Don’t laugh at my origami motor bracket it’s just a visual to explain a few improvements the motor brackets could use There will be two slots on the back so one can easily move the motors in or out it also has a lip on the front
Once the chains are put on the sprockets a piece of plastic can be put under the lip to prevent chain slipping. might even get a UMHW chain guide profile
What other improvements does the community want to see ?
they Will be cheap to make my local laser cutter company also has a Bendy machine so can all be done by one company I just had them bend a bunch of aluminum pieces less than $8
Great improvement. Don’t understand the ‘long slot’ on the one side and the holes on the other.
The procedure is to pull your sled off the sheet on the chains and balance your sled by raising/lowering your chain-mount --> one opinion that the sled hangs vertical (not mine), second opinion to have the sled hang same degree as the frame is tilted to be parallel to the sheet. Then you put the sled on the sheet and measure the distance of the chains to the sheet on the sled side and adjust the same distance on the motor side. Having holes on both sides will ensure the the motors are parallel, but assuming a M4 screw an 2mm gap, let you adjust for 6mm sheet difference each step. I would go for long slots on both sides to allow for finer adjustment, you need to rely on the user to keep his motor parallel, but that should not be a big issue. Engraving parallel lines between the slots in 1mm distance could make that easy.
The fixed motor mounts do not allow for different thickness of the sheet/material, You will need chain guides to avoid the chain riding on a tooth of the sprocket and jumping, spoiling your cut. If the sled is balanced to the angle of the frame and the motor mount adjustable to the thickens of what you are cutting, chain guides are not needed (if slack chains are on the top and the first ‘roller’ can be adjusted as well). On both sides you want to avoid that the chain comes onto the sprocket at an angle.
So maybe and adjustment screw to pull the mount for/aft on two slides. The slides will keep the motor straight. Like a two part mount. That way you won’t have to loosen, move motor then retighten all the time. Just an idea. What do you think, MetalMaslow?
I think slots is the way to go, ( was debating using holes for the reasons you mentioned force it to always be parallel) maybe with some engraving markings like you suggest. two 5/16" & 4" long carriage bolts would fit in the slots go through the 2x4 and two wing nuts on bottom for quick hand adjustments.
Slotted would be the easiest but still require loosing bolts, manually adjusting, and retighten. How about trying an adjustable mount. Like the manual x/y axis that is added to the drill press, but you only have to do one axis. Maybe even find an existing mount that can be modified.
Or use miter t-slot and sliders and and adjustment bolt (probably from the back to prevent interference issues with the chain). As you screw the bolt in it moves the top part out on the sliders and screw the bolt out it pulls the mount back.
I can draw up another amazing artwork for ya. But I think if you can keep the sale price around 20-25$ per unit people would buy it for the ease of use and quick adjustments.
most maslow buyers are pretty price sensitive. Your suggestions would cost a lot more in labor, which is the biggest expense in any USA made item. Even when I sell items at cost like our $80 laser cut sled and z axis bundle or the pre drilled and taped motor mount bars for $20, I can only sell about 10 a month, which then requires waiting months to get minimum laser quantities and then about 5% of customers start getting irritated or upset. OR I am stuck ordering a bunch and hoping I eventually sell them. or get burned in unused inventory. I’m competing against a company who sells out of China, avoid’s USA’s 25% chinese tarriffs (No China is not paying for that, we/me/you are!) and enjoys better pricing since chinese sellers routinely jack up the price if they know it is being shipped to the USA.
Copy that. I’d say that the slotted mount should definitely phase out the non adjustable ones.
I may try to Fab up my idea while keeping the price in mind. I’ll let you know how much I was able to do it for and give you the details. I’m not interested in pursuing part procurement/sales myself. I’m just extremely interested/excited in the constant improvement and involvement within the Maslow community.
My problem has been on chain tension under calibration. Mounts are twisted on their fasteners when the chain is stretched tight. On the metal Maslow four blind nuts in the aluminum extrusion would make the mounts ridged and that would not happen. On the wooden Version, perhaps we could get shoulder screws that fit perfectly through the holes, enabling and the mounts little movement under tension.
the metal maslow kit and the wooden kits use the same motor mounts, same motors and same chains.
Not sure I understand what the aluminum z axis has to do with the motor mounts? Perhaps a photo would help? always looking to make the product as user friendly as possible.
