[ohallock]

The Xzero 24x36 Raptor cnc router frame packages started to arrived several weeks before the CanedCNC BladeRunner electrical package, of Aug 23, 2012, X & Y ball screws shortly thereafter. The Z axis arrived possibly Nov. The motor mounts arrived early Dec. The bottom two extruded xmembers to the gantry arrived Dec 28th 2012. The first task was to go over each part by visual inspection & touch, and file, stone, & scotch bright all the dings & burrs, & smooth any rough edges on all parts.

Impedances in the early assembly where, the nondrive end of the X axis ball screw would not fit thru the front face of the nondrive side bearing housing & determining how much of a negative ball space there should be in the bearing block ball bearing races of the linear guides.

The X axis nondrive end bearing housing attaches to the back of the front end plate, the nondrive side X axis ball screw bearing is to seat in the central bore. George sent me a second because, I thought he had sent me a drive side bearing housing twice, but it has a pronounced lip. The two nondrive end bearing housings have the front face countersinks & central bore opening on opposite faces of the bearing housing. I bought four M6x30 cap screws and mounted the part backwards with the counter sink face against the back of the front plate, to utilize the central bore without having to remove material, as the x ball screw free end bearing would not seat in the front face of the bearing housing. It would fit in the backside of the central bore perfectly. George sent me pictures to show the difference between the X axis ball screw nondrive side bearing housing and the X axis ball screw drive side bearing housing, which has a pronounced lip. (see pictures)

The TBI Motion linear guide small blocks had at least one full bearing space empty and the larger ones all had two or more full ball spaces empty. When I saw a block with what appeared to be two balls missing in one race & three balls missing on the other, I questioned whether the ball races where properly filled
:argue: After querying several sources, for most brands a 1 ½ ball space was specified for assembly. One source stated there should be no spaces allowable bigger than a ball bearing. George verified the short blocks had one space per ball race & the long blocks had a 1 ½ space per ball race. I added a ball to all the long bearing block races so that all the blocks had only one empty ball space per ball race. The gap in the ball race can affect the preload of the blocks and performance. The ball bearing size aprox.137.5” or 3.5mm dia, I assume 3.5 mm G25 Chrome Steel Bearing Balls. The ball bearings are metric & local Ace Hardware only carries fractional inch ball bearings. Ebay has them. It turned out I needed no spares, though considering filling the ball races full, decided against it, after doing it.:idea:

Installing bearing blocks on the rails
The bearing blocks have a plastic carrier in the middle of the bearing, before you install it., don’t remove this before you put it on the rail. As you are placing it on the rail make sure you let the rail push the carrier out….this is what the welcomed & informative link

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/diy-cn...ro_raptor.html

says.

Under the foam packing strips on some of the bearing blocks where spare bearings, so when installing it looked like the bearings had come out of the races, but there appeared to be no ball bearings missing from the ball cages, only extras…:boxing:
I suggest removing the packing and looking at the bearing races first to see if there are any ball bearings missing, or if spares have been shipped under one of the foam packing strips, after checking, then reinstall the packing, then slide the block on the rail displacing the packing. Some ends of the rails where not finished to suit installation without knocking bearings out and would not allow installation, so the other end of the rail has to be used for installation.

Installing or removing ball bearings from the linear guide bearing blocks
:stickpokeBalls can be pressed in the races without damage, at first I could not press a ball in to the ball races perhaps more from caution of breaking or deforming the plastic or trying with an inadequate implement, but using an end of one of the assembly bolts I was able to press ball bearings into the races. To remove the bearings a long sewing needle works to pop bearings out. Removing the screw on plastic end plates from the blocks, does not allow access to the ball races to load ball bearings it is a dead end, beneath the screw on end plates everything is fixed, no access.

In CNCZone build threads I read that pipe clamps where good for assembly. Assembling the lower frame I needed to attach the rear, drive end plate & seat the X axis ball screw in the front nondrive side bearing housing. I could not seem to pull or push the end plate up flush to the free rearward ends of the 8080s. I went to buy three pipe clamps and pipes to put them on. In the pipe clamp section of Harbor Freight Tools was a single 60” F clamp. For the 24x36 Raptor Frame one F clamp was sufficient to press fit the central X axis ball screw into the nondrive side bearing housing. The free ends of the 8080s aligned, one flush, one with a slight gap. After loosely bolting the flush 8080, I moved the F clamp over to the slightly gapped 8080 to close it flush & loosely install the bolts.

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:bs:Bicycle Riders & Parents:nono:
AVOID the danger of unexpected FRAME-WHEEL SEPERATION.
Look to evaluate a bicycle for potential hazard.
If a bicycle frame is constructed with open front C shaped rear dropouts, frame-wheel seperation is likely. :wee:

visit Bicycle Consumer Advocacy