"Surge" minimal frame upgrade for Anet 3D printer

thingiverse

Some time ago when I assembled my first Anet A8 printer, I encountered a huge problem with bed levelling. I found that with tight Y belt tension, the frame deforms from one side to another when the bed moves. Tightening my belt really hard was necessary for this reason. I looked at existing solutions to stabilize the frame but didn't like any of them. The best one was AM8, but it looks more like a different printer with an amount of work required to assemble the original printer that's more than necessary. But I wanted something simpler and faster. So, I did some measures and put my imagination to work. Finally, I came up with the upgrade idea that minimally upgraded the printer to make it really advanced. The result is amazing - it fully stabilizes the frame in all directions, with no bending anywhere anymore. I put a video of my original printer upgraded on YouTube: https://youtu.be/UvYckIBDChg. The parts there are slightly different but generally the same. After some time with happy printing and amazing quality, I decided to buy another Anet printer and do the same upgrade. For the price and outcome, this is really a bargain. Now I can print at really high speeds with very good quality! By the way: when I said minimal work, I mean minimal work to assemble it, but designing and redesigning took some time and effort for me actually. To do the "SURGE" upgrade: You need to remove front and rear acrylic panels and threaded rods that hold them. Everything else is reusable - you don't even need to disconnect any wires. You will need two aluminium extrusion 20x20 profiles, each with a length equal to your Y rods or couple millimetres longer (make sure not shorter, because Y rods go partly inside the frame). I have mine at 382mm long. You will also need two aluminium extrusion 20x40 profiles - one 295mm long for the front and another 350mm long for the back. To print: - Left and right rear mounts - Left and right middle mounts - Left and right front mounts - Two rear legs - Two front legs - Three rod mounts - One special rod mount with endstop mount, motor mount, and Y pulley mount I recommend using GT2 toothed idle pulley for the Y belt. The motor mount looks like part of the original rear panel. You need to use the original acrylic motor mounts - one still attached to the motor and another as a support. You will also need a lot of M5 sliding T-nuts, M5x8mm and M5x10 hex socket button head bolts with M5 washers (recommended). Count them later. First, attach the original motor acrylic mounts to the printed motor mount with the original M3 screws. Then, tighten them and attach the motor mount to the rear 20x40 profile with M5 bolts but don't tighten yet. Next, attach the printed Y pulley mount to the front 20x40 profile with M5 bolts. Then, attach the printed middle mounts to the 20x20 profiles (one on each) with M5 bolts but don't tighten them yet. Attach the middle mounts to the printer frame at the left and right with two original M3 bolts (possible need +4mm bigger). Tighten them. Attach the printed rear mounts to the acrylic frame on the left and right side panels' rear parts with the original M3 screws. Now, attach the 20x40 rear profile with the motor on it to the printed rear mounts with M5 bolts but don't tighten yet. Also, attach the 20x20 profiles to the rear 20x40 profile. Make sure it's symmetric - measure the distance between the 20x20 profiles at the rear and front, and slide the mounts until the distances match and then tighten the M5 bolts. Finally, attach the front 20x40 profile with Y pulley to the 20x20 profiles with the printed left and right front mounts and M5 bolts. Tighten everything. Now, put bearings on the rods and put the printed rod mounts onto the rods from both sides. Attach the mounts with the rods to the frame profiles with M5 bolts. The rod mount with endstop mount should be at the rear right. Attach the bed base to the bearings and make sure the bed is symmetric and slides easily. Make it symmetric before tightening! The geometry of the printer will not change, but the Y rods will be in the same position in space as before. The endstop will be slightly at a different position, and there will be a bit more freedom in the Y direction - all this about millimetres. You'll have an amazingly stable and rigid frame.