Hi Matt I tried your idea but I found that as I move the X-axis by hand I can feel some resistance as the carriage passes by the bolts, the rails and wheels are also clear of any obstructions so I have ruled out that possibility.
I wasn’t able to feel resistance, but I have noticed that my cuts along the X-axis are just a little wavy. I think the spans between the bolts are still flexible enough to allow the rails to deflect. Overall, accuracy is much improved, but I am shooting for better than .010". I’ll be upgrading with the steel bar stiffness mod this weekend, hopefully the waviness will go away.
The idler wheel may be touching the top washer for the mod as it passes. If so, perhaps holding the washer forward while tightening the bolt will solve it.
Play in the z-axis v-wheels looks very similar to x-rail flexibility. I just grab the spindle (with steppers powered and spindle off) and firmly press it in each direction to see where the flex is comming from.
I tried to drop in some M5 50mm and ended up having to loosen one of the rails to get it in. Now I’m getting tons of binding whenever the xcarriage passes by the bolt spots. Should I thin the bolts a tad or look for smaller hardware?
This mod works out of the box.
Redo the mod. Try adding a temporary bolt close to each Y plate for spacing before dropping in the other bolts. Remove the temporary ones and clamp everything together.
Make sure to check for square by the Y plates and measure the width of the X rails as you apply the mod.
Be careful with the clamping, not too much force and evenly distributed.
Would there be any problem with doing this prior to assembling the unit? Flashing on clamping them with spacers, taping the bottom gap, and filling with two part epoxy from the top from the get-go.
You could try 8-32 with fender washers better then nothing
Hey guys, just performed this upgrade today using M5’s (8 bolts, cause they come in packs of 4) to stiffen up the X-Axis.
Curious though, I feel like the M5’s are actually a bit wide for the opening, as the carraige feels to run a bit tighter after the upgrade. Doing some reading, and it appears the actual opening is about .163’’ while the M5 screw is about .19’’. Do you need to change out the washers on the vwheels in order to get the fit right, or is the difference negligible?
Many thanks in advance for the help
I cinched down a bar clamp pretty tightly, at each bolt location, before tightening the M5 nuts. The threads of the M5’s actually cut into the x-axis makerslides just a bit. After that, I had no binding.
Also, you do need to check carefully that the idler wheels are not touching the top washers as they pass. That can definitely cause binding.
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Just as an aside: I happened to have some M4’s laying around They fit ‘just about right’, just barely touching on either side… but when tightened up with the washers it seems pretty darn stiff.
please tell me what spindle u chosed, and is it capable to cut Al? thanks in advance
The spindle I use is described in this post.
I do cut long 3D jobs in aluminum with it. But I don’t believe that spindle power is the limiting factor when milling aluminum with XCarve. The keys to success are (1) getting the flex and play out of the machine (2) choosing milling settings which avoid aluminum sticking to the bit (3) choosing an aluminum specific bit helps (4) oil on the cut can help get through a job if the bit starts to get too hot.
Also, many folks on the forum have reported settings which worked for them when milling aluminum with XCarve.
Has anyone encountered any issues with his modification that causes the X-Carve to stutter near a bolt. We are using M4 screws and the X-Carve stutters near the left side of the machine. How much benefit would be removed if we only had a screw about 6 inches from each end? We have 3 screws currently, 2 on the left side, 6 inches apart, and 1 6 inches from the right side.
Might your idler wheels be hitting a washer for the mod as the spindle carriage passes a bolt? Also, try controlling the maker-slide spacing, perhaps with bar clamps, while tightening.
We thought that originally too, so we switched to 1/2"-3/4" washers which do not come close to hitting the wheels.
Something is binding. Just keep looking. You will find it.
Do you have a calipers? You might try measuring the width of the gap between rails along the length of the x-axis. That should give you some clues.
Alright, I will. What is the recommended distance?
One should be able to get the answer to that question using GrabCAD.
I tried to figure out the GrabCAD measuring tool for five minutes and sort of gave up. Sorry.