It’s been a while since the last update on the filament storage project. I was at the point that I needed to machine the brackets that will hold the filament spools when I started the spindle bearing replacement project. Since it took a while to get the spindle reliably working again, and there are 5 …
The previous post ended with test running the upgraded spindle bearings. This testing dragged on a bit because I found the bearings loosened up. I would run up the spindle to temperature, take a few cuts, and it would start making a horrible racket. Upon inspection, it turned out there was free play in the …
In the previous spindle post, I talked about replacing the bearings, how I was not very happy with how that had worked out, and how I had ordered angular contact bearings to replace the deep groove ball bearings. Now it was time to do it. While searching the web for writings about these spindle bearings, …
While I took the Z-axis apart to replace the spindle on the CNC mill, I made another discovery. I already mentioned in that post how the thrust bearings for the Z-axis ballscrew were shot, but another thing that puzzled me since the day I got the CNC conversion kit was that it appeared that the …
The last time the CNC mill got some love was when the steppers were replaced with servos. This was quite a while ago, and the mill hasn’t seen very much use since. However, it was now time to machine the holders for the filament rolls for the storage box so I got started squaring the …
Since the last post, the fan bracket for the heat sink has been completed. Since it had to fit quite precisely in place below the heat sink on the side lid, I glued a piece of urethane foam in place and cut it to the correct shape and rounded the corners a bit. Then I …
The filament storage box was now in a state that I could start wiring everything up. Running the wires was pretty quick, but then I had some software work to do before things started functioning. I had stubbed out a lot of the code back when I assembled the circuit board, but there’s only so …
Coming up on the end of fiberglass work, I completed the first layup for the box cover, the outside. This was pretty easy since it’s mostly just flat, but the glass has to go around the edges and conform to the corners. The cloth will go around a 90-degree corner but only barely. Since the …
With the bottom of the box done, time to cover the remaining bare foam on the front. The front is 1.75″-2″ wide so we’re talking applying glass tapes all around. To bond to the sides a loooong flox corner was needed all around the inside and outside, which required a lot of Dremel work to …
Now it’s time to complete the bottom of the box, fitting the penetration bracket into it. First, the shape of the bracket was measured out on the bottom of the box, and the foam removed to the depth that would match the bracket using the Dremel. This recess was then beveled to match the bracket. …