Hello Everyone,
I’m just starting my MR1 build… considering a few modifications and thought I’d share for feedback.
The first mod would be a ballscrew upgrade with double ball nuts to help eliminate any backlash… Initially I was only considering this for the X and Y axis, but then after disassembling the X/Z carriage I couldn’t help but notice the contrast between the heft of the impressive cast iron carriage and the tiny Z axis acme leadscrew. A larger ballscrew would seem to be a better match for rest of the machine (though I understand the reasoning for the acme leadscrew with the challenge of shaving costs everywhere possible to keep the price of the MR1 as low as possible, while maintaining impressive performance).
A couple questions:
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How much improvement in chatter reduction and surface finish do you think could result from reducing backlash compared to the stock setup?
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In order to use the stock electronics and CutControl, the upgrade ballscrew pitch would have to be a multiple of the stock pitch (for adjusting the pulses/revolution setting on the stepper driver). That’s not a problem for the X and Y axis (5mm pitch), but the stock Z axis pitch is 3mm – which is common for ACME leadscrews but not for larger diameter double ball nut ballscrews, as far as I understand. I was thinking of using a readily available 5mm pitch ballscrew for the Z axis. Are there any options in CutControl for changing the ballscrew pitch the way you can in DIY controllers such as Mach 3? Am I missing something or does this make sense?
Thanks for any feedback.