Summary

this is a completed project. It is running successfully on my own printer and does not need any further refinement; however, I am open to modifications for the purpose of fitting other parts

Anybody with an FT-5 or FT-6 knows how bad the original ACM extruder mount is. This piece was created in order to give more solid mounting to the Extruder assembly on direct-drive Folgertech FT series printers. In addition to this, it corrects some major problems with the original design. In particular, it mounts the gantry board with plastic clips instead of metal nuts/bolts. The bottom left nut carries a chassis ground and it overlaps an unpadded hot circuit on the board. If/when it arcs, it takes out your main board, all of you stepper drivers and you orange/rasp pi if you have one installed. I have confirmed at least one other case of this happening so check your printer! This extruder mount also gives more surface area for the Y homing switch to contact, rendering my reverse bowden guide unnecessary for use with this mount as that was one of its primary purposes. I will include a new, smaller guide in my design portfolio for use with this setup, with and without the parts cooler fan, which has mounting holes included into the design, as does my light. The entire assembly bolts together with M4 and M3 bolts, including the belt, which easily secures with M3 bolts instead of zip ties.

Print this part with 0.2mm layer height (including bottom layer) with 8 top and bottom layers and 4 layer thick walls at a 25% infill. The design is meant for a slightly higher Y belt. I did this to accommodate for stepper motor dampers and to give myself more space for a new Y belt tensioner design. You can raise the idler gear a little with a longer bolt and spacer and flip the pulley on the stepper if you don't want to do this for yourself and prefer the original equipment.

Tips are especially appreciated for parts like this. They take a lot of work!