New prototype metal effector plates and new Cyclops and Chimera aluminum mounts

[travelphotog]

Hey Guys!

Just wanted to drop by and give a small sneak peek at the latest prototypes to come off our new mill. Soon we will be shipping out test units of our new all metal effector plates to our BETA testers for feedback. The new effector plates are offered in two styles. One of them is made to be used with the newest ball cup arms and injection molded carriages which ship on all the current Max V2 and Orion printers. The other style is a replacement for the older style arms OR for use with Trickerlaser carbon fiber arms. The second style has a very large and open center space for mounting large hot ends with ease.

I am also finishing up work on our new all metal Chimera and Cyclops mount to add to our line up of hot end mounts.

I will post more info short on both the newest mount and the new effector plates.

New prototypes fresh off the mill.

I am also very happy to announce that our new mill is up and running at last and very shortly we will cut our turn around time to just a few days on all orders. We are currently milling tons of stock and will officially change our stated turn around times to the new faster times shortly.

Meet our new Mill! We call him Fred.

[AlanZ]

Outstanding!

[miglo]

Looks great!

[geneb]

SpacePilot detected!

g.

[Mac The Knife]

SpacePilot detected!

g.

Wrong company, that's a Kensington track ball

[travelphotog]

Well in the end you are both right Geneb and Mac The Knife. I have both items you speak of. I run a wireless Kensington Trackball Pro on the new mill ( It is a god send on the keyboard platform I use ) and I also use a SpacePilot Pro and a Kensington wired Trackball Pro on my CAD desktop. Having the Kensington trackball and the 3D Connexion SpacePilot Pro for CAD has truly changed how I design and program in CAM. I am one of the guys who finds the SpacePilot Pro to be an indispensable tool for the style of design I do. For laying out large plates in CAM for the mill and rapidly moving models around in 3D space to program CAM paths, nothing compares. I recently also switched to a Kensington Trackball pro on the mouse front for CAD and I doubt I will ever go back to a mouse on that computer. Personally for me it boils down to far less hand movement to work on the 2 wide screen setup I use on the CAD station. Just always knowing where the trackball is VS having to glance and see where the mouse ended up last time it was released. The programmable buttons on the trackball have also allowed me to pair them with buttons on the SpacePilot Pro and move even faster in CAD without needing the keyboard near as much.

I dare not think of working in CAD without my favorite tools!

[Mac The Knife]

Just a lowly Space Mouse Pro, and a Logitech M570. Working off of architectural prints, a mouse would get lost in the clutter, so a trackball was the way to go. I got really comfortable with thumb operated trackball. The 3d mouse became really nice once I started doing work in Solidworks.

[geneb]

I'm using an older SpacePilot ($50 on eBay!) and a wireless logitech performance mx mouse.

For those that want to get one of those 3D "mice", I strongly suggest you search eBay. There's a ton out there that come off of lease all the time.

g.

[travelphotog]

I'm using an older SpacePilot ($50 on eBay!) and a wireless logitech performance mx mouse.

For those that want to get one of those 3D "mice", I strongly suggest you search eBay. There's a ton out there that come off of lease all the time.

g.

I did much the same thing but off Amazon and only paid $135 for my SpacePilot Pro (current edition) and it was flawless. It was a total steal and I got super lucky. I agree with Gene, search out a used one and save tons of cash. They take getting used to and a lite touch to use. But they are super helpful in 3D design.

[travelphotog]

Effectors are in for anodize right now. Michelle will have them done by this evening and should have first on printer testing tomorrow. Much to check though, like spacing compared to our stand spacers and such. Pics and more updated info after anodize!

[travelphotog]

So the first run of effector plates have passed through anodize and will start print testing this weekend. Things like best spacer height and layer fan design will be looked at before the test units are sent out to field testing by our beta testers. The first Chimera / Cyclops mount is also ready to first printer tests and I will be seeking Chimera / Cyclops owners interested in beta testing the mount shortly. We will ask that you already be a Chimera or Cyclops owner to test the mount. If you own one or both of those hot end and would like to be a tester for the mount ( you will be sent a free mount in your choice of colors for testing which you keep as a thank you for helping us test a new product) Please message me at [email protected].

More updates soon and feedback is always welcome.

New ball cup plates on the left and old style U joint plates on the right. Both styles are available with and without fan tabs.

Ball cup effector has far more room in the middle now.

Both our new metal effectors allow far more room in the middle for fans.

Old style U joint effector is also opened up to allow more room for fans and the like.

Our new Chimera / Cyclops mount.

The new Chimera / Cyclops mount can be undermounted to allow room for the Chimera heater blocks.

The Chimera / Cyclops leaves room to access the Bowden connectors.

The Chimera / Cyclops leaves room to access the Bowden connectors.

The outer holes on the mount are threaded to M3. All mounting hardware will be included in the kit.

