[cgallery]

I have read the threads on making my own, and I may.

But I'm wondering if anyone has done any research and tried different types and found one that works better than others?

The designs seem pretty simple, is anyone out there selling these already made? A proven design?

[aarggh]

Dampers don't really need to be anything special as they're purely a functional item, most I've seen made by hobbyists are simply plastic circles with large ball bearings in the holes, and thin perspex on the sides to contain them. The commercial ones I have in my parts box use short metal rod in the 7-9 holes (from memory), and the whole unit is roughly 75-80% filled with a medium machince oil and sealed.

One thing of note which makes sense to me, is that the clamp assembly is fitted with a ball bearing, so when the the steppers stop or change direction, the inertia of the damper doesn't force an extra step or two. Depending on the speed and stepeprs used, this might be a handy design consideration.

cheers, Ian

[Devastator]

Vexta clean dampers work well. Look on ebay.

[cgallery]

Thank you guys.

So here is a follow-up question. If I'm able to dramatically reduce the noise coming from my machine by adding O-rings between the steppers, and the frame, am I achieving the same sort of effect that adding these shaft-based dampers would provide?

The machine runs a bunch quieter, but I'm not sure if the overall noise contributed to the stalling caused by resonances. That is, maybe the motor is still resonating just as much, and will ultimately stall, but I'm not hearing the resonance through the frame so I think things have improved?

[Devastator]

If I'm able to dramatically reduce the noise coming from my machine by adding O-rings between the steppers, and the frame, am I achieving the same sort of effect that adding these shaft-based dampers would provide?

No. That decouples the motor from the frame which can change the resonance frequency. In some cases it can make the motor resonance worse. For example, steppers not attached to anything will resonate quite severely.

Dampers work on the actual shaft to dampen internal resonance of the motor. What you have done is dampen external resonance that is being transferred to your machine frame. Proper dampers provide a "cushion" to the stepping motion that dampen excess energy that would cause resonance at certain frequencies.

[crazydiamond]

No. That decouples the motor from the frame which can change the resonance frequency.

Not to mention that decoupling the motor form the frame could introduce backlash as the motor can "twist" slightly under load

[cgallery]

Okay thanks guys. The thing that got me to thinking about decoupling was these dampers:

Vibration Dampers > Motor Accessories > Product Range > Home > Astrosyn International Technology Ltd

But perhaps they aren't resonance dampers but only vibration dampers.

[aarggh]

Those are vibration resonance dampers and are quite handy for reducing the noise and vibration induced into the frame and parts, but they are not for damping the mid band range resonance you get with cheaper or inefficient drivers. If you want to learn more about that, check out Gecko's site and read the articles about how their controllers reduce the mid band resonance.

cheers, Ian