Sixth Army Group

[greatplanes27]

Here is the printer tutorial that you requested. This project came about because I am a cheap bastard. I priced out having rubber stamps made, but doing them for all of the different ammo boxes I wanted to do was prohibitive. Since I have worked on printers for over 20 years, I decided to try to hack a cheap printer. I have now done this twice and have selected the Lexmark Z645m for the hack. These printers are cheap (about $20), readily available (Wal-Mart), and lend themselves well to modification (simple print mechanism frame). A couple of words of warnings: First, this voids any warranty from Lexmark to do this. Second, you will need to be willing to tweak the printer after you are done to get it to work smoothly. The motors were designed to pull paper, not wood. Three inch wide wood is probably the limit that they can do reliably. All of that said, this hack took about two hours today. It took me longer to take the pictures, organize them and write this tutorial than it did to modify the printer. If you try this, let me know how it turns out. If I can help you with questions, please let me know.

1.This is printer as it is packaged.
2.When you open the printer, make sure that you have a power supply, the cartridge and the driver CD. You may want to install the printer on your computer at this time. Once this hack is done you will not be able to print a test page.
3.Remove the packing tape and look over the printer.
4.Remove the top paper guide.
5.Flip the printer over and locate the four screws which hold the top cover on. Remove these screws and remove the top cover.
6.Locate the five screws which hold the print mechanism in place. You will need to remove these screws.



7.A close-up of the screws on the left side.
8.A close-up of the screws on the right front.
9.A close-up of the screw at the right rear
10.After the screws are removed, remove the print mechanism and look it over.
11.Special attention must be paid to the encoder strip. This is the clear strip with black markings at the top that runs through the printhead carriage. If this strip is broken or damage, the printer will be useless.
12.Now turn the printer around and disconnect the carriage drive motor connector and the paper feed motor connector from the electronics board. Also, disconnect the printhead cable from the board. This will pull straight out.



13.Once that is done, remove the three screws that hold the electronics board to the frame and remove it.
14.Now remove the encoder strip. This is done by releasing the spring that holds it on the left side of the frame. Put this some place that is safe for the rest of the hack.
15.Now remove the carriage belt tensioner screw and remove the tensioner so that the belt is loose.
16.Now remove the spring clip that holds the carriage rod on the right side.
17.Remove the spring clip on the left side and remove the carriage bar and the printhead carriage.
18.Now remove the press rollers from the frame.



19.Locate the two screws on the left side of the frame that hold the carriage motor in place. Remove the screws and set the motor aside.
20.Locate the two screws on the right side that hold the paper feed mechanism on to the frame. Remove the screws and set the paper feed assembly aside.
21.Disassembled frame. What we wish to do is separate the paper feed mechanism from the rest of the frame.
22.This picture is taken from the back of the frame. Mark the frame for cutting as shown.
23.Mark the other side for cutting.
24.Both sides marked for cutting.



25.Now we are ready to mark the case for cutting.
26.Before marking, turn the case over and remove the two paper slides that are on the right side. These slides are black and simply snap out.
27.Remove the front paper roller as it will not be used.
28.The area on the back is marked for removal. I remove the area above the information sticker. The area is indented in the case. The marked area is about four inches wide.
29.Another area about four inches wide and 3/4” high is marked on the inside.
30.On the left side is a small bracket with a square hole. It will need about 1/8” removed from its top.



31.A similar bracket is on the right side and it will also need 1/8” removed from the top of the hole.
32.Looking at the back, you will need to remove the top of the USB connector hole so that the connector will fit.
33.Mark the area in front for removal. This area causes the paper to bend back up. Since we are dealing with wood, this area will cause a bind in the feed.
34.Another picture of the area in front to be removed.
35.After about 15 minutes in the shop with a Dremel, the case has been modified.
36.A picture of the back of the case.



37.The frame was also cut with a Dremel.
38.Now connect the right hand piece of the frame that has been cut off to the paper feed assembly. Place the right hand piece that was cut off and the paper feed assembly back in the case. One note is that the spring that was on the paper rollers must be removed. Replace the screws that hold these pieces.
39.Attach the electronics board back to the frame. Make sure that the paper out detector blade is align with the sensor.
40.Put the carriage drive motor back on the frame.
41.Now set the printhead carriage back on the frame and replace the belt tensioner.
42.Insert the carriage bar back through the frame and the printhead.



43.Now you will now need to make three spacers for the frame. I used 1/8” PVC since I had it in the scrap bin. You will need to locate the three anchor points on the frame and make the spacers to fit.
44.One note on the electronics board, since we have raised the frame and board 1/8”, we will need to bend the power connectors down about 1/8” to line up. If you do not have power after the printer is done, this is probably the problem.
45.Glue the one space to the post on the right hand side.
46.Glue the space to the left anchor point of the frame.
47.Repeat the process on the right side anchor point.
48.Insert the printhead ribbon cable back into the electronics board.



49.Connect the carriage drive motor connector to the electronics board.
50.Replace the paper pressure feet on the frame. These may fall out as they are held by pressure. You will probably have to play with them to get them in place.
51.Set the frame back in the case so that you can connect the paper feed motor cable to the electronics board.
52.Now carefully set the frame back in the case making sure that it set firmly on its anchor points. Also, make sure that the tabs on the back of the frame slip into their holders. In addition, make sure that the power connectors are lined up in the power supply bracket. Now replace the two screws that hold the frame. The screws that came with the printer will be too short to hold properly. You will need to find appropriate screws that are slightly longer to get them to hold firmly.
53.Now carefully insert the encoder strip back through the printhead. Make sure that it slides in straight and does not get bent or broken.
54.Reconnect the spring to the left end of the encoder strip.



55.Insert a three inch wide piece of wood on the right hand side of the printer. This will allow you to check for possible bind points. Once you are satisfied that it will not bind, glue a guide across the front area. This will help keep the wood feeding straight when coming out of the printer. Make sure that this guide sets below the top of the wood.
56.A guide is also place behind the frame to help align the wood. These guides are made out of 1/8” PVC and are epoxied in place using Plastic Weld epoxy. You may have to tweak these when you are done to eliminate bind points.
57.The printer turned on. After the printer does it self test, a piece of wood is inserted from the rear. It should extend about 1/2” beyond the pressure rollers. When the printer starts to print, it rolls backwards slightly and then moves forward.
58.After some binding problems, the first good print is given.
59.A close-up of the printing.



I will still need to tweak the feed on this printer, but it is almost done. All of this printing has been done with the color cartridge only. I will probably purchase a black cartridge to do any production printing. I will apologize in advance for any errors in this tutorial as I have written it as fast as I could.

One further note, I think I have two hacked printers. After I finishing tweaking this new one, one of them will be available for trade. I am always interested in US tanker items, US cannon ammo, or good reference books.

[ActionMan]

Brilliant idea, great tutorial!

[enrive]

ALUCINANTE