And the motor mount side. Unfortunately I over tightened one bolt and cracked the acrylic. Otherwise perfect fit.
I’ll do some testing with these on over the next few days and if everything works out, I’ll make some available to you guys.
The final revision will have a separate plate for motor and idler sides.
Those look awesome! Are you able cut them out of metal as well?
I can once I get my router back running in a couple weeks. Really though, I think the acrylic will be great for this application. I’ll post the dxf also so anyone can make their own.
Y_acrylic_mount_combined.dxf (45.1 KB)
Awesome, thanks for posting those. I’ll be interested to hear your feedback on using the acrylic pieces.
That turned out nice!
Thanks. Once perfected, I’ll make them available in black acrylic, and powder coated aluminum.
Mods if i can’t post this just let me know and I’ll remove the pricing
Ballpark for the acrylic ones will be $15, and for the powdercoated aluminum ones $40. I’ll have to make a set and see what I have in them. If there is want / need for any other materials just let me know. Carbon fiber, FRP, garolite, whatever.
Here is the final Taz 5 Y axis combined end plate. I’ll make one for the Taz 3/4 next but don’t have anything to test it on.
Y_acrylic_mount_combined.dxf (45.1 KB)
Carbon fiber would be sick! How much for a set? 
I’ll have to price CF. Probably looking $50 ish for an ebay 3k weave
I believe the 4/5 plates are the same its just the 3 that is different hole locations for motor mount
That’s correct, and its just the motor plate that differs. The idler plate is the same for all 3 for some reason.
Here is the completed Black acrylic end plates installed. I have centered the motor mount and idler in the middle of the endplate. From what I can tell, this should now be compatible with the Taz 3 and on. The motor mount spacing was identical from the drawing I saw.
Still have a few of these available
I’m pieces the parts together and holding off on upgrading my Y till I’m happy with what I want to order. I found these http://www.makerfarm.com/index.php/solid-v-wheel.html that have the same bearings, but uses delrin instead of the OpenBuilds polycarbonate. It’s definitely appealing since they are half the price and can reduce this upgrade by a good percentage. Thoughts?
Having used the poly wheels for about half a year now give or take, I will say they have held up great and I have no complaints about them at all. I don’t see much wear, though there is a very small amount of very fine powder on the rails. At that rate of wear, I expect to get at least 5 years use or more before even thinking about replacing the wheels.
Delrin is usually a great material as well for those applications though, so it should be fine if the dimensions are correct to the factory ones. Worst case scenario, they don’t last as long as the poly ones for some reason, then you just grab a set of those later. You can also buy just the “tire” part of the wheel assembly
I have a few questions for my final hardware sourcing activity for your Y axis Mod. As it is impossible for me to get the parts from a local shop it’s a nightmare for me if I start the upgrade, and when the old Y axis is completely disassembled at a Saturday evening I recognise I’m missing a heat insert for example. That’s why I’m very careful 
I plan to build it without the front and rear reinforcements.
.) The parts for the Corner brackets are missing in the BOM on Thingiverse, right? I guess they will need 4x M5 T-nuts, 4x M5 screws, 2 M5 heat inserts and some washers per peace.
.) You built it with 3 supports per side, any speciffic reason to do so? I now they don’t hurt, but more than 1 in the middle looks like overkill to me. To excuse myself, it’s in my nature to think this way. I’m an engineer for aircraft parts, every extra part is cost and weight 
And again thanks for putting your time in such cool Mods! I think Lulzbot should make them as an upgrade for the TAZ 6 and gave up on using rods at least for a TAZ 7 
The corner bracket part list is this section here, which is mixed in with the endplate parts:
Front Rail Ends (Idler):
(6) M5 x 10mm (use on the T-nuts)
(6) M5 x 20mm (use upfront on the End Plate)
(12) M5 washers
(2) M5 heat inserts (i.e. product#94180A361 M5x6.7mm from McMaster-Carr will do just fine)
(2) M3 x 16mm (for the upper holes upfront on the End Plate and all the way back to the Idler)
Rear Rail Ends (Motor):
(6) M5 x 10mm (use on the T-nuts)
(8) M5 x 20mm (use upfront on the End Plate)
(14) M5 washers
(2) M5 heat inserts (same M5x6.7mm)
(2) M3 x 16mm (for the upper holes upfront on the End Plate and all the way back to the Motor)
If you just want the corner bracket, each corner piece uses 1 M5 heat set insert (M5x6.7mm - goes in the front face), a total of 5 M5 x 10mm bolts, 5 M5 washers and 4 M5 T nuts. You will also need a rubber foot at each corner. I reccommend not trying to reuse the old ones, they don’t transfer well. The one M5 bolt you were missing in your estimation is probably the one that goes through the stock Y end metal plates and into the lower stock Y rail. You can also reuse the stock hardware for the other two bolts that go into that rail. You’ll just need additional bolts and T nuts for the two that mount into the upper rail.
I went with the three support pieces per side approach because they would minimize any chance of deflection without adding mass to a moving part. You certainly can probably work with just one, or omit them entirely, but I feel they help stabilize the assembly, particularily under a high speed run. The optional endplates also help significantly with preventing rail toe-in. I actually studied Aerospace Engineering at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University before I switched over to my security and intel degree there, so I definitly appriciate the cost and weight mentality. For a 3d printer design though, you have two design objectives: keep the moving mass as small and lightweight as possible, while at the same time build the static frame of the machine like a tank. Any deflection, no matter how small affects your final part quality in the end, so adding an extra reinforcement in an area that doesn’t need to move is basicallly the airplane equievelent of replacing a part with an identical weight part made out of a stronger alloy: it certanly doesn’t hurt performance to do so, but it might cost more. It probably really only matters for sustained high speed print attempts.
You’re welcome! I’m glad you are enjoying the upgrades. There will be a version of the rails that fit the Taz 6 once the final part designs are pronounced “done” so they could if they want to heh.
A very good point regarding the rubber feets! I was not thinking about them up to now…
I noticed they where not explicit mentioned by someone inside this thread, so it may be a dumb question, but where can they be bought? I had a look at Lulzbot shop, no luck there.
Edit: Found them with the BOM (http://www.vibrationmounts.com/rfq/VM110705.htm)… I guess I want to search for a local “copy” and redesign the end caps
Those plastic feet are just standard 20mm x 20mm x 10mm-ish rubber adhesive furnature feet. You should be able to find them locally at a hardware store even over there. They can be known as furnature glides or desk feet over here. If you have no choice but to reuse the existing ones, contact cement works well to adhere them