1 Topic by lawsy

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Topic: Solidoodle Belt and Pulley specs / belt replacement guide

Hi all,

I'm currently designing completely printable replacement x and y carriages that ride on linear bearings.

It is very near completion, so I would like to have the assembly together off the machine to double check it before I fit it to the machine.

The only parts I'm missing are spare belts and pulleys.

After extensive searching, I'm unable to find any reference to the type of belts used and the correct pulleys (especially the number of teeth). The main one I'm concerned about is x axis belt and pulleys.

My local supplier has XL, T5 and T2.5, so I'm hoping it's one of those.

Thanks in advance.

lawsy's Website

2 Reply by elmoret

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Re: Solidoodle Belt and Pulley specs / belt replacement guide

IanJohnson wrote:

The pulleys are MXL pitch from Stock Drive.  I figured that out from a part number I found on the drive belt.  You could look into GT2 belts and pulleys instead which are supposed to be better, and may not make a difference either.  Something else I am trying is replacing the front pulleys with ball bearings (5X11X5 [ 685 ZZ ] from rc-bearings.com).  They need some kind of guide designed for them to keep the belt from slipping off.

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3 Reply by lawsy

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Re: Solidoodle Belt and Pulley specs / belt replacement guide

Thank you very much, sir.

I need to practise my searching...

lawsy's Website

4 Reply by elmoret

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Re: Solidoodle Belt and Pulley specs / belt replacement guide

Unless you can search my gmail inbox, you wouldn't have found that. I just wanted to give Ian credit.

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5 Reply by lawsy

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Re: Solidoodle Belt and Pulley specs / belt replacement guide

That makes me feel better then.

I'm not with my printer now, does anyone know how many teeth are on the x axis pulleys?

lawsy's Website

6 Reply by Briggs

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Re: Solidoodle Belt and Pulley specs / belt replacement guide

Lawsy, I have no doubt you will make great leaps and strides over the OEM design. Hopefully you are able to pick up a bit more x (and a touch of y) travel with your new design. 

As for the belts, MXL belts have backlash. GT2 belts have almost zero backlash, and are a much better choice. I actually thought my SD3 had GT2 belts, and was a bit perplexed by the choice of MXL when I read the part number on the drive belt that Elmoret talked about. The reason we have to crank down on the y stepper is to get rid of the backlash, and this of course puts pressure on the 6mm jack shaft, bending it, etc. Going GT2 will eliminate this problem.

7 Reply by 2n2r5

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Re: Solidoodle Belt and Pulley specs / belt replacement guide

http://www.soliforum.com/post/23260/#p23260

I think this was the only other post that I saw mention to belts.

SD3 w/ mods:
Glass bed with QU-BD heat pad upgrade, threadless ballscrew w/ 8mm smooth rod, spectra line belt replacement, lawsy MK5 extruder, Lawsy replacement carriage, E3D hotend, Ramps 1.4 w/ reprap discount controller, DRV8825 drivers, 12v 30A PS, Acrylic case, Overkill Y-idlers, Filament alarm, Extruder fan + more.

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8 Reply by 2n2r5

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Re: Solidoodle Belt and Pulley specs / belt replacement guide

lawsy wrote:

That makes me feel better then.

I'm not with my printer now, does anyone know how many teeth are on the x axis pulleys?

18 on the Y, I don't have a spare x but I think they are the same.

SD3 w/ mods:
Glass bed with QU-BD heat pad upgrade, threadless ballscrew w/ 8mm smooth rod, spectra line belt replacement, lawsy MK5 extruder, Lawsy replacement carriage, E3D hotend, Ramps 1.4 w/ reprap discount controller, DRV8825 drivers, 12v 30A PS, Acrylic case, Overkill Y-idlers, Filament alarm, Extruder fan + more.

2n2r5's Website

9 Reply by adrian

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Re: Solidoodle Belt and Pulley specs / belt replacement guide

Lawsy; I've been building up what I've been jokingly calling the "OpenDoodle".

I've used Connect-It alum box tubes for the frame, and have all new stainless rods from AllThingsStainless.

