Ballcup effector mount?
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So, in my plan to upgrade, I decided to stay with the Rostock Max’s ballcup carriage/effector setup. One of my main goals in upgrading was to maximize my build area. I have a 310mm bed and with my old tricklaser/accelerometer setup I estimated I could build out to 304-305mm before the arms started clipping the towers/belts. (Though, my 290mm arms prevented me from getting there reliably)
I added longer, 340.5mm, carbonfiber arms made by SeeMeCNC and printed a smart effector ballcup adapter someone pointed out to me on thingiverse. The mount didn’t fit the newest version of the smart effector very well, so I modified it by adding some pillars. Not only did this allow the smart effector to fit, but I was able to raise it up enough to recover more Z height and contain the layer fans/wires nicely.
I mounted it up and discovered that due to the smart effector size and how the barbells have to matchup I actually lost build area! I’m now at around 290mm before the arms hit the towers.
So now I’m left scratching my head wondering what to do. If I go to mag arms I should recover enough to get back to my full build area, but at the risk of platform disconnects and a bigger loss of Z height (due to the longer arms and standard effector mount). I could design a new barbell mount, but it would need to mount above the effector to keep the maximum build area and it would need to be high enough to not interfere with the effector wiring, meaning even greater reduced z height, which is already bordering on the minimum height I’m willing to go to.
Are mag arms my only realistic way to increase build area with the smart effector, short of rebuilding the whole frame or sacrificing way to much z height?
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Have you seen this adapter from 713Maker?
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Yep. It's more or less the thinned down machined version of the effector mount I printed. The Problem is the barbells are the same distance from the center of the hotend as what I've got. In order to get my full build plate without hitting the towers I need the barbells to be mounted the same distance from the hotend center as the mag balls would be mounted. With the way the smart effector is designed for the electrical connections, I would need to design a mount that puts the barbells far enough above to not interfer with the wiring, thus lowering the z height even further. If I mount the barbell underneath the effector then the arms hit the smart effector before they hit the tower.
The Magballs seem to be the best compromise between build area and height. I like the fact that the ballcups have the springs for backlash compensation and won't come unhooked during a print versus the mag ball arms. Would it be possible to get mag balls the same diameter as the balls on the Barbells and use the ballcup arms with the stock mounting location on the smart effector?
