Random Design Thoughts

When I get X and Y carriages designed, I can print copies and use the dummy printed wheels to see how they fit. I can hook up 3 of the 500mm v-slot pieces I got and see how far I can move the carriages with 500mm rails. This will tell me how much I can reduce the 500mm length to get the 10 inch range of motion I'm shooting for (with a little extra to allow the hot end to hang over open space on at least one edge and also provide room so a dual extruder would still have access to the whole print bed).

As far as carriages go, there are basically 3 ways I could mount the X rail: under, over, or the same level as the Y rails. If I mount it above or below, the belts will need to attach to the X carriage at a greater distance (below or above) the X rail. If I mount it at the same level, the belts can be closer to the wheels, so that will put less torque on the carriage as it moves back and forth. I lean towards mounting it at the same level.

That does mean the Y carriages will have to be a little wider to give a place to mount the X rail between the Y rails, so that will make the X rail a bit longer, but that doesn't seem like too big a problem.

Where do I put the belts? They could run inside the frame, but that means the frame would need to be bigger to allow space for the belts. They could run outside the frame, but that means the belts need to be longer. Of the two, I like running outside the frame mainly because it will be easier to see what the heck is going on if something goes wrong.

I've started to try and visualize the carriages, and that is maybe giving me some second thoughts about the design...