Whats new with the v1.1 FFFT?
tl;dr The finger edges are now SLS nylon and the depth stops are steel thumb screws. And there is a new quick adjust mechanism.
The v1 FFFT had several issues, and the following issues were addressed in v1.1:
- The depth stop bolts were finicky, adjusting them was not a nice experience. They would get loose on their own.
- The aforementioned bolts were fragile and would break (sometimes during transit, sometimes in use).
- 3D printed resin was not durable. It would yellow if left in the sun, and was brittle.
The decision was made to switch to SLS 3301PA Nylon. The pros and cons were as follows:
Pros:
- Allows for complex internal geometry (useful for designing a new quick adjust mechanism).
- Compare to resin, SLS nylon has UV resistance and isn't brittle.
- Grainy texture feels nice on a finger edge (less slippery).
Cons:
- 3.5x more expensive for the same part.
- Lower resolution for fine detail (the text and ruler are less clearly visible, bolt threads have to be M4 instead of M3).
- Nylon powder gets in the holes and crevices, requires extra cleaning step.
There were several iterations of a quick adjust bolt mechanism. Most of them suffered from the issue that if you press on the bolt head, it would disengage the mechanism.
The chosen design (called "the drawstring") had a drawstring cord lock like mechanism. A pre-tensioned spring pushes on half of the threads to keep the depth bolt engaged. If the drawstring cord lock like button is pressed, the two halves of the threads separate and the bolt is free to move freely.