Fix z-banding w/ no backlash- "Slop Nut" (Level 2 techie - Consumer ) (Page 4 of 7)

He did a couple posts back.

and for anybody having and issue removing the rod off the stepper motor, it took me about 3-min and here's how. Grab yourself s dremel with a fiberglass disk as well as a can of air-duster. Dremel a slot inline with the shaft of the stepper motor. Ever so often when the shaft gets hot flash cool it by spraying the can upside down. Helps prevent damage from overheating the shaft. It slid right off once the pressure was released from it being pressed and glued on.

Can you upload your slic3r settings file?

Okay, this will be the last thing that I post in this topic other than helping others out that perform these upgrades. After using this upgrade for both wood and aluminum beds with 5mm rod and 5/16 on each I feel like I have a fairly good grasp on what you can expect to see.

5/16" rod will NEVER be perfect. You will always fight banding. I believe that you can bring it down to an acceptable levels but given the right angle you or light you will always see banding.

5mm rod looks very promising. It does however still have its draw backs. That is that it still wants to produce a helical pattern. The slop nut did very well at stopping. You can see in the photos below that the left side(5/16" rod) shows prominent banding when viewed from above. Where as the 5mm does not show any banding affects but does have some layer accuracy issues and if you view the pictures at their full resolution you can make out an ever so slight helical pattern still (almost microscopic). The layer accuracy issue may be cause by slack in the x-y belts. The best way to figure this out is by keeping an eye on Privan's post http://www.soliforum.com/post/28423/#p28423 to see if he gets the same affects with the precision ball screw.

Thanks to everyone that tested the slop nut!

Those are bumped up because I am using a different hotend.

i noticed from some earlier pics that you are using a J head... I'm assuming you've positioned the thermistor in the hole in the aluminium block?

what temp are you melting at now?

Okay, this will be the last thing that I post in this topic other than helping others out that perform these upgrades. After using this upgrade for both wood and aluminum beds with 5mm rod and 5/16 on each I feel like I have a fairly good grasp on what you can expect to see.

5/16" rod will NEVER be perfect. You will always fight banding. I believe that you can bring it down to an acceptable levels but given the right angle you or light you will always see banding.

5mm rod looks very promising. It does however still have its draw backs. That is that it still wants to produce a helical pattern. The slop nut did very well at stopping. You can see in the photos below that the left side(5/16" rod) shows prominent banding when viewed from above. Where as the 5mm does not show any banding affects but does have some layer accuracy issues and if you view the pictures at their full resolution you can make out an ever so slight helical pattern still (almost microscopic). The layer accuracy issue may be cause by slack in the x-y belts. The best way to figure this out is by keeping an eye on Privan's post http://www.soliforum.com/post/28423/#p28423 to see if he gets the same affects with the precision ball screw.

Thanks to everyone that tested the slop nut!

neoblood3d wrote:

Looks good thanks for the comparison.  I've taken apart and replaced my super lubed up bolts and nuts with fresh and it's back to behaving nice and making fine looking prints.  I've got a new bed on my list of upcoming mods as I think half of the little defects I'm experiencing is causes from the wonky imperfect bed surface.  So much to do so little time.

The quick easy fix for the bed is just use glass and clips. It will average out all those bumps and bends so you will have a perfectly flat level surface.