2026-10-26

Last modified: 2026-10-26 09:59:43

Plasma cutter

The big 3d print finished, it only took about 36 hours in the end, it seems the ETA is a bit pessimistic in silent mode perhaps.

Works pretty well. There is more play than I would like in the wheels so I will reduce the clearance for the other carriage, but at least it does roll freely. I would have been annoyed if I couldn't get it to roll. Unsure if I am going to need to do anything to tighten it up (e.g. tyres on some of the wheels? tape/paint on the rail?) or if this will be perfectly acceptable for a plasma cutter.

The largest error is rolling around the long axis of the box section, which lets the far end of the Y rail move up/down in a range of about 5mm, which seems like a lot, but it will always be loaded in the same direction and a bit of Z offset isn't necessarily a massive deal in plasma cutting, unsure, but I think it will affect the quality of the cut surface more than the dimensional accuracy.

Also the 7mm hole for the M5 threaded inserts for motor mounts is too large, tightening up the bolt pulls the insert out, annoying, am reducing this to 6.5mm for the threaded insert on the Y carriage.

Unsure yet whether I'm going to try to glue the threaded inserts in, or just bolt through and put a nut on the other end.

The Y rail is an extremely tight fit, the 2 roofing screws holding it in are completely unnecessary.