Well guys, time for a new mod of the MKII. Maybe it can even still be utilized in the new MKIII before it goes into production!

This mod is for the people like me who normally do not use the first pressure roller because you like to see what's going on, (to set the home point and look at the routing itself and so)
The first roller is the one that is the closest to you when you are standing in front and facing the machine).
But if you want to rout wood and other hard materials you will need the first roller to keep the material down on the printer surface.
I found it a pain to unscrew one of the side panels every time in order to be able to remove the first roller. (You see I am very lazy ;-)

You must first understand that it has taken a verrrry long time to develop this mod, with countless hours of deep thought and missing sleep. Multiple drawings and sketches have been made to grasp the complexity of the situation at hand, and it looked unsolvable at first!.
But I persevered!

At first I wanted to keep this verry complex modification for myself, and maybe even put a patent on it, but you know since I have gotten so much from all of you guys here, I thought it would be not more than fair to share it anyway!

Well let's see what we have here then shall we?

 

--->


Building up suspense here... :twisted:



--->




--->

 

Ok, well the tools needed are a drill and a drill bit with the exact size of the roller axle.

Next drill a hole in the top of the vertical guide of the axle of the first roller. From the inside to the outside. Use the top of the guide as a template where to drill. (hold some scrap wood on the outside against the side panel where the drill bit will exit or else the hole will not look clean on the outside (ask me how I know ;-))


On the outside this extremely difficult and complicated solution looks like this:



Now you are done!

When you want to remove the roller, the only thing to do is to loosen the black retaining collar with a little hexdriver, lift the roller to the highest point of the guide so the axle lines up with the hole(!), stick the axle through the hole just a little bit, and you can now safely remove the roller from the vertical guides without further ado!

The audience is left flabbergasted, and after some time........A S T A N D I N G O V A T I O N !!!

 

And are we ever glad you did! That was surely a Herculean task, and it was so very gutsy of you to take on the task, unblinkingly! You have definitely secured your place in Paradise for the sacrifices you have made for us, the little people!

Thank you, Martin, for posting it, that we may gape in awe and wonder at the mind-bending simplicity of your solution to a nearly unsolvable limitation in the original design.

 

Is it possible to put those instructions up as a PDF file?

 

(btw Martin - the guys here are just having a little fun with your initial "drum-rolls and STANDING OVATION" post.)
It's a great solution that's elegantly simple, and I like it! Good job! :mrgreen:

 

Aw come on Shaun. We don't do tiling around here

 

.
.
.
.

 

Oooh, sneak peek, overhead gantry PP

 

Whoa is me... I don't have an MKII. How would this overly complicated mod be performed on a legacy machine like mine?

Maybe a 3D rendering in Sketchup could help me visualize this remarkable patented invention of yours.

I know, I know... the MKI only has two rollers you say, but wait! Mine was the original 3 roller MKI mod.

I have struggled for 2 years, banging on the sides to loosen the liquid nails and gluing it back together. It was the waiting 12 hours for the glue to set that has upset me so. And to think, I could have saved hours and hours had I only known about this extremely complex work of artistmanship that MartinT has so graciously provided (if only I could figure out how he did it).

Yes, a PDF, Video, 3D rendering, Make and Model of your drill, drill bit length, diameter, power source, and at least 5 more close up photos with digital optical resolution enhancements would be greatly appreciated for us less mechanically inclined students of great masters of inventions.

I bet you got your inspiration from Steven Hawking, right? Comeon.... don't be shy, you can tell us.


:mrgreen:

 

...Well to be honest, I used to walk over water, but then I found out it's actually much more fun sitting in a boat and drinking beer!

 

I knew it. I knew it!