X Wing Slider

[Joao]

Hi

You might have noticed that Rapide released an upgrade to replace the X rods with a Slider. https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/r...erk_id=2772291

I was thinking on doing a similar change myself but to the bed, because mine is suffering too much play, and that is a real problem with the increasing vibration and bad quality to the prints.
My X Wing rods do not have that much play, but I guess that over time the rods and specially the bearings will start wearing out also.

The price for the upgrade seems too expensive, but it might be the only way to keep the printer to last a few years and not months.

I found the email from Rapide explaining its benefits was not very clear and I found this forum explanation much better:
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/linear...67612-cnc.html


I wonder if and when they will do similar change to the bed motion.

Does anyone also feel the same play on the bed?
What about on your X Wing ?

[McCrapShot]

I've definitely experienced that play on the X-wing, though I've not noticed as much on the bed. I really want to change my X rods out with a slider, but that price is pretty high. Plus, I'm sure it doesn't include shipping. I wonder how big a deal it would be to do? I was looking at some sites that sell those systems, and it looks like it might be possible to just buy one and swap it in place of the rods and bearings. Will have to remount the x endstops too, but that's minor. Going to take some measurements when I get home tonight.

[bolsoncerrado]

Im frankly starting to get lost with so many upgrades and options lately,....

[McCrapShot]

I know what you mean. I have the parts for at least 4 different mods/upgrades just lying around and I'm looking at 1 or 2 more. Unfortunately, my day job has gotten really busy and looks to stay that way until June. Plus, I'm working on designing and printing some parts for an installation I have going into a library, so I can't afford to take my printer offline right now. I feel like this could be a really solid, robustly featured printer with some tweaks, so I'm eager to get them done as soon as I have the time.

[bolsoncerrado]

You should all load and read recent comments on the XL campaign... Interesting readings over there:
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/r...84579#comments

[BobenhamHotspur]

Funnily enough I've just posted on Facebook my alternative DIY idea for a slider system and was about to post it here. Give me a few moments and I'll paste it all in.

Discuss: Alternative DIY slider system for RL200.
1 piece flat S.Steel bar 35-40mm high x 10mm thick x 280mm long - Drill & tap 2 x 6mm holes in both ends (20mm apart) - Screw into 4 holes 4x S.Steel round bar 8mm Dia x35mm long with 6mm dia x10mm threaded section.
This would replace the 2x8mm rods we have in place at the moment with the 8mm dia rods utilising the original 8mm holes in the existing x-axis blocks.
SliderSupportBar.png

Then purchase a linear slide assembly (rail & slide) something like this? to replace the current bearing block.
slider.jpg
Adapt/make new extruder bracket to fit slider. Bob's your uncle, done.
Some very quick pricing:
Steel bar 40x10x280 = £19
8mm Dia bar = £4
Linear rail = £43
Linear Block £25
so at the moment under £100 ($150)

[bolsoncerrado]

I wish id have the knowledge to make this happen myself too! Go ahead, KUTGW!

[BobenhamHotspur]

I wish id have the knowledge to make this happen myself too! Go ahead, KUTGW!

I'm going to get a local engineering machine shop to quote me for making the main bar, fitting the slider & rail would be no problem.

[McCrapShot]

Wow, that looks awesome. Was planning to have a look tonight to see what could be done about mounting the slider where the rods are. The screw in steel round bar is a really elegant solution. I wonder though, would the flat steel bar be required? Was thinking we should be able to put the steel round bar directly into the linear slide itself.

Bolson: Eesh... those comments. I can certainly understand how people feel. Honestly, I was pretty pissed off initially. My printer was missing several parts when I received it, and I'd say around 20% of all the holes were not adequately machined or cleaned up. Plus, my fan connectors were swapped and a wire to my extruder had broken. To me, this kind of stuff is pretty silly. This is the kind of stuff that happens when you have no quality control process in place. I think they really wanted to get these out by the end of the year, and they prioritized a ship date over QC. The QC thing is really easy to fix though, and I'm hoping they already have. As for the other changes they're making, slider bar instead of the rod, modifications to the extruder, etc... I really think they should just change the base design for these things. They shouldn't offer V1, V2, V3, when V3 just fixes inherent problems with V1 and V2. This isn't the same as increasing the print area, or dual extruders. You're talking about a design that fixes problems with your base design. I know that for people with V1 this might feel really bad, I'm one of them, but we got our printers at a severely reduced cost knowing we were getting a first run. So, I've just been embracing learning about all of this and making modifications. Something I would really love though, if they would give us the information we need to machine some of these simpler parts. Shipping to where I live makes the slider upgrade cost almost $450. That's just ridiculous for something that simple, especially when I can get most of the parts here. All I would need would be the design files to get any new mounting brackets machined.

[milstream]

I'm sure the availability of V1, V2 etc.. is to get rid of stock parts

Boldenham,

I have been kicking this around for some time and from what I can tell, the locations of the 8mm pins in your design will put the mounting surface of the slider block too far back into the X-Wing brace. The support bar will have to be thicker and have a milled step to position the slider rail in the proper place.

End result, we need the mounting face of the slider block to be where the existing face is on the extruder mounting block. The total stack up of support rail, slider rail & slide should be equal to or less than the existing block.

Too far forward, and the assembly won't be able to go down to the bed due to the angle of the vertical supports, too far back and it runs into the X-Wing brace. I feel the X-Wing brace will need a redesign also.

I hope you can follow this thought.