I've got a set of 8 x GT2 pulleys and 5m's of belt from RepRapDiscount
Already had a spare RAMPS

Have been using the BV3D printed y-carriages because I'm lazy, but they work fine. Been working on my own carriage though, as I dont like his integrated mount/carriage setup. I want to be able to swap quickly to Bowden if I so desire...

Its not ready for display yet - maybe another day or two.. but its basically a Solidoodle made from Open Source printed pieces and hardware supplies...

Oh... and it has Direct-Drive Y-Axis (I forgot to order a looped belt, so just went with it... wink )

10 Reply by lawsy

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Re: Solidoodle Belt and Pulley specs / belt replacement guide

Briggs wrote:

Lawsy, I have no doubt you will make great leaps and strides over the OEM design. Hopefully you are able to pick up a bit more x (and a touch of y) travel with your new design.

It's designed more as a replacement system rather than an improvement at this stage. When it's working, I'll develop it further. The width of the two bearings is limiting the minimum width the carriage pieces can be at this stage.

The MXL backup system looks like it might be hard for me to source locally, so I'll just have to bite the bullet. I will, however, upgrade to GT2 belts in the near future.

http://openlab.com.au/shop/gt20-pulley/
http://openlab.com.au/shop/timing-belt-gt2-profile-1m/

Adrian, your project sounds awesome. Apart from the frame and z platform, there isn't much left on my machine that is from the factory now. Yours sounds like the ultimate form of that concept.

lawsy's Website

11 Reply by adrian (edited by adrian 2013-06-04 04:30:08)

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Re: Solidoodle Belt and Pulley specs / belt replacement guide

lawsy wrote:

Adrian, your project sounds awesome. Apart from the frame and z platform, there isn't much left on my machine that is from the factory now. Yours sounds like the ultimate form of that concept.

Right angle bracket aluminium guttering  down pipe box tube cut in half along the Z-Axis so to speak... theres your aluminium platform wink The stuff you see that 'wraps around' roof eves etc...

I made a bad call on the axis motors though, so will be replacing them with uprated versions in the next week or so AustPost not withstanding smile

12 Reply by Staffordknot (edited by Staffordknot 2013-06-04 09:34:07)

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Re: Solidoodle Belt and Pulley specs / belt replacement guide

I've been looking at these people for belts steppers etc... I think they will make you a z axis shaft with whatever size threaded bar you like too.

http://www.robotdigg.com/

I've not used them i hasten to add

13 Reply by Rincewind

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Re: Solidoodle Belt and Pulley specs / belt replacement guide

IanJohnson wrote:

The pulleys are MXL pitch from Stock Drive.

FYI I added this info to the "List of compatible hardware" on the wiki.

14 Reply by 3dcad

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Re: Solidoodle Belt and Pulley specs / belt replacement guide

Briggs wrote:

Lawsy, I have no doubt you will make great leaps and strides over the OEM design. Hopefully you are able to pick up a bit more x (and a touch of y) travel with your new design. 

As for the belts, MXL belts have backlash. GT2 belts have almost zero backlash, and are a much better choice. I actually thought my SD3 had GT2 belts, and was a bit perplexed by the choice of MXL when I read the part number on the drive belt that Elmoret talked about. The reason we have to crank down on the y stepper is to get rid of the backlash, and this of course puts pressure on the 6mm jack shaft, bending it, etc. Going GT2 will eliminate this problem.

I broke my y end bracket and because I already printed spare brackets before I broke them. I thought I would be printing again soon. After I installed them the printer was skipping steps and when I turned the motors and printer off the y axis was hard to move back and forth. Now I found that the rod was bent.. I have to put in a new rod for the y axis and I'm thinking about upgrading from the MXL to the GT2 belts and pully's.

Does changing from the MXL belts to the GT2 bels mean there have to be changes made in the software (repertier host) as well? I'm asking because if they are not the same size they will move faster or slower then the original.

15 Reply by lawsy

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Re: Solidoodle Belt and Pulley specs / belt replacement guide

It's a change you can make from Repetier Host with the EEPROM settings.

