Prusa i3 Y-Carraige belt holder V3

NB NOTE: If you having problems with printing my designs please download them again. When we were printing them for my printer we found that some of them had errors on the mesh. Asking Nettfab to auto repair broke some of them even more. No M3 holes in the top of the base pieces for instance. I had to fix every error manually and the upload all the parts again. I believe they are now all fixed. If you find any other issues please let me know so that I can fix them.

After I drew up the first version http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:912217 I sat looking at it and started to wonder why we still fold the belt back and clamp it as well.

There used to be a reason for folding it back and cable tying it. It was because the early belt clamps were not very efficient and the belt would come loose if not tied back. These days we are only doing it because that is how we always did it. (That is unless you are still using an old belt holder design, then you MUST still tie it back)

We have moved on from that with new belt types where the teeth are designed not to slip or shear off. With the belt clamped down between two parts with screws holding it tight there is absolutely no chance for the belt to come loose. The force needed to tear the belt lose from such a clamp will turn you printer into a pile of junk spaghetti before the belt will come loose.

So I started to redesign the belt clamp, V2 was good but it was over engineered for me and I thought I could simplify it more. So I did and here we have V3.

We will be doing a test print of the belt clamps and base tomorrow to see if the new clamp part will print in good enough quality to satisfy me, and it takes a lot to satisfy me.

The belt holder is about the same total height (the belt is still at exactly the same height as the standard Prusa i3 design) as the previous versions but the screws are now recessed into the clamps so the total height of it has been further reduced. The teeth profile in the clamps are GT2 - 2mm specific. Also the spacing between the clamp and base are for the same belt, it will not be crushed but will be firmly clamped.

Use two M3 by 10mm Allen Cap screws on each clamp. There are M3 thread printed into the four screw holes. If the screws fits to tight just run a standard M3 tap through it. I left the holes open on the bottom as well so that a tap can go through easily.

If this gives you more ideas go ahead and improve it even more. I would like to see what you will come up with.

Cheers

Update 2015-07-08:
Added a version of the base with captured nuts for those who do not know when tight is tight enough :) You will have to use M3 by 12mm Allen cap screws however as the nut placing for M3x10 was to close to the top for my comfort. A M3 nut measures 5.4mm on the flats and 2.4mm high. I made the cavities 5.5mm by 2.5mm. If you find that it is to tight drop me a comment and I will make it slightly larger. Or if you know what a good size for the nut cavity is also please drop me a comment

Update 2015-07-20:
Found that some of the files were not manifold, so I pushed them all through Nettfab

Update 2016-02-01
Added the source files in both dxf and stp formats