MPCNC Belt Tension Add-on

thingiverse

While cutting a large print, one of my belt tension zipties came loose, causing the endmill to drag 1/8 inch too low across my carving. To avoid this problem in the future, I looked for an alternative way to keep my belt tension tight. Most other tension devices require me to reprint my corners, so I modified a version to fit seamlessly with my original corner design. To implement this solution, you have two options: Part A and Part B. Part A requires replacing the entire top side of the corner, while Part B slips into the original Ziptie hole of the lower corner. You may need to trim the tab on Part B to ensure it fits into the original Ziptie hole, but I found that trimming plastic is easier than adding it afterwards. If you decide to use loop bolts like I did, be aware of which side of your printer has the most room when the slide moves all the way to the end. I made this mistake and lost some room on my non-tool side because the slide now runs into the bolt. However, this issue is easily resolved by placing the bolt on the tool side. If you prefer not to use loop bolts, you can simply print 2.stl from http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1128468. To ensure proper orientation of your parts, I recommend using the mirror function in either Cura or Repetier host if necessary. Lastly, when comparing my photos to the STLs, note that I made slight modifications to Part A1 and Part A2 to bring the belt closer to the bar. The original versions stuck out a little too far, but this minor issue doesn't affect the overall performance of your printer.