Well, it sure has been quite an entertaining project so far, in spite of a few setbacks.
The first setback was the threaded inserts for the motor bracket deciding they didn’t like their assigned locations and moving as I was pressing them in. A new motor bracket was needed to compensate.
The second was the drive gear getting crooked due to the D shaped shaft and single setscrew ... would have worked fine with a metal gear, but plastic is more temperamental. A new drive gear will need to be designed/printed.
But without a setback or two to add excitement DIY projects would be boring, so we take it in stride and move on.
Accordingly, after picking up the pieces from the floor (and plucking those that ended up embedded in the walls during the ensuing fit of rage) I calmly went on to prepare the components for the clutch assembly and limit switch mechanism:
Alas, I'm still not ready to start soldering so the switches will have to wait. I can, however, test the clutch and the angle setting for the servo motor:
The project was also put on hold for a few days while I fulfilled an order for some solid spacers from a customer ... business before pleasure. Fortunately by then the glass plate for the printer bed had already been tested and approved for ABS printing.
This phase of the project also taught me that programming Arduino NANO with a Windows 10 computer requires tricks, shenanigans and alchemy - even the genuine Arduino unit, the Chinese clones are even worse. If any of my readers are going through the same predicament just reach out to me by adding to the blog or via the form in the Contact page in the web site, I'll be glad to share the workaround.
This and other blogs can be found in my website www.mtrdesigns-usa.com. Do feel free to add to the blog, all collaboration is always welcome!