Jackson Masters

M2ExtruderLanding

Case Study of an IoT Depth Camera

Makergear M2 Extruder Upgrade

I bought a pair of Makergear M2s in early 2013, and as they approached their tenth birthdays I decided to redesign their printed extruder assemblies.

I wanted the new design to:

  • Use magnets to attach the fan assemblies and lower filament guide, to make it easier to diagnose failures and clear jams.

  • Allow the user to disengage the drive motor, to make changing filament and “cold-pulling” clogs simpler.

  • Use a new fan duct to provide more even cooling and improve bridging performance.

  • Include a dust filter to reduce the dust pulled into the hot end.

 
 

Adding a clutch to disengage the drive was straightforward. This feature has become ubiquitous in more modern printers.

 
 
 

I embedded magnets in the components of the extruder. This made the fan assembly and filament guide easy to remove.

 
 

It’s fun to keep older tools running.