Yesterday I finally had opportunity to install the Maslow 4.1 kit onto my Maslow 4. Ran into some issues with parts (I think for the most part things that are known). I’m listing them below for the good of the collective; I’ve already ordered replacement parts for future use (I was able to get the machine together so I can hopefully operate this weekend).
Router clamps: several of the bolt holes have pulled through
Inner posts: pull-through and/or cracking of the nut housing (I’m 3D printing one-piece replacements designed by @md8n and posted in Clamp Posts decided enough was enough).
Sled: some of the mounting posts where the support risers attach cracked/crumbled, AND the extrusions for the linear rod clamps broke.
Might be the climate here—air conditioning is not actually a thing, and our humidity tends to run high—or possibly I over-tightened during initial assembly or one of the times I took it apart. No shade, no worries; just sharing my experience.
And here’s a pic of the first one-piece inner post, hot off the printer this morning.
All three of those parts will be made with a lower glass fiber content going forward which should trade a bit of stiffness for a bit of toughness. Hopefully we’ll see improved durability.
Also same, plus the one piece replacements don’t require fiddling around with fitting really annoying nuts and bolts right in the middle.
Only cracks for me, and nothing too serious.
Same, that and my house and workshop is literally on the beach (note for those who autocorrect in their brains, that’s not ‘next to the beach’, it is literally ‘on the beach’), so yeah lots of salt in that humidity as well.
Oh, and this as well. I’ve found that most things only really need to be as tight as you can get with using the short end of the hex key to do things up.
I’m not on the beach—I can see the ocean from our place and from the school where I teach, but the good beaches are a few minutes’ drive—but tropical living means temperature ranges as low as 60º F and as high as 90º F (so can’t blame temperature swings) and pretty constant humidity in the 40s-60s.
“Surely tight is better than loose!” Yes, but snug is better than loose and (too) tight.
