Davinci E3D mount with extruder upgrade

thingiverse

Since my Davinci 1.0's stock extruder idler became worn down and unusable, I've been searching for an alternative extruder but there aren't many options available.\nI attempted a printed extruder which uses a bearing as an idler that worked well, but it means the extruder stepper is only attached to the carriage by two screws.\nSo I thought I'd try designing a mod that incorporates the E3D hotend mount plus a replacement mk8 style extruder in one part making the whole thing much more secure.\nThe carriage is now much lighter without all that clunky metal.\nI've tested it with various filaments including flexible and it's working great.\nFor anyone who has already done the E3D mod, this is a simple upgrade. You just need to dismantle the stock extruder and replace it with this.\nIf you're starting from scratch, this is much easier to fit than an E3D with the stock extruder.\nI don't see any reason why it can't be used with other makes of printer that use a direct drive extruder.\nI've also included an optional filament guide for printing with flexible filament.\nParts required :-\n1 x bearing 3x10x5mm\n2 x M3 screws 30mm\n1 x M3 screw 25mm\n2 x M3 screws 10mm\n1 x compression spring 10mm diameter 16-20mm in length\nOh, and an E3D hotend of course.\nInstructions :-\nFirstly, you'll need to decide whether to do the mod with the carriage in place or remove it. I chose to leave it in place, it was a bit fiddly but probably saved some time.\nRemove the stock extruder and get rid of all that metal junk !\n(Skip this step if you've already fitted an E3D.)\nNext, you need to raise the stepper mounting in order for the E3D to fit in the carriage. Use the template to drill new screw holes in the carriage and cut a half circle for the stepper.\nGlue the spacer to the back of the mount across the top two screw holes. (Or you could just hold it in place before screwing the mount to the carriage.) The spacer will bridge the gap between the stepper and the top of the mount making the whole thing more secure.\n(Optional) Fit the filament guide to the end of the PTFE liner sticking out the top of the E3D. You need about 4mm of liner sticking out the top.\nPlace the E3D in the mount (main and front piece) and fit it to the carriage with the 30mm screws in the bottom two screw holes and a 10mm screw in the top left.\nFit the bearing to the lever with a 10mm screw, place the spring on the mount then screw the lever to the top right screw hole with the 25mm screw. You may need to push the lever down on the spring a bit to get it in place.\nDone !\nUpdate - 23/8/2016\nI've added a new version of the mount main part.\nWith the first version, there was a small gap of about 2-3mm between the lever and the mount due to the position of the spring.\nI've tweaked the design to reduce the gap so that the lever can now fit right up against the mount.\nThis makes it much easier to fit the lever in the correct position and also makes it more secure.\nUpdate - 29/8/2016\nI encountered a problem with some flexible filament, there's too big a gap above the extruder gear causing it to buckle between the lever and the gear.\nEasily fixed with a piece of PTFE tubing cut to a V shape at one end and pushed through the hole in the top of the lever (see picture above.)\nYou might need to drill the hole out a bit if it's too tight.