[bkukowski]

Well, 2 coats of shellac and 2 cans of rustoleum painter's touch spray paint later, most mdf parts are blue. I decided to ditch the aluminum channel idea (I have a very limited # of tools and don't feel like cutting pvc and delrin) so I went to ebay and purchased (2) 20.5" linear slides (2 blocks each) and a short wide slide for my z. (total $130 shipped) I also purchased a dremel holder from kustomkarts, cheapo couplers from enco, my bearings, and other misc. stuff. I plan to eventually purchase 1/2-10 acme and lovejoy couplers with dumpster nuts to replace the 1/4-20 on the rest of my machine. I'll probably be keeping the 1/4-20 on my z though, the travel is only ~3-4". Any suggestions are appreciated and I'll be sure to post pics as I make progress.

[bkukowski]

here are pics of my idea for securing the nsk rails (20.5" for the x axis..still in the mail.) There is a milled flat in front that spans the entire distance. This will be secured to the mdf. I have cut smaller segments of 1" by 1" aluminum angle to go between the supports behind the flat. I will drill everything and put bolts all the way through once my rails arrive. ebay link to rails: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=7615076212

Next I will have to figure out how to mount the z axis http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=7614071355
to the 4 blocks on the x. My progress will be very slow even if they do arrive before the weekend as I have my AP physics test on monday

Also, I still need to do a first coat on the inside of the supports and re-coat everything else.

[bkukowski]

Well, I got the last shipment of parts a few days ago and I think I'll start with just one NSK rail for the x axis. This will only be temporary. I'll be using it to cut new gantry pieces out of mdf, at that point I can make a better gantry that will be able to support both. I also have a wide thk for the z, and a dremel holder. If I can scrape up the change for more nuts and bolts, this may be done in a few weeks!

[bkukowski]

done! well..at least "cnc revision 1" is...

[HayTay]

done! well..at least "cnc revision 1" is...

Congratulations on a job well done!

If you're sticking with MDF for "cnc revision 2", it goes much faster cutting parts with "cnc revision 1".

Keep up the good work,

HayTay

[xofinnocent]

Like the changes you made using the THK, How well does the z-axis move with the leadscrew behind the single linear rail. I recently purchased a similar rail for myself and was wondering if you had any advice or revisions as far as actuating movement of the z-axis.

[bkukowski]

If I remember correctly, the whole thing was fairly stable. I never had much time to use it since I'm at college now but I do remember wanting to make my gas pipe y axis more stable. For the wood/plastic routing I was doing , the z-axis was fine. You may not have such luck with a narrower thk however as this one was fairly wide.