Treadwell WED-15 droid build : Part 6 - 3D printing neck / neck bearing

 

November/December

This post has been delayed due to being home resting and not being able to do any work or 3D printing.

The neck bearing (£6.99) arrived Nov 29th

The aluminium plate arrived Dec 6th

The claw, not arrived yet……

Purchased PVC tube from: Wickes £4.00

The upper mast/neck required an upgrade to it’s design to reduce the gap between it and the head base plate, so that the bearings were located better and the gap present was reduced.

Spacer ring and bearing location ring.

These two are glued together and then glued into above picture location.

The bearing race and its washers, locate in the ring recess and the motor shaft connects to the mast attachment (which is secured to the base plate.

This has now been achieved and am much happier with the look.

Mast Base Connection:

I thought about the Mast’s base connection to ensure that it is supported. The idea is to use a piece of Aluminium, as a strong flange component, to secure the mast to the upper section of the wheeled base.

Wheel Base:

I have gone through my stash of wood sheets to work out what I have to make a start on the wheel base.

Wheel axle bearings. Scooter bearings held in place with 3D printed holders??

Have been researching what’s available.

Wheels:

I draw up and will 3D print a test wheel, depends on how this turns out, strength wise, being able to support the weight of everything.

I may turn them out of aluminium or Nylon, for the middle ones.

Mast construction:

With working/printing on another project, the weekend was free time to print off six (6) pieces for the mast. Total time, about a day+.

Treadwell WED-15 droid build : Part 5 - 3D printing lenses

So this week I have been redesigning the neck (head plate to mast) adaptor, to allow for head movement (rotation) from side to side.

I found some thrust bearings on eBay and also ordered some 3mm Aluminium plate. The new neck adaptor, comes in two parts. One to hold the bearings in place and the other to fit inside the tube. This needed to be extended (miscalculated) and the print fitted perfectly & so did the motor. So much so that I may not now need the bearing, but will see as they will take the weight off the motor shaft.

A new cap was printed for the top neck, this fits in the neck plate connection hole.

With this Sunday’s event coming I wanted to finish up the eyes. So i drew up the lens from Dyne’s excellent plans and using clear’ish PP filament I printed out a lens. And with standard PLA a slightly modified holder, less depth. Think I’ll still get the lenses done in clear resin though, but for now, this will do.

……well, everything is now on pause after my work accident on Friday. I won’t be going to Weston on Sunday now 😢 was really looking forward to going. I don’t like letting people down, but i need to rest fully.

Full accident story see previous post.

On a plus note, I managed to grab a bargain. EBay: a found part, is a grabber, one of WED’s utility arms.