Z-Axis Spacer Blocks, rc-lohas Stiffener Brackets

thingiverse

These are the spacer blocks I designed to work with the aluminum build plate stiffeners sold by rc-lohas on eBay. You can find them at http://myworld.ebay.com/rc-lohas . He redesigned his brackets and they now include holes for the screws that go through the back of the Z-Axis arms. If he doesn't have any for sale, send him a message because he's probably out of stock! I helped him with the measurements on these and got the first couple pairs made and installed a pair on my CTC, they will also fit Flashforge, Wanhao, and the Makerbot Replicator 1. I assume they will also fit the Rep 2 since the arms appear to be the same. They're of good quality and really do the job for keeping the arms straight. Installation instructions: you will need 6 - 3mmx25mm screws and 10 flat washers. The stiffeners come with four screws and allen screws for adjustment. I used washers sold as rivet washers at most hardware stores, look for pop rivets and rivet tools. They are about .75-.80mm thick and give just the right spacing. Put the spacer on and then the aluminum stiffener, install the two side screws into the platform. Just lightly tighten them so they can still move a bit to allow the bracket to slide front to back. Then install the lower back screw only to act as a pivot point. Install your two allen screws that come with the stiffeners and tighten them so they are flush with the hole. This will force the upright portion back and straighten it, and also line up the other two holes for the bracket. One of my units had slight variation in casting so I just cleaned it out with a 3mm drill bit to center the hole. After installing the other two back screws tighten the two side screws and you're done! To do this, you really need to remove the build platform from the printer. It's not that hard – it literally takes me ten minutes to pull one of these out by unscrewing the Z-Axis motor mounting screws and removing the top Z-Axis bar plates. Then unscrew the motor from the platform and set it aside, pull the two Z-Axis bars up leaving their lower mounts in place, remove the platform. Reinstall in the reverse order.