[travelphotog]

Did the first test print with one of the new metal effector plates in the old style (Tricklaser arms). The print came out perfectly with only a Z height reset when the effector was switched out, no re-calibration needed as it should be. This afternoon I will switch out the trucks for the new ball cup injection molded style and run a test on the new style effector also. But the result should be the same. Beta testers are being contacted now and test units should go out shortly. Once the green light comes back from them, we will have these on the site.

[Tincho85]

Beautiful work! I think I might order one of these and a mount kit once you start selling them.

One question, would you be willing to make an aluminum adapter to attach the ball joint mechanism to the old style cheapskate carriages??
I am going to buy the Ball-Cup arms kit but I want to keep using my old carriages. I know there are 3d printable alternatives, but an aluminum adapter is so much cooler.

[Outsider]

How long before these hit the webstore ??

[gchristopher]

I'm very interested in the effector plate that's compatible with the tricklaser arms!

I made several attempts at printing custom effector plates in an attempt to enlarge the open area to accommodate dual extrusion. Mostly it made me wish I could work in aluminum or that someone like you was making one.

T-Rex volunteers to be a beta tester, if you're okay getting really enthusiastic feedback with a lot of run-on sentences!

Spoiler:

[img]http://gchristopher.net/3dprinting/precision_rex.jpg[/img]

One change that worked well for me was moving the tool platform posts farther out, enabling designs with a larger center opening like the one above. Is that the kind of thing you'd consider doing as a custom order? My dream effector platform is basically the one you've shown, with the tool post-holes farther out. I know that breaks compatibility with every tool holder in existence, but I found that a lot of that beautiful open area in your effector platform is actually very hard to work with, because the lash straps on the arms invade much of the corner areas when the print head is near the edge of the print area.

[travelphotog]

I'm very interested in the effector plate that's compatible with the tricklaser arms!

I made several attempts at printing custom effector plates in an attempt to enlarge the open area to accommodate dual extrusion. Mostly it made me wish I could work in aluminum or that someone like you was making one.

T-Rex volunteers to be a beta tester, if you're okay getting really enthusiastic feedback with a lot of run-on sentences!

Spoiler:

[img]http://gchristopher.net/3dprinting/precision_rex.jpg[/img]

One change that worked well for me was moving the tool platform posts farther out, enabling designs with a larger center opening like the one above. Is that the kind of thing you'd consider doing as a custom order? My dream effector platform is basically the one you've shown, with the tool post-holes farther out. I know that breaks compatibility with every tool holder in existence, but I found that a lot of that beautiful open area in your effector platform is actually very hard to work with, because the lash straps on the arms invade much of the corner areas when the print head is near the edge of the print area.

Hey T-Rex! Our Maine Coon engineer kitty is pretty sure we can get something fixed up for you and says the best way to reach us is at [email protected]. We can get your specs and get you all sorted out on both the effector plate and the matching mount to hold your hot end. So if you are cool with our Maine Coon engineer kitty overseeing the design and milling of your project, then we are good to go on our end when you are ready! Shoot us an email and we will get it all sorted and have a CAD design for review shortly. Then you just have to pick your anodize color and we should be all set.

We are excited to work with the famous T-Rex of the frozen north and look forward to the entertaining write up!

Engineer Kitty is all ready to get your design in CAD and oversee all milling jobs of your project.

[travelphotog]

The beta tester effectors mailed out today and we are working on increasing our finishing capacity and to scale up our anodizing area to better process the effectors. We have seen a large interest in the effectors and as soon as we get a green light from testers we will mill the effector stock from some of the largest plates we have put on our mill to date. More updates will come and I am guessing one or more testers might post their impressions of the effectors shortly.

[Tincho85]

Hi, I have a suggestion if you don't mind.
If you move the ball joints of the platform away from the center aprox. 7mm, there will be enough clearance for the v6 to fit at any position. Not just above or below the effector. I don't have a cad file of the cyclops/chimera or the prometheus to test.

The only parameter that (I think) will be needed to change is the END_EFFECTOR_HORIZONTAL_OFFSET
With the Ball-Cup platform, by default is 30.22 so +7 will be 37.22

But... I don't really know if making a wider platform will decrease printing resolution in some sort. I guess it should not.
An expert opinion is needed here please.



This is the stock platform. CAD files from Seemecnc's GitHub page were used.
Strangely, the values obtained were 30.37mm, which differs by 0.15mm from the 30.22mm that are used by the firmware.
[img]https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8663/2822 ... 3052_z.jpg[/img]
[img]https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8636/2822 ... 7ccd_z.jpg[/img]


And this is the modified platform. An adapter of thin aluminum could be made to mount the new potentiometer.
[img]https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8811/2827 ... 5d3c_z.jpg[/img]
[img]https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8573/2802 ... 2787_z.jpg[/img]

[geneb]

The e3d in your drawings is mounted WAY too low. The fan shroud should be above the effector. I'll post pics of mine when I'm able to get my e3d installed on Red Sonja. (Missing parts).

travelphotog's outdone himself on this mod. The fit & finish of the parts are excellent (as usual). I just wish I could've finished the refit when I started it.

