March 21, 2016

Hi everyone! We’ve put together a prototype and it looks pretty, but there’s a couple of things we want to touch up to get the best performance out of our machines, so we’re going into the second full round of design. Our new 3D printer is due to come in the next week or two, and so are all the extra parts we ordered, including couplers, leadscrews, bearings, and more.

We learned a bunch of new things from our first design, and what we plan to do with our second design iteration will make Sienci 1 even better. We plan to give more support to all of the v wheels, lower the y axis gantry and raise the corner supports, and experiment with thicker or wider rail materials. We also plan to make the X axis calibration much easier by allowing it to split, as well as making all of the fasteners easier to access and tighten.

Here’s a CAD rendering of what the Y axis gantry might look like: