I’ve got the X-Carriage that does not have the hole for a Z probe. Can I drill one? Or does anyone know of integrity issues doing so?
Since I have the 3.8w laser installed, I’m thinking to put the hole on the upper left of the X-Carriage, not the right like it is on the new ones
Get a sharp drill bit and drill away, it’s just aluminum. The top of the gantry plate won’t be compromised as that’s where the probe hole is on all newer machines.
Thanks. Didn’t know if the newer ones were different material or thickness. In photos it looks like it’s one one drilled through, then a recessed hole for washer and to grab
As with any metal, drill slowly and use lubricant if needed.
I went to the drawing of the cad files for the new carriage as listed on the main page and measured exactly where the new hole is and what diameter it should be. then I centre-punched that location and drilled it out then took a bit and counter sunk the hole as listed and it don’t look to bad (not perfect but not ugly either). Just wanted to make sure that it was as close to factory as I could.
Link to technical drawing. A Fond Farewell to GrabCAD Workbench - GrabCAD Blog
Just for others wanting to do the same:
I drilled a 11/32" hole in the top left of the X-Carriage. Then used a 7/16" bit to open the hole a bit to help give some space for the nut to grab the threads. Didn’t have a good way to get a forstner bit in there to make it a flat bottom for the nut. So didn’t use the locking washer, put some blue lock tite on the nut and snugged it down.
Perfect. Nice job!
Hmmm…looking into it.
To be clear, I’ve had this x-carriage for over a year. I didn’t purchase a new x-carriage, just the z probe. Thus, no x-carriage hole
Be patient, it will ship any day now. 
My new X-carriage plate (received thanks to customer service) has the hole. Unfortunately, the hole’s diameter isn’t large enough to fit the lock washer. And the lock washer can’t otherwise be put on because the threads on the connector don’t penetrate the hole far enough. The inset hole for the lock washer needs to be one or two 1/32" larger; maybe more. My solution will be to leave out the lock washer and use some lock-tite.
Hi All, we checked with our receiving department and the update is as follows: New X-Carriage extrusion parts in inventory all have the hole per our latest rev on that part. We did discover that unused, X-Carriage extrusions that pass a quality inspection before being returned to inventory were not being checked for this particular change. This means it is possible that some of the older version parts (without the hole for the Z-Probe) that came in from returns were checked back into inventory. We have updated our quality check process for returned parts to prevent this issue moving forward. Thank you for making us aware of this - we appreciate it very much! If anyone received an extrusion without the hole recently (since the revision that included the addition of the Z-Probe hole was implemented) please contact our support department and we will replace free of charge.
Hi Kenneth, I checked out your CAD drawing. I’m assuming the through hole is 8mm and the other hole is 15mm to a depth of 2mm?
I’m just now adding my upgrade parts that have been sitting on a shelf for a few years.
