How to calculate stepper torque?
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@deckingman the Makerbot Replicator 1 and a huge number of Chinese clones/derivatives of it used 17t GT2. So, at least a hundred thousand printers in the wild with them.
I don't know why MBI used 17t originally (probably cheap sourcing a truckload of them like @Phaedrux mentioned) but the clones kept it for a long time to maintain firmware compatibility with a stock printer JSON config file in the Sailfish/Mightyboard ecosystem.
There might have been some sensible driver for the selection at the time... maybe somebody wanted a particular pitch diameter to match a legacy T2.5/MXL pulley or idler bearing or something. Or wanted the smallest pulley that would fit a 1/4" shaft or something. Who knows.
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One learns something new every day.........
