I have an idea but no maslow to test it with so maybe someone who does can give it a try?
The idea is that by placing rods at the top and bottom, a couple linear bearrings, and a strap it could create a constant tension enough to allow slow and steady 3d milling without disrupting the current operating mechanics.
here is a quick drawing of what I mean.
If you are going to mount rails, ditch the current maslow mechanism and just use
COREXY, itâs far better understood and will work well with that sort of
mechanical system
Not so much rails as they are guide rods. There are no motors used. They have no mechanical function other than a place for the linear bearings that position the tension strap. This could be done with a very tight cable and pulley or any other number of ways.
They have these for the Unistrut rails which might work.
Welcome to our group. Iâm unclear as to how this would change our current system when used with the z Axis kit where a bungie cord is fixed over the router for tension. I love that you are trying to make an improvement. I think Iâm missing it.
Thank you
I was thinking it might keep the sled flat against the work.
I see that works - I also see a reverse Z axis design. Spring load the z away from the work and use the band tension controlled by a stepper motor. Food for thought.
Thank you
Yes, as Bryan said the tension design is to keep the sled flat against the material so that when attempting any sort of 3d milling it wouldnât lift out. The reverse idea is interesting but would be a more complicated design. I think this is a design that is fairly cheap to put together and could be a simple upgrade to anyones maslow if it works.
gravity already holds the sled against the material and the router doesnât push
it off
the problem is that if you mill away the surface you are riding on, bad things
happen.
to prevent this, you need a set of rails and gantry that holds the router up off
the surface at a fixed height.
If this is just to hold the router against the material, I donât see how itâs
better than the stock design.
Though you may be better accuracy from COREXY, the Maslow setup may be âgood enoughâ for what you want and you donât have to switch to an entirely new platform (new motors, new belts, pulleys, software, etc.). If you can use a set of rails rollers to keep the âsledâ elevated off the workpiece, then you eliminate center of gravity issues (as discussed in the thread regarding a panel saw) as well as eliminating the the need to use fillers on the sides of a smaller workpiece (if you arenât using a full 4x8 sheet). It gives you the ability to do the 3D milling without concern about sled tipping. And, if you are ambitious enough, you can make the sled raise and lower with the Z-axis motor rather than the tool mounted to the sled. That way, no matter what tool you install, you have built in Z-axis.
I see this along the lines of people who built with unistrut. The original Maslow concept involved a cost-accessible machine that could reasonably replicate itself (cut its own parts). Unistruters built their own frames for added rigidity (and I assume other reasons) as an improvement. I see adding rails in the same light. Will I do it? Donât know, but I see the advantages of doing so while still using Maslowâs mechanics.
you canât just add all this other structure and expect that gravity on the sled
will move it all. you would really be better adding some chain sprockets/guides
and use the same motors, with more chain, to drive the frame in the corexy mode.
It would need changes to the maslow software for the kinematics (or changes to
grbl software to drive the DC motors), but those issues are trivial compared to
the problems you will have keeping the crossbeam from racking as itâs being
pushed by the sled only at one end, or the fact that you would not be able to
cut in as large an area because gravity wouldnât have the power to move the
frame.
Thanks. I thought perhaps it could be constructed with minimal friction, but I have not tried to do anything close to along these lines so I only speculate.
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