I was having a lot of flex between the stock v-wheels and the z axis. Desired to upgrade to the c-beam from Openbuilds.
Installation was straight forward. And the results are impressive. Before I was cutting Mdf with a 1 flute .125 bit @ 50ipm / .125 Dpp.
Ran some speed test last night and I was able to cut (same bit) @ 160ipm /.125dpp. It would cut 200 just fine but The finish started to suffer. I am highly impressed with this upgrade.
Now for the bad part.
Setting up the V-wheels on the c-beam is a PITA. Any adjustments require removing the motor and pulling the whole carriage out making a small adjustment and reassemble. Repeat until it’s right.
ALSO the worst part of the C-Beam, You will loose z height. I am using a 5/4 plywood waste board so you have more clearance than me, but still a little less than stock!
I did not order the Openbuilds router holder. I should have. I ended up drilling holes in the x-carve holder.
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any way to run it up higher so you don’t lose Z clearance? I’ve been considering the same rig…
Not with out cutting the bottom bearing block
I plan on cutting new plates and raising the whole axis up in the future so I’m not too worried about it right now.
Would love to see a little video of this guy in action. Sounds like a huge improvement!
will it be possible to mount the c-beam reverse?
in order to have the groove of the worm toward x-cariage, to limit the chips on the worm?
i know this will increase the weight on Z motor but this remains an idea …
i just want to know if this will be possible
Yes and no.
In this configuration it is an easy “drop in” replacement. Just swapping out the Z axis using the same stock mounting holes in the gantry plate. But it can not be mounted in reverse.
You can reverse it, and the c-beam style CNC do so, but it requires modifying / replacing the gantry plate(s). I am in the process of doing this myself, replacing both the Z and X axis with C-Beams: Gantry Upgrade to C-Beam
