Welp, I just joined the forums earlier today while at work, fully intending to make a purchase when I got home. Get home and look at the store and now I see the base kit is flagged as sold out.
sigh
I read earlier that they were taking a break for a while after this set of kits sold out.
Does anyone know where I can source the parts myself? I really wanted to order one of these… can’t believe my luck is that bad that it was available earlier today and sold out now lol. Only reason I didn’t checkout earlier is the credit card I wanted to put it on was sitting on my desk at home… I figured it would be ok cause I read somewhere that they had enough parts to last until after this set of kits shipped, and I didn’t think this set had shipped yet based on other things I read. I don’t want to wait “a while” to get this.
I’ll try to keep an eye out for that, but if there is somewhere I can just order the parts myself I’ll go that route. LIke I said, I was ready to buy it tonight.
I can’t even seem to find a complete parts list of what is in the kit to look around myself. I know it’s 2 motors, arduino mega motor driver shield, chains, brackets, and the sled ring system. But with those other individual parts in the store, the cost doesn’t add up to anywhere near $350, so there must be something else missing. Buying just those parts separately is only $177 (if the ring system wasn’t flagged as sold out). I know it also includes hardware screws and an arduino mega like board, but those 2 things wouldn’t make up for $173 difference in price. What else is there in the kit? Is there somewhere I can find a complete parts list?
There have been a couple of posts in the forum and people sourcing the parts else were. Keep an eye open on the BOM on git hub https://github.com/MaslowCNC and the Community Garden http://maslowcommunitygarden.org/. All parts are listed so you should be able to get your list together. As new kits are going out this week I expect some activity in the Swap Meet category here soon as mentioned above. Get a motor shield from the store, because of the pins you can’t just use any motor shield.
Hmm, sorry I must be blind but I don’t see where all the parts are listed? I looked at both of those links and neither seems to contain a complete parts list that I can find.
The problem I have with finding someone on the forums is just that, they are just someone on the forums. I’m not exactly thrilled to just send someone I don’t know at all money based on only them saying they have something and will ship it to me through a forum exchange. If I get lucky and there is someone local to me in or near SC, that I can meet in person, then sure maybe…
I’m also now hesitant to buy anything on the store because I don’t want to get stuck with some of the parts but not all the parts. If I can’t source the parts for a Maslow, I might have to look into a different system that I can source the parts for. It’s a personal fault of mine, once I set my mind on something I don’t like delaying in doing it lol.
Well, I did not say there is a shopping list. You need to get that list together.
Understandable. A complete kit could save some time though. Hope someone near you puts a kit up for sale.
That’s a game killer unless you download the design files for the motor shield from GitHub and have the shield made in some PCB house. You would also need to crimp the motor cables yourself.
The BOM.txt from /Mechanics on GitHub
Frame BOM:
8 x Cup Hooks
6 x 1.5mm Pullies
2 x S-hooks
2 x Idler Sprockets
2 x Drive Sprockets
2 x Motor/Gearbox/Encoder (291:1 reduction gearbox with worm gear to prevent back driving motor, 30kg/cm torque, 20 rpm, 12 volts)
2 x Motor Mounts
4 x Cotter Pins
25 x Wood Screws
3M x Stretchy Tensioning Cord
2 x 11’ #25 Roller Chain
I took out the 2 x 2.5"x3" U-Bolts 2 x Chain Brackets 2 x Chain Bracket Bolts
as the U-Bolts are obsolete and the rest not required for a triangular system.
I suggest to buy 1 x motor shield, 2 x motors, 2 x chains, 1 x z-axis kit, from the store as long as they are still available. The motors come with the cable
(optional, router bits)
Since the ring is sold out, your 3 options are:
Grab the design files and have one made
Use the link on the store to purchase the Maslow Triangulation Linkage Kit
Contact dlang if he is still selling the Top Mount Kit
I’ll be receiving my Maslow in the next few weeks, and if i can get it ti work, in the way that i’ve seen in the Community Garden, then it’s going to be an excellent addition to the Base Toolset of the workshops i am working on.
