The best way to begin your assembly is to get a piece of soft low-pile carpet to put the V90 together on. Otherwise be careful not to scratch any of the pieces during assembly. To assemble the V90, you will need:
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Start by cleaning the rails with acetone. They are packed in wax before shipping, and this will clog the oil pores in the oilite bearings. Then you can insert the rails into the gantry slides and the z-axis assembly. The z-axis assembly uses the shorter two rails. |
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Set the gantry slides to the side and gather the rest of the gantry pieces. |
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Attach the 5/8" ID rail end bushings to the gantry uprights. Finger tighten the nuts. They will need adjustment later. |
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Slide the uprights onto the rails. |
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Place the upper and lower gantry frame pieces and insert the short tension rods. The grooves go to the back and the bottom. |
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Finger tighten the gantry tension rod nuts. |
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The gantry assembly. At this point you can start tightening the nuts to square the gantry and to align the rails. DO NOT OVERTIGHTEN THE NUTS. A single turn past finger tight is all the torque that is needed. |
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After the z-axis assembly is sliding smoothly, you can install the upper lead screw parts. |
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Insert into one end, slide on bearing assembly, nylon washer, and tensioning clamp. On the gantry axis you can actually position the motor at either end because of the flexible gantry design. |
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Thread the rod through the z-axis, then slide on the other tensioning clamp, nylon washer, and bearing assembly. Tighten the clamps on each end of the shaft such that approximately 3/4" of the brass coupling is exposed out the end. |
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Now, install the lower drive nut parts. |
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The lower drive nut parts. |
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The installed the lower drive nut. Note: two washers go between the drive nut bracket and the gantry. They act as spacers for future adjust if necessary. |
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The installed lower drive nut bracket. |
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Next, assemble the base frame. Here are the base end pieces. |
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Finger tighten the rail ends to the base ends. |
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Next, install the table support bar pieces. |
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Attach the table support bars. Tighten the nuts 1 turn past finger tight. |
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Gather the pieces for the frame. |
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Grab the frame end that does not have the motor mount holes. Lay this peice down near the edge of your table or bench and then support the ends with magazines so that it is level and doesn't wobble on the bolt heads. This a great reason to use a piece of carpet under the machine. |
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Stand the rails and slides into the rail ends. Also observe the orientation of the slides in this picture. The screw holes need to be inside while the bearings are exposed on the bottom side. |
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Place the PVC pipes into their grooves. The logos should go down and out. That sounds depressing, I know... but they are actually smiling in that position. :) |
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Carefully set the other end piece on top of the rails and pipes. Align the pipes while pressing the rails into place. Press it down until it is snug. |
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Place a washer and acorn nut onto the ends of the four tension rods. |
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Then drop each tension rod into the appropriate holes. |
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Grab both ends to apply pressure and carefully lay the frame down. You do not want the tension rods to slide out. |
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Now install the washers and nuts on the other end of the tension rods - again finger tight only. It helps to hold the acorn nut with one hand and reach across the machine to thread on the other nut using the other hand. |
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Set the gantry onto the gantry slides and install the six machine screws. A washer and nut goes on the bottom side of each screw. Note: you may need to adjust this for square later. Tension the frame and rail ends so that the slides move freely. You should be able to push it from end to end with a finger. |
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The pieces of the long lead screw. |
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Next, install the lower drive screw the same as on the gantry. |
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Install the motors using the 10-24 x 2" Machine Screws, and standoffs. Note: a #10 washer should be placed between each standoff and the motor. It is highly recommended to file or grind a small flat on the motor shaft. It will make it easier to remove the motor in the future. Refer to this document: Grinding Shaft Flats onto Stepper Motors A dab of non-permanent thread locker on the shaft coupler set screws will keep them from vibrating loose. The heads of the motor mount machine screws may be too large to line up properly. It depends on where the screw supply house decides to buy their screws from this week. Roll the screw heads on a grinder to bring them down to size if necessary. |
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Install the table top with the 1/4-20 x 5" Machine Screws. |
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Then, attach the motor mount to the z-axis and install the dremel tool. |
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The remaining steps are: - Wire up the electronics. - Configure your software. - Carve out some really cool parts! |
Leadscrew pitches:
X-Axis = 5 TPI
Y-Axis = 5 TPI
Z-Axis = 12 TPI