Haenau - Z and Hot Bed

thingiverse

I'm just trying to keep up with documentation and instructions. Check this out: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1091057 http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1091774 This setup is mainly for the Z motor-mount, and the heated build plate. To save cost and simplify construction, I used a pair of shelf brackets bolted to a sheet of acrylic. That acrylic sheet is then bolted to 3 or 4 linear bearings and the lead screw/nut resting on the front two holes from the shelf brackets. I've got a small piece of MDF flooring tile, an M3 bolt that's super long, and a strong spring that I took out of a bottle of hand wash - it was perfect for this job!! There's also a similar setup at the back with a long thin strip, about 50 to 60 mm wide, and 30 to 40 mm longer (left and right). The central mount gives you three points for leveling, but basically, you'll only be using those front two screws. They're right in front of you, after all. As for the Z & Motor mounts, they need to be absolutely vertical - from a side view, that is. Both roll and pitch need to be spot on. Although, if you use a good ruler, it shouldn't be too hard. There's a photo coming soon!! For the connecting high-current cables, use whatever thickness works best for you while still staying flexible. I used 4-core speaker cable, as well as a 4-pin Hard Disk Drive cable - just what I cut off that old PC power supply of mine. Just check out the thermal image if you want to see how warm it gets; in comparison, that HDD cable only heats up after around 100 mm. As for my hot bed setup, I've got an aluminium build plate which is insulated with a 4mm-thick cork mat, all held together by my trusty burnt-out PCB heater. Now I'm thinking of doing some measurements and experiments to get the maximum amount of heat out of that heater without wasting any energy.