Solidoodle 3 and others adjustable anti-backlash setup for m5 z-rod upgrade by Metaldrgn

Last crawled date: 3 years ago

I found a new way to add an adjustable anti-backlash nut to my m5 rod setup I've been wanting to install. It's actually quite simple and works very well with my testing so far. I was playing around with some ideas and when the prints weren't behaving like I wanted them to I tried a few different configurations and found something that worked. I played with this new setup for about an hour the night prior before installing it and could not get it to fail or even degrade in the slightest!
Basically there are 2 nuts, one with a washer, and a piece of Nylon (Taulman Bridge specifically) acting as a lock washer. I attached it to my cordless drill and cycled many time with most being short bursts at different speeds seeing how it's actually going to be subject to. The nuts stay locked together at multiple tensions. If it's too loose, we're talking way too loose to be effective, the nut won't follow back up. Too tight and it just won't move. At no point did the lower nut cause a bind because it kept tightening which would be really bad during a print.
This could be adapted to other printers as well. The nuts I'm using have washers already attached to them which is nice. The main nut I used is an 8mm which clears the hole for the stock 5/16-18 rod. The secondary nut I believe below it is a 10mm, but you can try slightly different sizes. This setup is also adjustable after installation.
Please let me know if you need anything clarified or go into detail about anything else.