Low Profile High Efficiency Motorized Prusament Turn Table for Photography and Displays

Many of the motorized turn tables on the internet today are too bulky and just have too many parts. This clever design repurposes a new Prusament spool side as the main platen, and three small printed pieces to make a super capable and robust motorized turn table. It's only 20mm thick, requires no screws, and even works when mounted to a wall or upside down!

A standard N20 geared motor from the likes of Pololu or Sparkfun (and and many more) provides the motion. I recommend the 3-6v, 150 RPM version for ~1 RPM final speed. These motors are also available with encoders if you want to use this system as a servo controlled robotics platform.

Technical note: The ratio of this gearbox is 130:1. Four M3 screw holes are provided on the base for added usability; they have a 70mm square hole pattern. 

Pins from the Prusament Pegboard system would work great here for fixturing. 

Neat Bearing Tech:

The slip bearing is carefully designed for 3D printing so only smooth perimeter lines serve as the bearing surface! Rough top surfaces will have no effect on the performance of this assembly! 

It can support over 8kg at 1 RPM while using less than 0.3 watts! You can run it on a CR2032 coin cell battery, or a tiny solar panel!

Print:

• PETG is preferred for its wear resistance, but any hard filament will do.

• 0.2mm layers!

• Normal/Balanced preset. 

• Worm Gear modifiers only:

  • Enable brim, 6mm width.

  • 4 perimeters

  • 0.15mm layers (for smoother operation)

Parts:

• 1pc - N20 Geared Motor. 150 RPM is a nice sweet spot, but you can go as high as 1000 RPM and still get good torque. 

• 1pc - NEW Prusament spool side. You can open the spool with this tool, and use the other parts of your spool for something else!

Detailed Assembly Guide: (7 steps)

1. Test-fit your worm gear. It should be a snug press fit. You can remove it by placing tweezers or pliers below the gear and prying up. 

1. Snap in the N20 motor. Make sure it is all the way in like pictured:

1. Install your worm gear. Be sure to align the flats of the shaft.

1. Grease up the base plate and gear. If you don't have any, that's fine too; you can skip this.
   NOTE: You ONLY need to grease the inner and outer perimeters. This is a slip bearing that is built purely of perimeters. It won't snag on rough top layers! :)

1. Install bottom plate onto spool gear. Start with the worm gear side, push firmly, and slide your fingers around the edge like pictured. You should finish with a satisfying CLICK!

1. Solder wires to the motor and use a small cable tie to secure it. 

1. Twist lock the final assembly onto a new Prusament spool side and you are done! 

Happy Spinning!

Above is real-speed with 1000 RPM N20 motor at 6v and a Sony Mavica on top. (a bit fast imo)