This is upgrade is one that I’ve put off because it meant taking a lot of the Makerbot apart. But now that I’m doing so much switching between ABS and PLA, and since I’ve got a little time with the holidays, it’s time to add Bottleworks’ Aluminum Arms upgrade to my Makerbot.
These arms I purchased from Bottleworks quite a while ago at a discount because they were some of the one’s that weren’t cut wide enough for the wood of the Makerbot. So I had to sand down the wood to make it fit. Good thing I had a 3D printed sanding block on hand. (Don’t worry, honey, that’s just for the picture. I didn’t do any sanding on the carpet.)
That’s the most important step right there.
My son Andrew did some making of his own while I worked.
Finally it’s all back together with metal side arms. Taking the glass build plate off was a pain, too, because it doesn’t have a connector on the back. True, that connector has been a pain in the past and a source of burn-out, but it would have made this easier.
After getting it all back together I leveled the build plate cold. Then I heated the build plate and checked the level and the result was perfect. That 0.01mm drop is actually normal in the middle of the build plate, it was there when it was cold, and it didn’t move after heating it up. Now I never have to level my build plate again when I change materials. Awesome.
And unless I decide to do garyacrowellsr’s Replicator Front Panel this is probably the last upgrade I’ll do on my Makerbot. This is almost certainly the best it will ever print.
