Here are the project, part, and bgcode files I used for the 10mm leadscrew and lift blocksā¦
MPR&P-Z_lift_block.zip (7.9 MB)
MPR&P-10mm_leadscrew.zip (6.3 MB)
Have fun!
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Iāve considered that but since Iāve increased the diameter of the leadscrew to add material where the first one broke, Iām gonna install and test with what Iāve got until I know otherwise. I also shudder at the thought of cleaning the support material off the threads if printed at 45 degreesā¦
I have more confidence in the XY accuracy of the motor D-shaft bore and leadscrew diameter printed vertically. The layers are horizontal of course but Iām believing/hoping most of the forces on the leadscrew are compressive, rather than side or twist. The guide rods have a closer fit in their bearing surfaces than the necessary āslopā in the screw/nut interfaceā¦ so hoping they take the brunt of any side forces.
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I like your use of lever clip connectors for the stepper motors.
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Hubba-hubba! We can thank @MakerJim for that!
They have been lifesavers for me. Iāve gotten so shaky and my eyesight isnāt what it used to beā¦ so trying to solder wires anymore is just an exercise in frustration.
Iāve updated MPR&P out on Printables with the latest parts. I think whats out there should pretty well match the prototype machine I have and am now testing.
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Threw the .bgcode onto the Core One L and kicked off a print.
Will see how it turns out.
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First copy from the .bgcode started off great, as expected.
The organic supports broke off beautifully, and the print-in-place nut / print stabalizer threaded off perfectly.
2nd print also came out great.
Iām going to need to print more, the grandkids love the rod/nut for figitibility, plus the organic supports are quite a curiosity.
I started a lift block print a few minutes ago.
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Funny the āfigitabilityāā¦ I designed these for my 7 grandkids since I was playing with the print in place leadscrews at the time. Stuffed their gift money inside for family Christmasā¦ both the money and fidgit/figit toys seemed to go over quite well.
fidgit_money_holder.zip (7.3 MB)
So, did this one (not my design)ā¦
Bet your grandkids will like them. BTW I enjoyed fidgiting with them while we all sat around, too.
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Neat! Am printing one of your fidget rod/nuts.
Fidget gears designer has bunch of interesting variants. Am printing this oneā¦
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Cool. My daughter likes it too.
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Iāve noticed a couple of things that donāt seem 100% with the Z-axis but it may just be the max rate and acceleration settings. But it seems fine if I donāt push itā¦ and with laser itās not an issueā¦
Just need to play with it some more.
Later.
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Thought I would show how I think best to assemble the Z-lift assembly. Assuming the lift chassis and motor are already assembled (less the bottom capture plate), which in this case they areā¦
Remove the old 8mm leadscrewā¦
After aligning the flat and starting the new 10mm leadscrew on the motorās D-shaft, I use a clamp to carefully slide the leadscrew up the shaft until the 8mm bearing shoulder just clears the bottom of the chassis by about 3mm or soā¦
Fit the capture plate with 608 bearing on to bottom end of leadscrew and then use the 4mm screws to attach the capture plate, seat the leadscrew shoulder, and slide the leadscrew into its final position on the motor shaft.
Pull the capture plate back off the assembly, manually screw the lift block into place somewhere up the leadscrew, and replace the capture plate. Slide the guide rod bolts into place and use plain hex nuts to just snug them up. Not shown I run Nyloc nuts down to the hex nuts to lightly lock the guide rods into placeā¦
and then test under powerā¦
Have fun.
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Just piddlināā¦
Switched the power supply from 12V to 24V and MPR&P runs much better. Been revisiting the laser, Lightburn, and Neje A40640 againā¦ and, of course, just trying to get familiar with the machine.
Just hanging the laser from the clamp section of the 65mm router mountā¦
Anybody recognize Ryanās laser focus gradient pattern? I rewrote the script to be bidirectional but it does the same thing. Also MPR&P had to personalize a rulerā¦
A couple of the ācoinsā I once didā¦ updated LR3 to LR4.
Also, printed off a couple more 10mm leadscrewsā¦ this time on my MK3S, to see if a ābedslingerā can do it as well. It did.
Later.
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You are a laser pro but dang, those look perfect! You designed a hell of a machine.
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Oh, how I would like to take some of those samples to SMRRF if I manage to make it, and show them at this yearsā RMRRF if my work travel schedule lets me go.
No freaking kidding. Man, David- those things are GREAT!
