Photo shows Test grid & Strips Machine was doing properly for sessions and 2 columns, but the bottom of the 3rd column shows a sudden deviation & indentation–before the 4th wild Column goes crazy:
Once or twice in the earlier strips, the machine made the grynnh sounds when homing along the front, but there were no machine parts rubbing, and the belts didn’t seem to be different or loose, though i am inexperienced on the belts. (In fact i haven’t found any tensioners mention in the Sculpfun Assembly video.)
The crazy shapes are the whole time, but the ‘grunnhs’ start about 1/3-1/2 in.
i believe i heard the noises on both X & Y, but i don’t know if they are in this clip. If grynnin’ with Y also, it would seem unlikely that it’s slipping belts, though i’m not sure of anything on this.
The machine has lazed a fews hours of vectors well, but these are the ‘largest’ grayscale pieces.
Appreciations, Melvin. Your guide piece is Gold! Thx greatly for it. … If there are only 4 Grubs, then they weren’t the issue–all tight. Got your cleaning tools and did a good once over. Thx for them too. Anyway, the noises & erratic movements haven’t returned.
Description: Enlarging shows right below Head about 1/2" of sudden veering to right and increasing after so many passes to another stage of veering.
I had my back to the enclosure, so only realized what was happening when I heard a rrrrrrrrr sound. By the time I got to Stop, another rrrr occurred. I hadn’t heard any sounds before.
Here’s a photo of the whole scene (which has fastened down feet so no carriage movement); and no rubbing of motor on wall; & no pulling from cables (like the dangling X wire or the suspended air cable–tho the Air was accidentlly Not turned on). And as mentioned in previous the 4 grub bolts are tight.
I could imagine that the ball bearings of the linear rail are not in good condition. Your laser head is mounted extremely deep, such that you have a strong force acting at the linear rail mount. I suggest lifting the workpiece about 10 cm such that you can move the head up as much as possible. The head is quite heavy and the working angle quite bad. If there has been too much force at the edges of the linear slider, the ball bearing might have suffered. Move the head as high as possible and see if the issue happens again. Though, if the bearing is broken already, that won’t help too much…
Melvin, i fear your ideas about the bearings sounds true. i reran the grayscale and in 5 min it started small, then leaped like before. I let it go for some passes & hear a loww rumble intermittently, barely audible except occasionally–as if the bearings were loose & randomly bunched. If you look closely you can see changes on both sides to the right with the darker 4k/m speed from the 7k 1st one.
You are somebody mentioned not to move the head by hand, so i haven’t, but tried the X this time, & it barely moves right at 4". Would seem a blockage wouldn’t have the head launch off to the right.
Anyway, the issue is definitely in the X axis. The machine hasn’t run 4 hours in its life. Such a breakdown!!?
Sounds like a monster for me. NO idea what to do. The rail came complete. Seems defective from get go-ish.
Melvin, i just did some X tests And it frequently slowed/stopped, and at one of the X spots of extended moves to right, & would not continue Left at 0,250. Completely bound & gurgle-grinding.
Melvin, Actually the workpiece frame sits on 4 3D Printed feet, made for Sculpfun. The material for this grayscale is sitting up at 30 mm. Then the head frame is 50 mm above that, if i have understood the proper placement of the cylinder tool. The lens piece looks about 7-8mm above the material.
In checking this info, i notice that 0,0 Home Limit Switch end is 1/8" lower than the end 900mm to the other front end. Bothe the material and the Frame are on the same plane and same ‘pitch’ with that 1/8".
Meanwhile in making a video of the stoppages and movements along with sounds, i got many variations, but the faster speeds bring more consistent issues. However, sometimes 10,000/m brings heavy stops mid-move, and other times smooth passage. No constants.
I hoope this info helps sleuthing.
That sounds like a broken bearing. Maybe one of the spheres is broken. You might need to replace the linear rail slider. Maybe such videos are a help here:
I was not talking about the height above the workpiece, I was referring to the position of the head on the rail. I quickly drew an image:
The deeper the head is mounted, the higher the lateral/bending forces at the slider of the rail. Especially at high speeds. That’s why I suspect the ball bearings could have been damaged in your setup. Try to have the head mounted as high as possible during fast operation. If your base is too low, you need to raise your workpiece (the focus distance should remain the same).
If bearings or spheres (?) are broken, why would the movement erratically run smoothly even at 10,000/m on my tests, & other time grind to complete stop at 4000? Then there is “organized” alteration for periods of passes that you saw in the photos? Contrary to the erratic blockages. i can’t grasp the dynamics.
Also, it seems in this photo that the Laser Head can only attach to the bar in just one way on the 4 bolts without slots to slide up & down.
If the head isn’t any lower than it can be, and i’ve only done 5 hours of time on 2 Mandalas–2 line pieces and this grayscale, and the bar has broken bearings/spheres (that move around?), then is this Factory Defectiveness?
What would you recommend for my next steps?
Because it’s only one ball that might be broken. And depending on how they are distributed, it will still work, or stop.
The slots are meant to move the head up and down and you should move it all the way up, if possible. The higher the better.
Of course it can be defective from factory, but ONE movement at this angle with high speed/acceleration can be enough to crack it. So within in 5 hours, you had plenty of time to destroy it yourself (not saying you did).
Es mentioned above, disassemble the linear rail (remove the mounting plate and then carefully remove the slider from the rail and check it. As shown in the video above.
Thanks very much for persisting in explaining to me until i finally got what you’re saying about my setup, problems told above, and likely solutions.
I would like to dismantle as little as possible, an wondering if i should just unscrew the 24 tiny bolts in the rail, to bring it out so to slide the Head off to then deal with the Bearings case?
Or remove the end bolts of the square beam, a lotta wires, Limit switches, etc.?
It could be that this weighted setup you noticed was caused by the 4 feet i raised the frame up on to use thicker material.
In purchasing the right repair/reassembly materials as recommended in video, you mentioned “rails” replacement. Video discusses “bearings” replacement. Chris doesn’t have the Blocks listed, and they don’t have good reviews, so i would be following the video & replacing the recommended bearings? Do you suggest #1 Rails with whole assembly?–and i would be pairing 2 500mm lengths together. That is OK?? Or #2 the replacement of the Bearings on my 1-pc Rail and current Block?
Thank you enormously for hanging in here with all my newbie ignorance & questions.
I think i would go for #2 first. This would be a smaller change / project possibly. For #1 I don’t think it’s a good idea to use two rails because I think it will be difficult to adjust the middle section such that the slider will glide over the intersection.
Before buying many new parts, you might consider creating a report (with videos included if possible) and sending it to support@sculpfun3d.com. They are very user-friendly and might replace the rail for free.
Melvin, you’re right on again. When you wrote the above about contacting Sculpfun, i did right away. Though it took several exchanges, steering them away from impossible causes, & 26 days of sending info, Freya wrote she’s agreeing to send replacement Rail, Block, & Bearings for the 900mm, but may not be able to expedidite because of the long size. So may be another 2 weeks+. We’ll see.
I moved up the Head as suggested, but in the middle of test strips, the output went triple distance crazy from before. I hope the new equipment straightens this issue out–literally . i’ll let you know. Thx more.
SOLVED erratic actions & grinding sessions with replacement of Rail, Block, & Bearings for the 900mm Extension by Sculpfun. Movements are smooth, steady, with rastering, Thanks again, Melvin.
No, sorry, not mentioned, but i see 16 bearings on each side of the old Block, and they measure out to 48 mm. Each does seem 3mm. Here’s an awkward photo not worth 20 words. Sorry i didn’t see your question sooner.
