DIY UV Curing Camber Pt. 3

Time for another quick update!

I started CADing up the turntable, starting with a basic shape that would provide enough room for the drive mechanism (motor, two pulleys, and a belt.) I settled on this design, which I think isn’t too horribly unpleasant and features some nice compound curves. Most of the shapes I made by lofting simple profiles and setting a perpendicular end-constraint on one side.

Next I added some features to attach the motor to the main body and an opening to let the turntable’s main axle pass through. To ensure that the turntable rotates smoothly, I’m adding a bearing to the main pivot — the bearing is a 63802, so… hugely overkill. But it’s what I had in my remnants bin. You can’t beat free!

(Main axle pass-through not shown)

Finally I designed a couple of pulleys — a small one that mounts to the D-shaped motor output shaft, and a larger one that mounts to the turntable itself via a hexagonal shaft. (It’s shorter than it is wide, so can it be called a shaft at that point?) These will further reduce the turntable speed. I hope these will be enough to keep any curing parts from being flung around inside the curing chambe. I haven’t connected the motor to a power supply just yet, so I’m not positive how fast it really goes. There’s a bit more room in the main body that I can play with to get a larger reduction, but if the turntable is still too fast, I’ll have to turn it down with a motor-speed controller.

Once I designed the drivetrain I decided to print some of the components for fit and function — some of my tolerances were a bit loose, but otherwise the parts came out fine. I’ll tighten up those dimensions in the CAD model, but I’m going to use the parts I printed. Nothing a wrap of tape can’t fix!

So with everything fitting reasonably well, I think it’s time now to print a small test frame so I can ensure the pulleys work properly and slow the turntable down sufficiently.

I’m not positive about whether or not I’m going to design in a switch for the turntable. My current inclination is to find an outlet timer that I can plug both the UV lamp and the turntable into, and simply control it with the timer. I’ve left the UV lamp on for hours at a time on account of being forgetful or getting distracted, so that’s an area that needs some idiot-proofing.

That’s all for today — The next post may be about another project I’m spooling up in the interest of diversifying my sources of income. It’s a bit of an experiment and may not end up being sustainable, but… can’t know until you try, right?