Non-obstructing brace for Tevo Tornado/Creality CR-10 etc

thingiverse

Most mounts I see either are bolted in front of the printer and therefore limit the available width sometimes significantly or height - actually they reduce the available width in certain heights so even homing the printhead may crash it into the left rod. This design solves it by using the profile central hole. BOM: (all screws are cylindrical head) 4xM5x10 screws (15mm length might work too) 2xM5x15 screws 6x5.3mm (M5) washers 4xM5 Hammerhead nuts 2xM8 rods, 680mm 8xM8 nuts 4xM8 nyloc nuts (or 8xM8 normal nuts) 8x8.4mm (M8) washers Tools needed: 4.2mm drill M5 thread cutter Print & assemble instructions: Print 2x bottom, 1x top-left and 1x top-right. Bottom can be printed without supports, top will need support (print orientation: screw head holes down). After printing: - remove supports and check the hole diameter (screws, washers, rods); also, the screw head must not block the rod hole in the "bottom" element - carefully remove the two screws connecting vertical and horizontal parts of Z gantry (go one side at a time!) - drill into the profile central hole with a 4.2mm drill piece; go slowly and use a vacuum cleaner to suck up aluminum remains; 20-30mm depth should be enough - tap the thread with a M5 thread cutter; again, use a vacuum cleaner to suck the remains - insert and tighten the screws - repeat the same steps for the front of the Y frame (both sides) and the other side of Z gantry - now screw the "top" piece to the side of the Z axis; the upper hole is screwed into the gantry horizontal profile hole (the one you tapped the thread in, remember?), the lower hole is screwed to the slot of the profile with a hammerhead nut; remember to use washers under each screw head! - loosely screw the "bottom" element to the side of your Y frame front bar - loosely insert the M8 rod into the top hole and align the bottom piece in the right direction; use a piece of scotch tape to fix it temporarily - remove the rod and screw the bottom piece (without changing the position!) tightly - screw 4 (four!) M8 hex nuts onto the M8 rod; put a washer on each outside (so that the order on the rod is washer-nut-nut-nut-washer) - insert the rod into the holes of bottom and top pieces, in a way that the nuts and washers are between the printed parts - screw the nuts (with your hand) to the outer ends so that they are "a bit" tight (don't overtighten them - they will easily break the plastic if you do), and lock them (that's why there are 4 of them - counter-nut principle) - put a washer and a nyloc (or two hex) nut(s) onto each outer end of the rod and fix them - repeat the same on the other side The design is for Tevo Tornado, I don't know if other printers have exactly the same dimensions; let me know if you have a printer which does not and want to use this design.