The supports are 0.25" thick from the top until it hits the wasteboard, then it is 0.125" and is attached to the extrusion under the wasteboard with a post-assembly nut and 5mm bolt into a post-assembly nut.
The new z-axis will not have v-wheels.
oh cool so you stepped them down huh interesting curious why did you do that?
it would still only have the strength of the .125" part connecting to the wasteboard extrusion right?
and yeah I would like to see that new z-axis you ever need to do a group buy on parts to get a cheaper price I might be in on that sorta thing
I stepped the support down because a 0.25" support did not fit between the makerslide and the wasteboard and I cut the supports from 0.25" aluminum. So I just created a pocket on the bottom portion to narrow it down to 0.125".
oh yeah makes sense
I have picked the replacement…I will post it all here once it arrives and I start the install. 
Made a quick clock as I wait for my new parts to arrive…I used a glued up aspen panel from Lowes…this is the second time I have used this panel and I am still not happy with the result (fortunately this is the last of the panel I have)…even with nice sharp bits I get a lot of fuzz. I hit the clock with a little sandpaper and did a test fit of the clock mechanism. I will take it apart and really clean it up later in the week. Not sure of the finish the clock will get…
0.25" endmill for roughing
0.25" ballnose for finishing pass
0.125" 30° v-bit for the text
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what program do you use for v-carving the letters?
The face of the clock is a shallow bowl shape, aspire gives the option to project a toolpath onto the model.
I have similar works for box top lid decorations, Vcarve pro does same as well.
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Started my Z-Axis upgrade this morning. I began by making a new plate to mount the Dewalt mount to the new assembly.
I cut with a 1/8" titanium nitride coated single flute upcut bit at:
depth of cut: 0.02"
feedrate: 45 IPM
plunge: 20 IPM
A test fit with the original spindle mount as it has the same hole alignment and spacing (never used…had to find the box it was in). Perfect fit.
More to follow
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Watching this von Neumann Machine come together is both creepy and satisfying. But mostly the latter.
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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.
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Any reason for going with a belt drive one rather than ones that the stepper mounts directly to the top ? for instance:
My reason to go with the belt drive system was to put some of the weight directly over the gantry instead of having it all just forward. I was concerned with flexing. We shall see.
omg that is sweet lol!! any chance you have a link to the parts purchased from ebay?
I know I can make the adapter plate pretty easy I would just like a parts list or link so I can buy the same thing
let me know if you can help thanks
dang the listing has ended I guess I will have to research other ones most of the other ones sold are mounting the stepper directly to the leas screw and not belt driven like the one you bought
Funny, that’s exactly the same one I’ve been eyeballing. I was waiting for @ErikJenkins to disclose which model he bought (and get his feedback) before getting one as well. I was considering direct NEMA attachment versus GT3 belt however…
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