Styx i3 Machined Extruder Bolt

thingiverse

Thought I would share with you all how I machined the extruder bolt for the Itty Bitty Belted Extruder http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:389105. I realize that not everyone will have the equipment needed but I thought it would be of interest. This extruder bolt is for 1.75mm filament. On a lathe centre drill a M8 bolt. Using a milling machine mount the bolt in a dividing head using the the steady. Centre a 4mm slot drill along the axis of the bolt and position the tool along the axis of the bolt to suit.Touch the slot drill on the top of the bolt and zero the Z axis. Move the tool away and drop the Z axis down 1.5mm. Machine the first cut by feeding the Y axis until the centre of the tool is 4.4mm away from the centre of the bolt. Repeat this operation 24 times using the quick indexer on the back of the dividing head.This will create 24 equally spaced notches in the bolt. I hope that all made sense as it is easier for me to make one than to describe the process.