Opto endstops and some other details...

To get the printer to 'home' to a zero x, y and z position the controlling electronics needs some feedback to let it know when it's reached a minimum travel on each axis. I'm using opto endstops to do this. They are mounted in a fixed position, and a 'flag', a little strip of aluminium in my case, is attached to the moving part which is carefully alligned to pass through the opto gate, breaking the beam. The photo below shows my x-axis opto/flag...

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Gen6 Electronics connected up!

A satifying milestone was reached this past week. I connected the stepper motors and newly mounted opto endstops to the Generation 6 electronics. There were a few little snags to be overcome to get it singing but singing it is! I've no extruder built yet but I was still able to load a test .stl (beethovan.stl no less, from Thingiverse! None of your 40mm test cubes round here! :-) ) and conduct a virtual print, as a way of exercising each axis! Climbing that learning curve now!!! :-)I checked out the basic motor movements first...

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Beginning to come together...

I now have all the major components, with the exception of the all-important extruder assembly, ready. You'll have seen from previous posts that I completed building the x-axis assembly and mounted the motor and idler pulley. Not having made a decision regarding extrder type yet, I've just made a flat mounting plate (a square of 6mm MDF) which is attached to the 'x-bushings' using some plastic water pipe clips. This allows me to unclip the extruder...

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X-axis motor mount and idler mount...

With the basic x-axis assembly constructed it was time to figure out how best to mount the motor and idler pully to the assembly. My original basic x-asis ends had not taken this into consideration. It was now time to address this!I usually start with a dimensioned drawing. I hand draw on grid paper sometimes. It allows me to watch TV at the same time! I've found starting with a drawing gives me a good idea of scale and proportion of the parts, and...

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