3D printer problem: objects skewed along y axis

The sides of objects I print are not perpendicular to the bed but instead slope about 5 degrees from normal. They are tilted along the y axis direction. I carefully performed the leveling procedure using a feeler gauge and the provided paper gauge, and did this before printing (and after printing as a test), so I don’t think that is the cause of the problem. Other possibilities: something is wrong in the software that applies the leveling information, the y-axis stepper motor might not be working correctly, or there might be some binding in transport of the print head along the threaded rod on the y-axis. Below are pictures of the openscad design and of the printed object showing the skewed sides.
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KerfmakerHolder1KerfmakerHolder2
Any suggestions??

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Hello @disnyder

Doug the newbie here, it would help the analysis by knowledgeable members of the forum if you could upload you .stl file

Have a great day.

Doug

Boy it almost looks as if the Y-axis is drifting, like the stepper motor is loosing sync but yet in a uniform fashion.
The idea that the leveling may be to blame seems likely. But if the leveling was that off, you’d think it wouldn’t get started properly.

It’s all square in the x-axis direction?

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Was this printed with Snapmaker3D or another application such as Cura or Simplify3D? if not Snapmaker3D, have any offset values been changed?

Doug

Answers to questions:

  1. To Tone: yes, square in x-axis direction.
  2. To Doug: It was printed with Snapmaker3D.
    Added information: The STL file was printed on a friend’s printer and turned out OK – sides square to the bottom on all sides. So, the issue is with the Snapmaker 3D printer’s hardware or possibly software (leveling procedure). I end up suspecting the y-axis hardware – the stepper motor or transport mechanism. Testing these seems difficult for the equipment I have available. I’m thinking of swapping the x and y stepper motors as a test, but I don’t know yet how easy or hard that will be.
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@dlsnyder I like your idea of swapping the x and y stepper motors to test. It shouldn’t be too hard. It is a matter of disassembly and reassembly. I hope it is more a hardware issue than a software issue; it’ll be easier to exchange a bad stepper motor than debugging code.

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I decided not to do the stepper motor swap. I does look like it would not be too difficult, but I don’t want to mess with the hardware and invalidate any warrenty. Instead, I have requested a replacement of the “linear module”. I’ll wait and see what happens with that before taking anything apart.

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Hi @whimsycwd @Rainie

Any thoughts on this problem?

Doug

@dlsnyder Could you swap the X and Y linear modules? If the part slants on the opposite axis after the switch then you have proven the problem is with the linear module. Just my 2 cents… Best of luck!

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In response to mcpohorton: Good idea, so I swapped the x and y linear modules. The problem moved from the y axis to the x axis with this swap. Below are pictures of the printed object before and after the swap. So the problem seems to be with what is (post swap) the x-axis linear module. There isn’t much to the module – a stepper motor, a coupler connecting the motor and threaded rod, and the mounting of the threaded rod. I don’t know where among these the problem is.
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