Inventables Xcarve Upgrade Kit Successfully Installed

@MartinW.Mcclary thank you for the link. Those stiffeners make sense to me, I was mostly referring to the ones offered by Inventables as part of their X-Carve upgrade kit:
image

I don’t see bars as those offered by tbd, only the acrylic panels but I am not convinced that the acrylic by itself provides the best reinforcement. I’d be interested in hearing people’s experience with this if they have acquired them.

I just checked with @LukeWilson1, who designed the whole system, this is what he had to say about the stiffeners:

I had the same basic concern at first, but testing showed that they work just as well with the added benefit of dust containment. I put an indicator on the rails and with my full body weight (not light!) the rails deflected less than a thousandth of an inch with the stiffener panels.

Also It might be hard to see but the stiffeners attach to the top and bottom aluminum extrusion in the same way the waste board attaches.

Let me know if you’ve got more questions!

2 Likes

@Brandon_Cullum thank you for the response. None of the pictures I had seen of the panels that were posted by Inventables made it clear that they attached on the bottom to the frame. That is the part I was missing so thank you for verifying it and pointing it out to me :). Now I can see how the acrylic helps stiffen the frame.

The next thing that is keeping me from commiting to the upgrade is a drawing showing the details of the mounting holes for the router bracket on the Z axis upgrade. My router is mounted using a plate that I obtained from Inventables a few years ago but is no longer offered. I used it to mate the bracket that fits my router to the fave of the Z axis carriage. If I can get the dimensions I can make my own, otherwise Inventables has already helped confirm that my bracket won’t work with the upgrade carriage. These are not the greatest pictures but they show my current setup.




So what specifically do you need? Bolt hole pattern measured in the z axis ?

The bolt hole pattern on the face where the bracket for the router would attach to the carriage assembly. Also, the hole size and the thread used so I can make sure I get the correct bolts. My current setup uses M7 bolts to mount the bracket with the router to the carriage. Also, what if any, is the clearance behind the plate for the bolts. Can they stick out some amount or must they be flush with the plate? Maybe the holes are blind?

If you have that information I will be very grateful if you could share it.

Still need this ?

Yes please :).

they attach to both the Y Axis top rail and the bottom frame. When you insert the fasteners, they go in at the top toward the top rail channel and at the bottom toward the frame rail.

1 Like

@Seven you need to watch this PSA about these upgrades:

Hey @Seven,

Which GRBL setting did you use? Its abit confusing on the inventable instructions at the bottom.

I’ll be getting my entire upgrade kit (the works), which GRBL setting did you use?

You have some on here for the belt upgrade,

&

Z-axis,

I haven’t played with GRBL so a bit confused. Hoping you can give abit more of an explanation.

Thanking you in advance!

P.S - I just purchased my machine, its 75% built, just awaiting the upgrade kit so l can build it up altogether. Shortage of kits in the uk!