If this works out, i’m going to need lots of kits, so finding reliable suppliers for the components will be essential.
(Please note that how well my machine will work will depend upon my level of skill, and not the functionality of the design. The design is great. How well i can use it is my problem )
Yeah I know that is a limiting factor and one of the reasons I feel in a dilemma right now. I feel like if I buy the parts I’m potentially wasting money if I can’t source everything for this design. And if I don’t buy the parts I’m loosing my opportunity to do so lol.
That is part of the problem I’m having looking at the github. The fact that it doesn’t seem to be updated with the current design. As you say yourself the u-bolts are obsolete, and there seems to be other parts like that on there. I know the sled was updated to the ring system which I don’t see on the github at all. It is in the garden however. With me being someone that doesn’t have the machine and hasn’t been involved with it since it’s inception to know which parts have been modified / upgraded, I have no way of knowing what is relevant and what is not to the most up to date design.
I’ve sent a message through the Contact Us link to see what parts they are actually out of stock on hoping to get some clarification and seeing if I could possibly just buy a kit without whatever parts they are out of and a list of those parts so that I can get them elsewhere. No idea what kind of response time they have usually though.
If it’s just the ring system that is out of stock, it doesn’t look that difficult to fabricate. I could do it with some metal myself or it even looks like it would work fine made out of a piece of wood. As far as I can tell it’s purpose is just to allow the carriage chain hook points the ability to rotate around with the center point of rotation being the router bit. So getting the rest of the kit with the correct sprockets, pulleys, linkages, idlers, etc would still be hugely beneficial. It doesn’t look like ordering the motors comes with anything but the motor itself and the cable, leaving me to have to figure out the correct size and source for all the other little pieces to make it functional.
I understand your dilemma. I’m sitting at the end of the world and had to follow the development of triangular for months until a generous member had a top-mount kit for me made and shipped.
Understand that MaslowCNC is a project under very active development, never was and not likely soon to be a Plug and Play system. Within the 1 year I’ve joined so many things have been improved and changed, from frame to sled to chainguides and so on. The development is so fast that it seems impossible to keep all documentation up to date. Big parts of the Wiki are community contribution.
There is no right or wrong time to join. If you look at the discussion about porting to faster hardware or the TLE5206 shield, in one or 2 months the Mega and the current motor shield might be outdated. Who knows.
I don’t see why you should not be able to get everything. I guess you are in US. At my place 90% is telling me “we do not ship to your place”.
The motors with cable is the most difficult part. The rest is linked with replacement somewhere.
The software has settings to adjust even if you would use different sprockets or encoders.
It’s just a matter of how badly you want a Maslow and to pull it though.
It does not stop with the parts, you need to go through calibration, if something is off, identify the flaw and correct it and calibrate again. Dedication and patience are to things you can’t buy.
Yeah I read through the upgrading electronics a little bit. I’m honestly not too worried about the electronics. I’ve been a computer programmer for over 20 years and work with electronics as a hobby all the time. I could probably build the motor shield with spare parts at my house if I had to lol.
It’s more of all the little mechanical parts that I don’t have any experience in that worries me. Like the sprockets. As I understand from what I have read, the shafts on the motors are 8mm. However, I see people linking to 4mm bore size sprockets as well as the Wiki BOM list that I found from one of the links @Gero posted (DIY Kit Mechanical Equivalent Parts · MaslowCNC/Mechanics Wiki · GitHub) lists a 1/4" shaft size which is a little less than 8mm. That wiki page says it was updated 16 days ago but still has u-bolts listed that Gero said were obsolete. So it’s inconsistencies like this that cause me to throw my hands up in the air lol. I’m sure once I get experience in sprockets and worm gears and things like that it would be easier. But until then, my logical side from computer programming likes clear concise specifications that match up. I can see myself easily getting fed up if I order a part that doesn’t work and then abandoning the project. My first 3d printer went unfinished for 5 years because the manufacturer didn’t send me all the parts in the kit and I couldn’t find clear instructions on what was appropriate to replace the missing parts lol.
