Do you have crocked lines on Z axis on your 3D prints? Does the Z axis wobble? I’ll explain how to solve the problem.
See the video about it on YouTube.
On the original Velleman K8200 3D printer the Z axis spindle is an ordinary construction threaded rod. My rod came crocked and according to Velleman forum I was one of many customers.
It was a cheap printer at that time. It is fully open source 3DRAG printer copy. See open-electronics.org in the description below. It comes with a fixed coupler. This gives very inconsistent Z axis movement which results in very inaccurate prints. You can see ugly prominent lines on my old prints.
The first thing about upgrades which I did, was to upgrade the coupler with flexible one. Prints came out better, by this I mean less Z axis wobble. But I was not satisfied yet.
The second thing to do, was to print better stepper motor mounts. Original printer had an L aluminum profile. Worst of the worst. By upgrade, Prints also became better, but still not perfect.
I decided to upgrade the threaded rod with 8mm TR8 lead screw trapezoid rod for about 8€.
It comes with brass copper nut, flexible coupler and two KP08 bearing brackets. One is redundant in my case and it gives a nice fidget spinner.
On Thingiverse.com I found STL files for this rod specific mounts. As internet links are long please see them in the description below.
From the spindle rod files, from the first link, I printed myself upper and middle brackets. The author from the link below has the same printer and the same rod. He has problems with the middle bracket. It is too loose and he uses wood as a spacer. See the link below to his youtube video.
I solved his problem too. It seems he uses original aluminum motor mount. This is why, I printed motor mount from the second Thingiverse link below.
By combining all three brackets I achieved a perfect straight alignment. This resulted in almost perfect Z axis lines on my prints. See my new prints.
In summary, an investment of 8€ will give you nice looking Z axis prints and a new fidget spinner.
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Thank you for sticking by, see you next time. And don’t forget to watch my other videos.
ABOUT
Showing how to do simple and cheap 3D printer Z axis upgrade. I use a 40cm TR8 trapezoid spindle for about 8€. It comes with brass copper nut, flexible coupler and two KP08 bearing brackets. On Thingiverse.com I found STL files for rod specific mounts. See the links below in the description. From the spindle rod files I only used upper and middle brackets. For the motor I printed motor mount from the motor link below. By combining the brackets I achieved a perfect straight alignment. This resulted in almost perfect Z axis lines on my prints. I had to change to 400 steps per mm for the z-axis in settings.
LINKS:
3Drag 3D printer
TR8 rod
Flexible coupler 8x6x25mm
Thingiverse:
– spindle holder
– motor mount