For our machine we are going to use movement in three different axis. For the X and y  axis movement we are going to use belts. For the z movement we are going to use an worm gear.

The decision was made in the weight, the dificulty of assembling together and the Speedy of the movement needed in each axis. The X and y axis are Light, we need a medium Speed movement. So we chose the belts. The Z axis have more weight to hold. The machine won’t need mucho f a movement in the Z axis so we decided to use a worm screw.

Our work zone will hold this measurements:

The measurements for the mechanisms in each axis are as listed:

• The Z axis will use a worm gear measuring 150mm long.

• The X axis will use a Belt and will measure 300 mm long.

• The Y axis will use a Belt and measure 450 mm long.

The worm gear we are going to use is a single threaded. The pass is 1mm, so the advance is also 1mm because is single threaded.

The advance measurements for the X and y axis Belt will be the same.

That was the design plan. But then we found some old structure abandonned in our Fablab. The structure was made of aluminum T profiles. Which is a sturdy way to support a machine. We understand that these profiles are not good for prototyping because they are expensive but we found them without an use and we thought that was a good idea to recycle them, we reuse something and at the same time we create a much more sturdier machine.

Some of the modifications we made to the structure were the heigh in which the tool was ubicated. In the original structure was too low.. We needed at least 23 cm iso we can put the needle in the correct angle. In order to correct that detail we scavenged another larger T profile and replace the middle vertical bars. The we posioned the tool with x axis on top of the new T profiles. The scavenged T profile was cut with a metal blade.

One of the changes made to the original idea of the tufting machine, was to change the power band to move the X axis to another worm gear. We know that the worm gear provides an slower movement, but we anticipated that our tool may be too heavy and the power band wouldn't be able to move it, so we changed it to a worm gear, slower but supports more weight.

Other modification to the original structure was, obviously, the work zone. The work zone was a simple mdf square measuring 25 cm per side. We designed a frame to tense the fabric. The frame was composed by some L shape pieces that gives us the height. We stacked two pieces with a 5mm thickness to have a 10mm thicknes per side. then we put the main face of the frame which had some holes to put screws in them. We know that this is not the best way to tense and frame the fabric. The screws gives us good tension but the mounting and removal of the fabric is slow and complex. We are working in a second porotype for the frame with out screws and with a put and remove design.

The fabric must be really tense and it must have a large grid. This means that the space between every thread must be big. If the space is too small, the tufting needle will rip the fabric apart.

The unions for the aluminum T profules were 3D printed. The machine uses 3 different unions. One type of union to work as vertexes for the aluminum T profiles, as displayed in the picture. Other type to balance the tool and join it to the middle profile, this union holds together the x acis and the side bars of the structure. And the 3 type of union holds the y axis and the guide pipes of the y axis. All of these unions are 3D printed.

In the picture above we have the stepper motor and the worm that works as our y axis. In the original structure that we decided to recycle this axis was a little bit bended up. This bend cause that theis axis didn't work correctly and the movement got stucked. We traced back the problem and we found out that the union thaat holds the other extreme of the worm wasnt secure with screws, instead the original designer fixated it with double  side mountage tape. This cause that the union got a little bit hhigher than the motor. We secure the union with screws to solve that problem.

In the picture above we can see one member of our team. Securing the tool and x axis to the main structure.