Why engineers tend to be so complicated or to over complicate simple things? Well I don’t know honestly.. it is what it is…

Yesterday, after some tests of my Arduino code for the automatic finger jointer, I thought that it’s time to move a bit forward the design thing. The frame of this jig isn’t complicated at all as it comes out to be a simple table saw sled with another sled mounted on it and being moved crosswise by a threaded rod. In my case this threaded rod is going to be driven by a stepper motor connected to my Arduino board. The idea comes from the great machine made by Matthias Wendel:

https://youtu.be/LXAO7Zla44o

I had to figure out though how to transfer torque and rotation from the step motor to the threaded shaft. At first I was thinking to use a belt similar to the one used in most 3D printers, but then I would have to design a tensioning device to set the correct distance from the two shafts.. moreover this is not so diyish so I decided to go for a more DIY solution. Therefore I took out my university books about mechanical design and I designed a simple spur gears transmission using involute profile for the teeth with a 1:2 ratio in order to make the system adjustable more effectively. I 3D printed this out with my Creality Ender 3 ProWhat came out is awesome! The transmission is super smooth and so cool.. can’t stop to whatch it moving..

I will shortly try to assemble the machine and post a video showing how it is working.

Stay tuned

Max