Makibox: E3D hotend installed

The modification

I gave up waiting for the experimental Makibox hotend upgrade.
So as planned, I finally got my new E3d hotend.
Last weekend, during Easterhegg someone 3d printed me a mount for it.
I pretty much followed these instructions.
Except that I made a different modification to the Z endstop, that can be seen below.
I wanted my endstop to be adjustable. (See the photo below)

Endstops

 If you have the PrintRboard (first generation Makibox machines), you need to swap some cables after the firmware update:

From the top down the end-stops are:
* e-stop (move Y endstop cable here on the PrintRboard)
* z endstop
* y endstop (remove this cable)
* x endstop

Results

The E3D version 5 bowden 1.75mm hotend works great!
The Airtripper versioon 3 BSP extruder works great!
The hotend mounting has about 2mm of play in Y.
I'll replace it with a modified version that uses LM4UU linear ball bearings as soon as the bearings get here.
The final line is: I CAN 3D PRINT AGAIN!!!!! :)

#

Makibox - the next steps

The default hotend of the Makibox is ...crappy.
The thermal barrier is not enough to print anything larger then a test-cube in ABS or PLA. Even with no retraction at all, the filament above the heater block expands and stalls even the strongest extruder after 30 inutes of printing. (Using the supplied Makible filament and higher temperature settings. With Makibox-supplied default settings it's much worse.)

I already have a stronger and spring-loaded extruder and a thinner bowden tube. They help but alone they don't solve the issue. They just postpone the failure.

I'm currently waiting for a modification from a forum user in the US that adds a cooling block to the existing hotend. The modiciation is as simple as screwing it on and mounting a fan.

In parallel I already have an E3D hotend version 5.
During Easterhegg I'll try to find someone to print me a mount (or another mount for LM4UU linear ball bearings) for that and follow the instruction of user my_makibox to install it.
If not, that mount looks simple enough that maybe I can CNC mill it out of a piece of wood.
(Having E3D print a mount for me was not avaliable when I ordered my hotend.)
Not that is does require a firmware update because it has a different thermistor.
my_makibox supplied a compiled firmware here .

CNC6040 updates

Just to give everyon an update:
This weekend I made a few modification to my larger CNC.

The new E-Stop button got it's cable properly mounted to the wooden case I build.
Just below the thick glass front.

Proper sockets for 3 end-stops have been added. The original end-stops I got where too small to fit mechanically but bigger ones where in stock this weekend. They have not been installed yet.
I'll install them together with bellows to protect the Y axis from dirt and shavings.

The probe input didn't want to work when using 5V from one of the Enable-outputs of the PLCM-B1 breakout board. I added a separate 5V supply just for the tool height probe and it works now.
Here is the answer from Purelogic regarding this issue:

  Hello Marcus,

  Thank you very much for your notice.
You are right that you need another power supply for external sensors.
PLCM-B1 has too many inputs and we could not place another on-board power supply which could power all inputs. (Of cause we could make it, but will be too expensive and large).
  Small on-board power supply with limited current (for ex. enough for 5 inputs only) can cause more problems because not all users read a manual carefully and they can easily overload this power supply. Nevertheless this way seems most right for me now.

  We will consider your notice in feature. Thank you very much.

Oleg Gladyshev,
Purelogic R&D, Russia. 

The earth cable of the spindle VFD got ripped out. I repaired it and secured it somewhat better.

The power sockets for all parts of the CNC are now permanently screwed onto the frame and can no longer fall off due to the drag of the heavy cables.

My cheap MACH3 remote is still acting up. The jog buttons get stuck and the machine just keeps moving.
I replaced the keyboard with the flaky USB port and the constant USB attach/detach cycles no longer mess up the communication of MACH3 via Ethernet to the PLCM-E3p+B1 boards.


For the smaller TravelCNC I managed to drill an XL timing belt pulley from 5mm D-shaped to 8mm round shafts. It shall replace the 3D printed one I made a while ago because that one developed some serious backlash after 6 month of usage.

I will give a small workshop on CNC machining for people who have used only 3D printers during Eaterhegg next weekend.