Here's as far as I got on Saturday:
[img]http://www.geneb.org/images/new-effector.png[/img]

With any luck I'll be able to finish it tomorrow, but may not be able to work on it until Sunday.

g.

[Tincho85]

Indeed, that looks absolutely amazing.
My ball-cup update is on it's way... It's time to change the u-joint platform.
I can't wait

PS: It was mounted like that just to make a point. I like mounting the hotend below the effector. But I would love to have the option to place it just a bit higher. That's the why of my suggestion.

[Eaglezsoar]

Thanks for all the new pictures and the new projects you have been working on.
Your products have the greatest appearance and tolerance specifications.

[travelphotog]

Hi, I have a suggestion if you don't mind.
If you move the ball joints of the platform away from the center aprox. 7mm, there will be enough clearance for the v6 to fit at any position. Not just above or below the effector. I don't have a cad file of the cyclops/chimera or the prometheus to test.

The only parameter that (I think) will be needed to change is the END_EFFECTOR_HORIZONTAL_OFFSET
With the Ball-Cup platform, by default is 30.22 so +7 will be 37.22

But... I don't really know if making a wider platform will decrease printing resolution in some sort. I guess it should not.
An expert opinion is needed here please.



This is the stock platform. CAD files from Seemecnc's GitHub page were used.
Strangely, the values obtained were 30.37mm, which differs by 0.15mm from the 30.22mm that are used by the firmware.
[img]https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8663/2822 ... 3052_z.jpg[/img]
[img]https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8636/2822 ... 7ccd_z.jpg[/img]


And this is the modified platform. An adapter of thin aluminum could be made to mount the new potentiometer.
[img]https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8811/2827 ... 5d3c_z.jpg[/img]
[img]https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8573/2802 ... 2787_z.jpg[/img]

Changing the spacing on the effector arms will cause changes to be made in the setting for everyone who would upgrade to the changed effectors. For me, that is not an option. If one setting was entered wrong, then my customers would have a very hard time getting their printers back in working order and the small trade off for moving the mounting point out, is not worth it to me. I leave the math for things like that up to SeemeCNC. If someone wanted a custom made effector and was willing to deal with the resulting math changes from the spec they asked for in a custom effector, we will be very happy to mill it for them. I strive to produce products that enhance printers and are much as I can I strive to produce direct bolt on products that need no changes in settings (save for Z height) to work correctly.

I removed as much material as I felt I could from the stock effectors to open up the middle for users like myself who want to change their hot ends out and explore the many options offered on the market right now. I understand 100% why the new SeemeCNC effector is so small in the middle, so they can mount their new hot end and their calibration sensor. I just know that for me being a person who is switching to a duet board and others like me, the new sensor would not be a gain and the new effector plate was rather small for my needs given my setup. I am working to adopt the new sensor to my current mount system and as soon as I am able to get a test sensor, I will work hard to produce an adapter that will allow both my mount and effectors to be used with the new calibration sensor.

I know many folks mount their hot ends in many different ways and I try to take that into consideration when I design parts. That is the main reason we offer custom sized spacers for our mounts. Honestly a custom sized spacer is a bit of a task to produce, but they help our customers setup their printers for their own reasons and desires.

If anyone would like a custom sized effector, just shoot me a message or drop by my site and message me from there. We are happy to mill anything we are able to, but I honestly do not have the skills to make effector size adjustments and the needed setting changes to the EEPROM for them to correctly calibrate and print. Math is my biggest weakness honestly.

[travelphotog]

So we are aiming to get the effectors on the site by the end of next week guys. I am ordering the needed screws tomorrow and we plan to cut a HUGE plate of effectors over the weekend. Once we get photos done and the website updated, we will post them to the site and send out a few messages to let folks know they are live. By the time we place them on the site, we will have screws in hand and stock on hand of milled effectors ready for anodize.

It means a great deal to me to hear the nice things the testers have had to say about the effectors. I really try hard to mill them as best we can on our mill. I try to put in the extra features and nice touches and it is very nice to see others seeing them and enjoying them as much as I enjoy designing them into everything I build.

[Tincho85]

You are probably right, I never thought of that. It's much more appealing to have a product rated as a direct replacement, rather than one that requires firmware editing. But well, I thought it was a good alternative and as your platform is still in beta state I wanted to share it with you.

Keep up the good work. I haven't had the chance to try any of your products, but for what I see from the pictures, they look beautiful and the attention to detail is remarkable.

[EddyGara]

When will these be available to purchase? Im itching too buy a couple of these!! I was going to pull the trigger on the tricklaser version, But Im so siked on the extra space your created with yours!!