Hi Folks.
My 1/4 sheet (1.2 x 0.6m) Lowrider is almost ready for it’s 1st cut (strut plates). I say almost as the inputting of the calibration details is at present proving challenging. More on that later. A few comments / observations on my build.
-
I printed my own parts using a Qidi Plus4 and PLA (0.2mm layer height). All went very well and the parts resulted in excellent fits all round. I used 30mm steel tubing.
-
I brought the kit of mechanical parts from Ryan. A small gesture of thanks for the excellent stl files, documentation etc. Excellent service and delivered to the UK without problems.
-
Next time I will colour coordinate the parts to make the build easier rather than use what was on the printer at the time. Then again small parts are a great way to use up odds and sods of filament.
-
I struggled with some parts primarily due to a lack of dexterity and grip: the screws for the linear rails, some of the wiring through the yz plates and some of the belt fittings.
-
In my haste to get going there were further items I could / would have purchased from Ryan, a fan for the jackpot board for instance. Maybe a more extensive list of “Speciality Parts” in the docs would be useful. I know the fan appears later in the docs but my order was placed long before I got there.
Having built the LR on a sheet of 18mm moisture resistant MDF, it fired up 1st time and moved to order, just not always in the direction required. A couple of motor plug reversals later and all was good. I struggled with the y-belt-min-f fitting triggering the microswitch. I replaced the fitting with the adjustable version and all was good. I also trimmed the belts back to fit in the recessed area which also helped. All axis now home just as they should.
I ran the belt calibration and the beam sq. The belts were close, 50.086 / mm and the diagonals over the full range of motion were out by 1mm.
Using the wifi web interface I selected settings and in the config file listing on the right hand side of the page I adjusted the x and y belt settings and added 0.5 mm to the y0 home offset. Pressed save and rebooted. The problem is that the changes I made did not stick. Nor did they when I tried it again.
I will try updating the actual config file directly next and use the save macro but if there is something obvious in my description above as to why the settings option did not work for me I would be very happy to be pointed in the right direction. I’m acting as a pathfinder for another LR4 being built locally and possibly a 3rd in the planning.
I know all the hard work has been done for me (stl files, jackpot board, programming etc, thank you to all involved) and assembly requires little more than some small sockets and screwdrivers I still cannot easily express how much joy there was in homing the machine for the 1st time.
