Reprap Pulley and Reprap Belt
Belt&Pulley drive is key parts of most of the 3d printer, even in Delta Robot 3d printers. What is a Reprap Belt&Pulley? To give an answer to this question, first let us work out the following more questions.
Why belt drive for 3d printers?
Belt drive shares the same speed advantages as Rack and Pinion.(Read more: http://www.cnc4everyone.com/hardware/linear-drives/) Belt drive compared with other linear drives is relatively low maintenance, precision movement and inexpensive. And it is ultra light than Rack and Pinion. The advantage of Reprap Pulley and Belt combination is obvious.
How many kinds of Belt and Pulley?
There are many different part no. of pulley and belt like T2.5, MXL, GT2, S2M and HTD2, etc. Reprap Pulley and Reprap Belt are among them.
Why there are open ended and closed-loop Timing Belt?
Closed-loop Timing Belt are easy to use while open ended you need to connect it. It is hard to say which is good for reprap 3d printers. For small size and short length, closed-loop is more easily to use, you do not need to Clamp it. But you can not easily find a closed-loop of the exactly length you require, so you have to consider the open ended belt. And sometime open ended reprap belt can help you have more freedom on design.
How to tense or clamp the Reprap Belt?
As mentioned, you cann not easily find the exact lenght closed-loop belt. So we have no choice to an open ended belt. To clamp, RobotDigg find some are trying Belt Clamp and some are using screws to clamp. To tense, it could be more and also could be easy as a Tensioner Spring.
Is GT2 pulley and belt the Reprap Pulley&Belt?
A reprap pulley could be T2.5 16 teeth pulley, MXL 18 teeth pulley or GT2 20 teeth pulley.
Reprap pulley and belt is pulley&belt which are popular in reprap community and are accepted by most of the 3d printer makers.
T2.5 pulley&belt, MXL pulley and belt are ever before the Reprap Pulley and Belt. But now 3ders turn to GT2 pulley and GT2 belt because of higher precision and high resolution. It\'s just the same reason why 1.75mm Filament will dominate the market.
20Teeth, 5mm Bore GT2 Pulley and 6mm Width Open Ended GT2 Belt are now the Reprap pulley and belt.