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16 Reply by Briggs

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Re: Solidoodle Belt and Pulley specs / belt replacement guide

http://calculator.josefprusa.cz/

It's a good calculator and related to belts and pulleys.

17 Reply by 3dcad

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Re: Solidoodle Belt and Pulley specs / belt replacement guide

lawsy wrote:

It's a change you can make from Repetier Host with the EEPROM settings.

Briggs wrote:

http://calculator.josefprusa.cz/

It's a good calculator and related to belts and pulleys.


Thanks for the reply,

Wow this is not as easy as I expected.. it seems I have to do some research first to understand all of this stuff.

18 Reply by lawsy

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Re: Solidoodle Belt and Pulley specs / belt replacement guide

I'm about to buy the upgraded belts. I will report back when they are fitted.

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19 Reply by 3dcad

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Re: Solidoodle Belt and Pulley specs / belt replacement guide

lawsy wrote:

I'm about to buy the upgraded belts. I will report back when they are fitted.

Are you upgrading to gt2 pulleys and belts? Can you (if its not too much work) provide the steps you made in changing the EEPROM settings and the source of the hardware you have used also?

This would really help me (and others as well I think)

20 Reply by lawsy

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Re: Solidoodle Belt and Pulley specs / belt replacement guide

Sure can.

I bought the belts and pulleys from this guy:

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/2-x-GT2-Pull … 3a81d7bfe9

Made a custom listing for me with 8 pulleys and 3m of belt a couple of hours after I asked, and item had arrived in 2 days.

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21 Reply by lawsy

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Re: Solidoodle Belt and Pulley specs / belt replacement guide

Ok. The rod at the back of the Solidoodle is 6mm instead of 5mm, therefore my 5mm bore pulleys don't fit...

A quick google search reveals that every GT2 pulley known to man has a 5mm bore, so I don't know what Solidoodle did.

I'm about to try and drill out two of my pulleys to 6mm. *fingers crossed*

lawsy's Website

22 Reply by elmoret

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Re: Solidoodle Belt and Pulley specs / belt replacement guide

lawsy wrote:

so I don't know what Solidoodle did.

1/4" = 6.35mm

http://www.makerslideeurope.com/belt-pu … -bore.html

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23 Reply by 2n2r5 (edited by 2n2r5 2013-06-14 23:40:43)

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Re: Solidoodle Belt and Pulley specs / belt replacement guide

I noticed that when I did the sketch up mock up of the SD3. It's(the rod) not 1/4" ... its actually 6 mm which is weird cause the 2 guide rails for the z-axis are 3/8". I guess it was easier to source 6mm bushings?

SD3 w/ mods:
Glass bed with QU-BD heat pad upgrade, threadless ballscrew w/ 8mm smooth rod, spectra line belt replacement, lawsy MK5 extruder, Lawsy replacement carriage, E3D hotend, Ramps 1.4 w/ reprap discount controller, DRV8825 drivers, 12v 30A PS, Acrylic case, Overkill Y-idlers, Filament alarm, Extruder fan + more.

2n2r5's Website

24 Reply by lawsy

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Re: Solidoodle Belt and Pulley specs / belt replacement guide

Arrgh! Imperial strikes again.

I've drilled the holes but they are slightly off centre and there is no longer enough metal left for the grub screws to grab.

Unfortunately I'll have to change the y axis belts back to the MXL until I can sort out a replacement 5mm rod and bearings.

lawsy's Website

25 Reply by 2n2r5 (edited by 2n2r5 2013-06-15 03:36:33)

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Re: Solidoodle Belt and Pulley specs / belt replacement guide

http://2n2r5.com/pictures/printer/solidoodle.skp

in case you were wanting something for references and you don't have your machine. Here is that mock up

SD3 w/ mods:
Glass bed with QU-BD heat pad upgrade, threadless ballscrew w/ 8mm smooth rod, spectra line belt replacement, lawsy MK5 extruder, Lawsy replacement carriage, E3D hotend, Ramps 1.4 w/ reprap discount controller, DRV8825 drivers, 12v 30A PS, Acrylic case, Overkill Y-idlers, Filament alarm, Extruder fan + more.

2n2r5's Website