Anet A8 (acrylic frame) upgrade pack - print me first! - All the best updates!

thingiverse

Essential upgrades for Anet A8 ======================== This is a collection of the best 'essential upgrades' for the Anet A8 printer. I gathered these together because it took me a while to choose the best of the upgrades and I thought I'd share the result. I advise printing these items first and fitting them as soon as possible. You will require M6 threaded rod, nuts and washers to install the Y axis motor mount. Print settings: PLA 230°C 100% infill 100-200mm/min Supports: yes Other recommendations: - Fit a 20mm compression gland to secure the cables to the hot bed, in the rear panel of the printer frame. I had to adapt the motor mount (with a burr grinder) to allow clearance for the nut which secures this cable gland. - When applying the spiral wrap to the cables for the hot bed and print head, include a piece of PLA filament to stiffen the bundle and prevent it from forming tight kinks. This helps a lot in keeping cables clear of moving parts. This uses the following designs, please refer to the respective pages for more info: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2350276 https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2102111 https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2042621 https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2425783 https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2045010 Update ===== After printing with all these updates installed for ~24h of print time using a couple of different filaments, I am really impressed with the difference between the stock A8 and the upgraded version. The linear guide rail grips stop a lot of vibration. The combination of the Y axis belt grips and the Y axis motor mount and belt tensioning upgrade makes it possible to get really good belt tension on the Y axis with minimal deviation of the belt over the whole Y travel. The X axis tensioning upgrade is also a massive improvement over the "two bendy bolts" and cable ties. Being able to properly tension the belts gives a huge improvement in resolution, and reduces the weird print artefacts of sudden changes in print direction. Bed levelling is really easy with the thumb wheels. Absolutely essential.