If we get a LR from someone else to RMRRF, I think Iām bringing my MPR&P V2 to show. I need to finish it. Snap snap! gotta get busy
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Thank you, Ryan. Coming from you, that really means a lot. I still havenāt really put the Z-axis through its pacesā¦ but it started acting a lot better when I went to 24V on the power supply. Iām hoping someone out there will build one and put a router on it somedayā¦ to see if it really is the machine I/we hope it is. Router/noise/debris-averse, I am.
A somewhat pleasant surpriseā¦
I have the two front supports aligned and clamped with a 4ā āfactory edgeā on the 2ā x 4ā plywood table top. Then one side is aligned with the āfactory edge at 90 degreesā and fixed with a clamp. The fourth corner is just allowed to float and adjust on its own. I have absolutely no limits switches on the machine. My dual-motor axis (Y and Z) are series-connected, with the X-axis the only single motor axis. My little ~$30 GRBL controller board only has the single XYZ ports and no othersā¦ but it does have laser and small 775 āspindleā outputs.
Because the front supports are āeye-ball alignedā and fixed, I can run the Y-axis to the front and bump the flat end-supports on both sides. I run up close and then make small moves to make contactā¦ when one hits and the other hasnāt, you hear the brief grind on the side that hit while the other side continues to move. Within a small move or two, both sides will be in contact and Iām calling that āsquareā. For the life of me that seems a valid way to āsquareā the machine without limit switches or 5-6 drivers on the controller board. I can do similar on the Z-axisā¦ the identical-as-I-can-print-it Z-lifts have flat surfaces on both bottom and top travel limits and I should be able to closely square the machine in either direction. Am I missing something?
Iām really not trying to justify staying with a little 8-bit GRBL controller boardā¦ just making the observation that you can still have a nice, reasonably accurate machine, even if thatās all youāve got to work with. I have a Jackpot board I got from Ryanā¦ I really could/should use it, eventually. But Iām also interested in checking out GrblHALā¦ and maybe even LinuxCNC, again.
So, I guess Iām just playing nowā¦ not really working. I doubt Iāll ever really do anything useful with MPR&Pā¦ but the machine is fun to play with for the time being.
Thoughts? Suggestions?
ā David
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I"m heading that way!
Itās completely legit to manually square and zero the machine. Itās just damned inconvenient for the inpatient folks like me.
I do still think mounting for endstops would be needed by many users. Iām going to epoxy on a printed mount to mine when I play with it.
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If youād want toā¦ have at it. Itās always that 10% of āuser friendlinessā at the end that takes 90% of the time. If Onshape is not your CAD of choice, I can provide STEP files for all the parts you need to add mounts for endstops. Iām happy to work with you on this. I just donāt have the heart to spend a great deal of time on making it āuser friendlyā, myself.
Iād be happy to throw any 2D stuff/samples into an envelope and send it to you, if it would help. Better, would be for you to get your machine up and running and do your ownā¦ but Iād be willing help if you can tell me what you need/want in the meantime.
Iād absolutely love to see you make it.
From the quote board at work (from a source familiar to this forum 
) :
āThereās the first 80% of the work, the 2nd 80% of the work, and then the 80% left to get it as good as it can reasonably beā¦ How many 80% efforts can you afford?ā
In this case, that first 80% is truly fun and rewarding. Please keep doing that as long as itās fun and not one moment longer.
If Iām dumb enough to throw in and additional 80%, thatās on me. If someone else has a checkbook to pay for the final 80% of work, well thatād be someone good to know.
Letās not wreck the fun in this project and keep seeing where it goes and what spins off.
Very, very cool machine project.
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Some progressā¦
Finally decided it was time to relocate MPR&P-V2 to the spot the original machine satā¦
Put the router in place for showā¦
and finally committed to drilling holes and bolting the MPR&P to the table top. No more clamps!
Started moving the gantry toward the rear of the machineā¦
and checked that I was clear of the wall in Ymax positionā¦
Final XYZ max work area is about 730mm x 430mm x 120mm with a 24" x 48" (609mm x 1218mm) footprint.
Air-milling a small vcarve jobā¦
Iām really leaning toward going ahead and putting side and back boards for debris containment. I watched Joe Gomez (@joegomez1479) last evening do a test vcarve with his new LR4 and I was encouraged to start thinking I could probably do the same with MPR&Pā¦ my hangups be danged.
Later.
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