it to the chassis.. I thought I'd ordered
this laser pointer from Lightobject, but failed to do so. I've placed a second order, but I think they've shut down for New Year's.
I did order and did receive
a big red E-stop switch,
a two-axis joystick, and
some silicon tubing from Lightobject. I don't need any of them immediately; I just wanted to fill out the order with the laser pointer. You know, the laser pointer that I forgot to put into the order. (Grrr...)
I cut the aluminum eggcrate to size on a borrowed bandsaw. Cutting aluminum eggcrate on a bandsaw is just like cutting butter with a chainsaw, only not as messy. The bandsaw is completely oblivious to the piece it's cutting.
- Eggcrate in Place
The eggcrate was 600×600 mm (23⅝ inches). That's a little short for the 2.x bed. I cut it as wide as possible, and cut out notches around each of the Z lift screws. After cutting everything, I cleaned up the rough edges with a Dremel and then folded and burnished them with a piece of pine 2×4.
- Cutout Around Z Screw
Question: How are you guys securing your eggcrate to the platform? Mine is just resting on the aluminum rectangle, but I want to secure it somehow.
I also printed a bracket to hold the Raspberry Pi. The Pi's designers neglected to put any holes into the board, so you have to find a way to clamp it. I printed
this bracket. (I also printed
this one, but it didn't fit as well.) The Azteeg X3 has the usual mounting holes at the corners, so I'm using conventional standoffs for it.
I mounted the two mirror holders. I had not noticed that they are different — one has the mirror left of center (mloc), and the other has the mirror right of center (mroc). You might say that they are
mirror images of each other. (-: The mroc one lined up with the carriage mirror better, so I put that one on the gantry. Bart's drawing, D30025 rev 8, shows two mroc mirrors.
I originally put the X idler bracket where the X carriage would hit it just before it would hit the gantry end, and adjusted the X limit switch to match. But that puts the idler bracket in the path of the laser. It looks like there's room to put the idler bracket to the left of the laser's path, but that puts the belt into the laser. So I've put the idler bracket to the right of the laser's path, and I've lost about an inch of X travel. My assembly matches the drawings, but it seems like I must be doing something wrong.
Question: Where did you put your X idler bracket?On 12/22 and 12/23, I overanalyzed the orientation of the Y cable carrier and the layout of the electronics bay. (
Link 1,
link 2) Now I have made the big decisions. The Y cable carrier will go loop-at-the-front, exit toward the back. The electronic components will go as shown here. Not shown: the Raspberry Pi snaps into the black bracket; the DIN rail will go just in front of the back panel, oriented laterally; and the air pump will go on the table beside or behind the laser cutter. (Thanks, BenJackson, for talking sense to me there.)
- Electronic Modules Placed
In this photo, the power supply is screwed down. The Azteeg and Pi have holes drilled and screws sitting in the holes, but I don't have any nuts. Hopefully the local fastener emporium will be open tomorrow.
I printed some brackets to attach the power supply to the Misumi rail. The one in front is straightforward .
- Power Supply Front Bracket
The rear bracket was trickier because the hole in the power supply is just 9 mm above the floor. I copied
Bart's trick of intersecting screw holes. I doubt I would have thought of that if I hadn't just seen Bart do it.
I attached the Y cable carrier to the gantry end and marked holes in the bottom skin. But I did not get around to drilling them yet. (Also, no nuts.)
That is where I am now. What's next?
- Get those nuts and screw down the computer boards,
- Make a harness for the power wiring,
- Test powering on the Pi and the Azteeg,
- Get that laser pointer and wire it up,
- Install the mirrors and lens and align them using the laser pointer,
- Wire up the stepper motors,
- Write software for a long, long time. (-: