[CarveOne]

CarveOne,

Thanks so much for your support.
For anyone else wondering I've been discussing a new Z-axis with CarveOne and he's graciously agreed to allow me to model my design on his and answer questions about how he did it.

My goal is to try and use as many "stock" parts as possible as I have neither the tools nor experience using them that CarveOne has. I'm planning to use Rockler MultiTrack as both the spine / column and the slide of the Z axis.


Sketch of my plans - MultiTrack

You can get bearing plates from cncrouterparts.com and you don't need to use the lead screw adapters that I machined for my design. There is also a drawing on Ahren's site that has become a reference for many other builds. You can make these things as complicated or as simple as you wish to. My Z axis is very similar to one that buick455 did back when Ahren first came out with his bearing carriages. It made sense to me and functions as I wanted mine to be. I just used lower cost steel angle and 1" x 2" steel box tube instead of 8020 extrusion.

CarveOne

[otto_pjm]

You can get bearing plates from cncrouterparts.com and you don't need to use the lead screw adapters that I machined for my design. There is also a drawing on Ahren's site that has become a reference for many other builds. You can make these things as complicated or as simple as you wish to. My Z axis is very similar to one that buick455 did back when Ahren first came out with his bearing carriages. It made sense to me and functions as I wanted mine to be. I just used lower cost steel angle and 1" x 2" steel box tube instead of 8020 extrusion.

CarveOne

Thanks CarveOne,

I've been checking out cncrouterparts and a few other sites. I'm going to try and start simply, at least what I consider simple . I'll be able to get some parts, nuts and bearings from my old Z - Axis once I swap it out, so I'll likely use some parts that are just good enough to make sure I have the right clearances etc and that everything moves as expected first. To that end I think I'll be making fuel line and hose clamp collars to prototype and then re-use the Acme nuts I have on the existing axis when I take it apart. (I have an odd sized 3/8 Acme 1 start for my X-axis and my Z-axis right now, and was using a single nut as the leadnut on the Z-axis. For the new one I bought a leadnut from dumpstercnc that's has a < 1" footprint, so that will get attached to the Z-slide with some angle. As someone on one of the Joe's lists pointed out the this lead screw

from cncrouterparts would fit my Multitrack t-slot exactly, but I had ordered the other leadnut, and would rather stay with 3/8 rod for now.

I unfortunately will be side tracked for awhile replacing the bed on my CNC as the hold down system is just not up to holding aluminum, or even wood all that well. I'm redesigning the bed, and it's likely overkill, but I'd rather not have this problem again. I'm also hoping to build a rotary 4th axis into the front and be able to dovetail there as well, so I'm going to make the bed in two pieces, so the front can be easily removed to use the rotary or dovetail option. The exposed frame is show below. I'm going to add some 1/8" aluminum to the edges of the base bed board and some to support the t-slot nuts and hold downs for the MDF spoil board as well.

Pete

[CarveOne]

-snip-

"I'm redesigning the bed, and it's likely overkill,"

Pete

I have no experience with Ahren's ACME nuts, as I already had DumpsterCNC nuts for both of my machines when I found out about these. I like the way they mount though.

So far as I've seen with these CNC router machines there is no such thing as overkill, or too expensive. It's all too expensive for me, but I struggle to get the things I need to feed my CNC habit anyway. I have managed to build a much better and faster machine than I ever expected when I started it 1-1/2 years ago. It will continue to evolve into a steel frame machine by year end if I can manage it.

Your machine will evolve also. Swapping out parts to continually improve your machine is one way to do it but it becomes more expensive over time. You learn a lot by doing it that way though. I surely have.

CarveOne

[otto_pjm]

Your machine will evolve also. Swapping out parts to continually improve your machine is one way to do it but it becomes more expensive over time. You learn a lot by doing it that way though. I surely have.

CarveOne

I'm seeing a lot of evolution already, my family and friends have stopped asking when it will be "done" i think it's pretty much perpetual.

It's been cold, so I've moved mostly inside doing some CAD drawings and playing with some crude mock up parts to see how it will all actually fit together. It's coming along, slow but sure.

Pete

[otto_pjm]

Making some progress on the bed, which is good, since I can't cut without it. I'm putting some 1/8" AL underneath, along the edges, and to bolt the t-slot to. That's what takes the time but it's coming. Picked up some beam clamps I hope to use to keep the four corners clamp down without getting in the way of the router or if I feed long sheets front to back.

Pete

[otto_pjm]

Not sure what happened, this is a duplicate post,

[otto_pjm]

Not sure what happened there,

Anyway the Z-axis didn't get as much attention, but I made some progress, it's looking like this. Next up in getting the ABL onto the angle coming off of the Z-slide and to get the actual guides in place, hopefully this week.....



I've also got a small NEMA 23 motor and a stand alone stepper driver kit on the way so I can play with everything indoors and not have to muck with the existing setup. I'm thinking it will help me design and build a rotary forth axis eventually too, so it'll be worth having beyond this project.

I'm hoping the driver kit is a good one, it looked pretty solid and can be run stand alone or from a Printer port,



anybody used this.
Unipolar-Stepper-Motor-Driver
It actually comes from here it seems.
http://www.kitsrus.com/
Anyway, I'll let you know how it turns out.

Pete