Hi folks,
After getting my x-carve set up the biggest issue I’m having is getting the machine ‘True’.
My carves vary in depth by up to 1.5 mm in some case.
So something I’d love to see available from Inventables is an adjustable base for the machine.
Perhaps something as simple as brackets for the base extrusions that have legs you can screw up or down.
This would make it a lot easier to get the machine as true as possible.
Perhaps this might even by incorporated into larger extrusions for the base to make the machine stiffer as well.
Kind Regards
Brendan
1 Like
I second this, much more intuitive and user friendly to be able to tram the bed with screws than milling a flat surface every time.
By the machines very nature it is not an easy task to get the Y axis rails parallel to the waste board, Parallel to each other, Square with waste board, Square to the X axis.
If you have up graded to a heavier spindle then you have to deal with the Y axis rails sagging when the carriage is in the middle of it’s travel. This is more a problem with a 1K machine then a 500. If you are enlarging the Y axis to more than 1K it gets worse.
What folks have done is put in mid span supports. Then you have to make sure that those supports do not raise or lower the Y axis rails. That the rails are straight and parallel to each other with no twist.
This is all compounded by the fact that there are no good datum points to base your measurements off of.
Then we get to the table the machine is sitting on. Is it flat in all 6 directions. Left, right, top, bottom and both diagonals. If not then all the work you do on the machine is for not.
Next we come to the waste board. Is it of uniform thickness. Is it square. Is it flat with no twist or sag
So what does all of this mean. There is no simple bracket that can be made that I can think of that will take into account all of the variables involved with setting up a machine.
There are ways to set up datum points using tight wire methods. These methods require measuring equipment that will measure down to .001"/.0254mm or better.
Hope this helps.
Dave
Ariel, WA
