While waiting for the print head from
qu-bd to arrive I tried out fastening the Sumpod print head directly to the new aluminum y-axis.
 |
| Seen from below |
The thickness of the plate, at 3mm, wasn't exactly ideal since the bottom part of the peek wouldn't quite go deep enough to make contact with the aluminum nozzle. That left a gap which potentially could leave room for the PFTE tube to expand like last time. I solved this by winding teflon tape around the PFTE tube - which then went into the nozzle.
I also wound teflon tape around the base of the peek in effect stabilizing the nozzle and minimizing the contact between the nozzle and aluminum plate - to reduce heat transfer. That way the peek hopefully would stay as cool as possible.
 |
| Top view |
I just about managed to finish this setup before the new print head arrived this Saturday. Unfortunately I didn't get to test it since I never got the extruder part working correctly. Given time that too would surely have worked - but no use spending time on that now.
 |
| Nice packaging |
Assembly of the MBE Extruder v9 was straight forward following the assembly pictures and videos on their web site. The only step that was unclear was if there were any extra steps necessary to install the resistor - since they only show the heat cartridge installation.
 |
| Assembly done |
Now I need to figure out how to fasten the new print head to the y-axis. Could be a challenge since the base plate is a tiny bit too wide. I need to give it some thought.
On another note; we received our laser engraver/cutter at the office on Friday so now it should get a little bit easier to machine some parts.
 |
| 40W CO2 laser from Full Spectrum |
