The ANT PCB Maker - XXL conversion part 2

This is part 2 of my documentation of the ANT PCB Maker conversion. You find part 1 here.

The current state is pretty close to completion. There are some things still missing:

• good mountings for working area
• connectors for auto-leveling cables 

The electronics box is now fully finished and i have mounted a 1000kv outrunner motor with an 20AMPs ESC that runs with its own PSU. Separating the power circuits of the "spindle" and the CNC itself ensures that no voltage spikes etc. from the outrunner/ESC combo will "jump over" to the CNC electronics.

Unfortunately i lack the skill to include all the details like outrunner motor and cable chains...

On this photo you can see some details like the fully mounted outrunner.

My failed attempt of removing solder mask with a spring-loaded bit.

The electronics enclosure is sufficiently cooled and has enough room for future upgrades. The PSU connectors are in the extra little box on the left making changes easy.

What are my conclusions on the changes i made to the original design?

Some parts have been redesigned with printability in mind. I think that this worked out and that most parts are easier to print. There are no difficult overhangs to print except for mounting holes that can be drilled afterwards.

USB C because USB C! (～￣▽￣)～ 

The oversized electronics box gives me enough room for future upgrades and hides all the cable mess.

The endstops for the x and z axis are implemented within the printed parts and the cables are hidden. this gives an overall cleaner look to the machine. The downside is that if anything should "break" i would have to disassemble the complete carrier.

The redesigned belt holders on the front of the machine are possibly what makes the biggest difference regarding overall stability. While the original parts bend pretty much, my chunkier design is rock solid.

The standard Nema 14 stepper motor for the z axis might make the biggest difference regarding durability. While the motors of the original machine are running close to their limits this Nema 14 has lots of reserves. Anyone who builds the ANT should definitely go for the updated version with stronger motor.

Unlike the original machine i don't use o-rings for the outrunner-to-spindle connection. I use a closed GT2 belt with a 4:5 transmission what increases the spindle speed by 25%. But this something that could be done with o-rings, too. The downside is that in case that the bit is stuck the motor would stop abruptly, too. The o-rings on the other hand would slip in this situation. On the other side a closed GT2 belt probably is more durable.

I switched from ER8 to ER11. This was planned early on because the Floating Engraving Tool from CNC-AID originally only was available in 1/4" size while ER8 only supports 6mm max. In the meantime the tool is also available in a 6mm version. Any ANT owner should be warned that this tool adds some length to the drilling bit making it incompatible with the ANT.