Printer Bed Level Adjuster Nut Keeper for Geeetech Prusa I3

thingiverse

Update 11/30/18: When building a new printer for a friend, I found that the keepers with embedded nuts had undersized cavities. I replaced them with new models that are easier to embed and require no support. Update 10/9/17: The bed leveling adjustment screws on my Prusa I3 printer use a cap screw, spring, and wingnut. To adjust the screw, you have to hold one part while turning the other. This can be replaced by a part with a 3 mm hex nut that allows you to adjust the bed leveling screws using a hex driver on the cap screw. There are a couple things that can theoretically help improve the bed adjustment and are easy to do: polishing the ends of the springs so they don't store wind-up torque, and adding some blue locktite to the screw thread to discourage drift. I printed them with the hex nut side down. I didn't use support on the one with long arms, but it may require some clean up as a few threads may fall into the cavity before it becomes covered completely. The one with short arm requires support and removing the support inside the hex nut cavity requires a knife and patience. PLA is fine for my printer as the screws that run to the heated bed barely get warm. The hex nut cavity and hole for 3 mm screw are likely going to be tight fits, use a file or 3 mm screw to clean up the hole. Pressing the nut into the piece is preferable but if it prints too small you can scale up the X Y dimensions a couple percent before printing. You can also use a 9 mm socket and vice to press the nut in once most of the interference is removed. Depending on your bed, the arms that keep the nut from turning may be deflected slightly or you can file the pads on the extension arms to make them fit better if they are sprung too much. If they fit the carriage loosely, you can use tape or other spacers to tighten up the fit to the carriage. Print Settings: Printer Brand: RepRap Printer: Prusa I3 Rafts: Doesn't Matter Supports: Yes Resolution: .3 Layer height or less Infill: 10% or more Notes: The 3D inspector in Sketchup does not find any structural errors with the file, but Repetier/Slic3r says that the .STL file is not manifold. This may print OK anyway as it didn't cause any trouble when I printed them. PLA is fine for use on my printer as the screws that run up to the heated bed barely get warm. Post-Printing: The hex nut cavity and hole for 3 mm screw are likely going to be tight fits, use a file or 3 mm screw to clean up the hole. Pressing the nut into the piece is preferable but if it prints too small you may want to scale up the X Y dimensions a couple percent before printing. I found that the cone could be lowered a bit with a file and makes installation easier. Also, the top inside edge of the ends of the arms can be beveled slightly with a file and it makes it easier to fit around the carriage. Depending on your bed, the arms that keep the nut from turning may be deflected slightly or you can file the pads on the extension arms to make them fit better if they are sprung too much. If they fit the carriage loosely, you can use tape or other spacers to tighten up the fit to the carriage. How I Designed This: Sketchup Make 2016