Anet A8 Z Axis Brake

thingiverse

UPDATES! 5/14/17 - Notified that the brake is a bit too strong for some printers. Created two more versions. P1 Clearance has .1 more clearance and P2 clearance has .2 more. Comment if you'd like to see more clearance than that. Results: 4/19/17 - After initial installation, aligned X carriage perfectly horizontal by measuring with digital caliper from X rods to Z axis stepper mounts. Since then, the carriage hasn't changed one bit. Had to adjust auto level sensor every day before this mod but not since. Best mod ever done for my printer and it's super easy! Just a Tip! After installing, level your X carriage from frame to X axis rods. It's very important that you level it to the rods then make a mark on your stepper motor shaft collar and a mark on Z-Brake with sharpie. You'll never need to use caliper again and can double-check alignment by moving Z axis up or down until marks line up. What Fer? Noticed when printing other upgrade parts for X axis carriage that entire carriage started falling down when powered off. Weight of X carriage was turning Z axis rods very slowly overnight, getting out of level. Anet must have intentionally misaligned those rods to create some friction. If you're experiencing this issue too, here's a fix! This will stop your Z Axis from falling down when printer is off but doesn't prevent z-axis from moving because motors overpower it. Install If you have squashed first layer make sure to clean it off where it rubs on shaft collar or else it'll cause a lot more drag than intended. You might run into issue with too much drag; in this case, Z steppers won't be able to overcome brake. You can sand down braking surface, adjust potentiometer for Z axis until motors can overpower it, or adjust scaling or included Fusion 360 project to fit your printer or application. For More Cool Projects and Upgrades, Don't forget to Follow Me on Thingiverse and Subscribe to my YouTube Channel, Gear Down For What? https://www.youtube.com/c/GearDownForWhat