Y Idler Brackets

I printed new brackets from Y-Axis Bracket for Solidoodle 2/3 - Lipped version. As long as I was replacing them anyway, I figured I might as well use the "overkill" version with lots of extra support:

The biggest problem was getting the old brackets off. Solidoodle put locktite on the buttonhead screws that hold the brackets to the case, and you can't simply unscrew them. You have to use a heat gun at around 450 to 500 degrees to heat up the screw for a while before it becomes possible to unscrew them.

Worse yet one of the screws had the socket stripped (not sure if I did that or solidoodle did that), so I had to cut away the old plastic bracket, thus leaving the screw head sticking out a few millimeters so I could grab it with pliers and turn it while using the heat gun.

I found some 10mm panhead M3 screws at Home Depot which seemed to work as replacements. The heads aren't quite as thin as the button heads, but they are still sufficiently flat to allow the idler pulleys to turn freely.

Go back to my main Solidoodle page.