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jkarnacki's MKIII

Discussion in 'General Phlatprinter 3 Chat' started by jkarnacki, Nov 6, 2010.

  1. Flashsolutions

    Flashsolutions Active Member

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    Just to be clear, if you put a sheet of foam in the machine and bring the gantry down with the spindle running and drill a hole in the foam to use as reference point and then bring the gantry back up and run the X axis in and out, the bit does not align up with the original pilot hole? Is that what is happening?

    The foam should ride atop the rollers and not even touch the table top. You can remove the table top just to be sure that nothing is causing a drag on the material being moved.

    If the gantry is not returning to the reference point with the table top removed then the only thing it can be is a misalignment of some kind in the rollers in reference to the gantry.

    As to possible misalignment, we have multiple choices here. One roller higher than the other, one end of the rollers higher than the other end, or one end of the rollers in (toward the rear of the machine) more than the other.

    Remove the pivot arm rods and bring the gantry down to the rollers and place a piece of masking tape on it so you can mark on it. Use the mark as a reference as you run the gantry from one end to the other.

    You are looking for skew in any direction in reference to the gantry. This includes up and down, in and out, and evenness of each roller compared to the other.

    If you still can't find a reason for it, you probably should give Mark a call and see if has any more ideas.
     
  2. kram242

    kram242 Administrator Staff Member

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    Excellent test Flash thank you for sharing this
    Mark and Trish
     
  3. Flashsolutions

    Flashsolutions Active Member

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    I forgot one other possible situation. Uneven pressure from the pivot arms. Maybe one spring is putting more pressure on one side than the other.

    To eliminate this from the equation, remove the springs from the pivot arms and let just the pressure of the pivot rods themselves rest on the foam as you move the X axis.
     
  4. jkarnacki

    jkarnacki Member

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    I have to admit, after fiddling with the x axis for 3.5 hours yesterday and another 4 hours this afternoon, I'm a little bummed/burnt out! The situation seems to be getting a little better, but the remaining "slop" is a little difficult to put in words. I don't think I'll even try . . . I really need to take a video and explain what's going on, you guyz will have a much better picture that way.
     
  5. 3DMON

    3DMON Moderator Staff Member

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    Video should help a lot.
     
  6. kram242

    kram242 Administrator Staff Member

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    jkarnacki, Sorry you still seem to be having this problems. I thought that some of the solutions here would have be an answer to what was going on. But it seems to be something more going on. Give the Phlatphone a call (856) 417-3377 and we will see whats going on here. We need you up and running :) We can set up a video chat if you have a web cam? If not we will talk through this.
    Thanks
    Mark and Trish
     
  7. dhc8guru

    dhc8guru Member

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    It can be frustruating. I too am a bit burned out on try to solve my axis failures.
    As far as your problem, two things I found worked well for me. First off, remove the screws and nuts the hold the roller's (bracket) in place and reverse them so the screw head is facing in. This position will allow you to work with the screws without the use of an angled screw driver. Also doing this prevents the serated nut from wearing a groove in the wood panel it attaches to when you tighten the nut down.
    Next - the front and rear x- drive rollers don't get even pressure because of the pressure roller arm articulation. To fix this, use two washers on the rear roller and one on the front. After all this, you will find the pressure on the foam is too much. I had to stretch my springs to get the right amount of pressure. You will find the belt skipping with too high a roller pressure and if you try to crank up the belt tension, it will stress the system. I shoot for a taught 45° twist on the short belt run between rollers.
     
  8. Anonymous

    Anonymous New Member

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    I used lead shot inside the roller tube on my MK1.5 to keep the pressure constant and independent of foam thickness. Worked for me. :geek:
     
  9. Flashsolutions

    Flashsolutions Active Member

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    The Phlatprinter is not anything like the MK1 Dennis. This is a whole new design with dual rollers and solid rods held down with two springs. There is nothing to fill lead shot into.

    It is too early to tell if the problems these fellows are having is inherent in the design or just a bit of bad luck getting theirs to play nice.

    A few of us have ours up and running well, but we have been there done that with the MK1 and have a little more experience under our belts.

    I can see some room for improvement in the roller area, but there is no reason why it should not work as designed.

    dhchguru is having a different set of problems, so I don't see a pattern here yet.

    I would caution each of them not to go stretching springs and such until they know for sure what they are dealing with. Once stretched, you cannot put a spring back to its original tension and there other things that can be done to resolve a tension issue if that were an issue.




     
  10. Anonymous

    Anonymous New Member

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    I understand the MK is entirely different in design, but I'd still favor a true "dead weight" system, instead of springs. If I had a MK that's one mod I would be thinking about.
    Peace.
     
  11. jkarnacki

    jkarnacki Member

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    I'm still fiddling with the skew issue but it may be resolved. I'm going to wait until I do a few more test cuts to say for sure and then I'll let you guys know what I've learned.

    - Jeff
     
  12. TigerPilot

    TigerPilot Well-Known Member

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    I had watched the construction video before the assembly and it did mention the two washer height adjustment but when I actually did the assembly, I did it with the new video for the new drive roller and it didn't mention anything about the two washer. It didn't occur to me that I missed the step until it was all finished. What is the story now? Is the adjustment not needed anymore?
     
  13. SlowBipe

    SlowBipe Member

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    With the new roller design, Mark has eliminated the need for adjustment on the roller height.

    SlowBipe
     
  14. TigerPilot

    TigerPilot Well-Known Member

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    Thanks,SlowBipe, that's what I was thinking and hoping. The thought of taking it apart and doing the adjustment didn't quite appeal to me. :D
     

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