I guess I just like to have all the information up front on things I don’t have experience in, rather than just stumbling through and piecemealing it. And it’s definitely also a problem with not enough patience
So, one specific question on the parts as of right now. The wiki parts list has abrasion resistant elastic cord. Would paracord work in place of this? I’ve got about 100 feet of paracord at home that I use on stuff for my kayak and boat. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007Z1I9Z0/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1 That is the stuff I have currently.
There are alternatives for the bungee, look through the forum for counterweights. Personally i think they are far superior. Counterweights always delever the same force, bungees get stronger the more they are stretched. Also if you put your slack chain horizontally across the top beam, the bungees really aren’t strong enough.
Keep in mind that we are going to have kits for sale again in the next few days. We’re just out of stock right now because we’re afraid of accidentally selling more than we have parts for so we want to get everything shipped and count whats left.
The lack of an up to date shopping list is a great point. I will get that up to date and in the community garden as soon as possible.
Thanks bar, lol. Hannah responded and told me that in the email I sent through the contact us as well. I’m watching the store page and checking every little bit lol. I won’t hesitate if I catch it while it’s in stock again regardless to what credit cards I have with me at the time lol. Just hope that I can catch it before whatever is left sales out.
That is part of the problem I’m having looking at the github. The fact that
it doesn’t seem to be updated with the current design. As you say yourself
the u-bolts are obsolete, and there seems to be other parts like that on
there. I know the sled was updated to the ring system which I don’t see on
the github at all. It is in the garden however. With me being someone that
doesn’t have the machine and hasn’t been involved with it since it’s inception
to know which parts have been modified / upgraded, I have no way of knowing
what is relevant and what is not to the most up to date design.
patches welcome
ask away, we will help explain
Use the link on the store to purchase the Maslow Triangulation Linkage Kit
Contact dlang if he is still selling the Top Mount Kit
or make your own from either set of plans (the other triangulation kit is
designed to be cut on a laser cutter, mine is designed to be laser/water cut
from stainless steel)
If it’s just the ring system that is out of stock, it doesn’t look that
difficult to fabricate. I could do it with some metal myself or it even looks
like it would work fine made out of a piece of wood. As far as I can tell
it’s purpose is just to allow the carriage chain hook points the ability to
rotate around with the center point of rotation being the router bit. So
getting the rest of the kit with the correct sprockets, pulleys, linkages,
idlers, etc would still be hugely beneficial. It doesn’t look like ordering
the motors comes with anything but the motor itself and the cable, leaving me
to have to figure out the correct size and source for all the other little
pieces to make it functional.
the ring kit is more than just the ring, it’s also the bearings, etc to let the
end of the chain move.
I’ve created a complete list of all of the parts and their sources in the community garden. Like everything in the garden anyone can propose a change so hopefully we can all work together to track down good sources for all of the parts.
I’ve put links to the original supplier whenever possible, and there is an “alternative source” section to link to sources for similar but slightly different parts.
Nice list, I’m sure that will be really helpful for people trying to build from scratch!
One thing I noticed missing is the Arduino Motor shield. I’ll try to figure out how to edit and add that later if someone doesn’t beat me to it lol.
But that brings to mind a question for parts like that and the motors that have the sources listed as Maslow (especially true with the custom motor shield). With you guys taking a break after this set of kits sale out, are y’all still going to be sourcing and stocking the custom parts like that on the store, and just taking a break from the kits, or are y’all taking a break from everything? Like with the motor shield being completely custom, if y’all are taking a break from everything I’m just wondering what people are going to do if a shield burns out or something.
)
