Mods - Item24 Extrusions

Thanks to the sterling effort of @C64 we have an option instead of Kinetik extrusion profiles. @C64 has done the work of modifying the files and testing the modified design in his rig for all to use giving the community an alternative supplier.

Why use this mod? 

The reason to use Item24 is (country dependent) you may get better service and more consistent option for tapping threads (Kinetik has supplied different helicoils to community members in the past). Item24 profiles depending on where you buy from will be a bit more expensive. There’s no performance difference between the Item and Kinetik profile as far as the completed SFX-100 actuators are concerned

Item24 has worldwide distributors so your experience will vary by country. Eg in Australia/New Zealand expect around 3-4 weeks from order to shipping, whereas UK is a couple of days.

In C64’s words: 

I have been less than impressed by the heartache caused by Kinetik’s customer service so I have been testing an alternative 100×100 profile from ITEM ( part no. 0.0.624.56 ) for the last 12 weeks and it has not produced any problems.

ITEM are a German based company and have distributors worldwide, they are definitely a lot more expensive than Kinetik but if sourced locally outside Europe then the shipping may well offset that price difference… when I ordered from the UK ITEM supplier ( www.mbsitem.co.uk ) it arrived 2 days later. The UK customer service was impressive.

The ITEM profile is very similar to the Kinetik profile, has good clearance for the ballscrew nut and only needs a very small adjustments to the slider “grooves” and the bolt hole sizes in the Linear Bearing housing and Fixed Bearing housing (10mm bolts instead of 8mm), the 10mm bolt hole pitch is exactly the same as the Kinetik profile.

Item profile left, Kinetik profile right.

Extrusions

• ITEM Website https://www.item24.com/
• Find the distributor in your region and ask for details and prices for the following
• part no. ITEM Part No. 0.0.624.56 Profile 10 100×100, 0.250 (m), quantity 4.
• Ask your ITEM24 distributor for a quote for Tapping threads in the profile ( a US builder was quoted $66 )
• Hint: Register on the Item24 website first, then add items to your cart for a quote. 

Hardware

• No inserts/reduction bushes required
• Increased bolt size to fix the “linear bearing housing” and “fixed bearing housing” to the 100×100 profile. Change 32 * M8x40mm to 32* M10x35mm
• You will need appropriate t-slot nuts for mounting actuators

There is no change whatsoever to all the internal hardware used to build the actuator

The following files will need to be used, instead of the original files

• Slider
• Fixed Bearing
• Linear Bearing

You can find these here https://github.com/SimFeedback/SimFeedback-AC-Servo/tree/master/STL/Item , please note the same license as original files applies prohibiting commercial use, click here for license details.

The only assembly change for this mod is to tap the extrusions, rather than using the helicoil/threaded inserts.

To do this you will have to tap M10x1.5 threads (“1.5” is the thread pitch) in the existing 8.4mm holes ( 8.4mm is the correct size for tapping M10 threads), this process is no harder ( a lot easier for some ) than winding the inserts in, I recommend buying a good quality tap and a proper “tap wrench bar” and lubricate the tap when cutting the threads.

All other instructions remain the same.