Here is the Z-Axis assembly (which I bought off of Ebay). The original mounting plate is on the right, The new one made this morning is attached to the assembly. I also added 4 holes to the back plate to mount to the gantry (also done on the X-Carve) I countersunk all the holes on the drill press.
The new assembly will give me a total of 6 inches of Z-Axis travel and just about 5 inches of clearance under the gantry. It is using the beefier 9mm GT3 belt. It is using the same type of leadscrew as the original…just a bit longer. This assembly has bearings on both ends of the screw and 4 linear delrin bearings. So goodbye eccentric nuts and v-wheels on the z-axis.
The movement is extremely smooth.
