Assembly step 3

These are the instructions for the SO1 and are here for historical reasons only.

If you are building an SO2, please see the instructions at http://docs.shapeoko.com/



Y-Axis Idle (left carriage) Mount Plate Assembly:
A pair of assemblies make up the left and right ends of the gantry (see Assembly step 8). These are (of course) mirror images of each other.

Instructions

 * Take note of the top hole orientation.
 * Looking from the inside of the plate (view shown) the cross mount holes (circled) need to be in the top right of the plate.
 * If you assemble these backwards you’ll have to disassemble the plate and flip the wheels around.
 * It’s not the end of the world, but it’s tedious and frustrating if you make that mistake.
 * Make sure the smaller end of the eccentric spacer (the tapered end) goes into the hole in the plate. If you install the spacer backwards you won’t be able to adjust the spacing of the V-wheels.
 * If the steel plate has been painted, the tapered end of the eccentric spacer may be very difficult to fit into the hole. Remove the paint from the inside of the hole with an appropriate tool (a drill bit, or the threads of a screw will work).
 * The thick sidewall of the eccentric spacer should face the other V-wheel, in this way the distance between both wheels is largest, which will help the later assembly onto the Makerslide rail.
 * To avoid later confusion, the thicker side of the eccentric spacer should be marked, e.g. with a pen.

User Submitted Notes
(This is the section to add your own notes pertaining to this sub-assembly) If you run into a problem or find yourself asking a question, please post the solution here to help the next person who has the same problem/question)

Before you put any parts on the metal plates, I suggest that you look ahead to Step 14 - Electronics and find the page that applies to your kit. The remaining holes to which one might use to attach the electronic terminals to your plate(s) may not be suitable for your terminal blocks, necessitating drilling new ones. It will be easier to work that out before you put parts on the plates. The directions for the electronics are vague. This is an important matter, since it is best not to repeatedly flex the wires on the motor as the machine runs. Hence the wires to the motor are routed to terminal strips attached to either the metal plates or the motors themselves and the wires that flex are attached there. If you follow that design, you'll have to figure out how to attach the plastic terminal strip to the metal plate. (One option is a single terminal strip that is cut into two unequal parts.)

The Batch #1 kits sent by Inventables have the end plates painted. You'll need to sand/strip/grind down the paint to get the eccentric spacers (MSK01-04) to fit nicely into the hole. The spacers won't correctly perform their function if the tapered end does not fit nicely into the hole.

A vise will allow one to squeeze them in more easily.

Later Inventables kits have unpainted plates. In each of the four holes, there is a bur that prevents the bolt or eccentric spacer from fitting in the hole. A countersink or round file can be used to remove the bur.

Inventables build images