Makita Mount for Ebay Z-Axis Unit

Thought I would post this since so many are picking up z-axis units on Ebay. I have ordered two from this guy:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/162155170030?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

And with some inspiration from @JohnScherer, I created a mount for the Makita. It is important to create a prototype in MDF first to check for hole placement. The mounting holes on my Ebay Z axis were not exactly 3" apart as advertised. The backplate is made from 3/8" thick aluminum to accommodate 1/8" deep slots to hold the router brackets. The brackets were milled from .5" aluminum. Once pieces are milled, sand down the brackets until they snap into the slots. Clamp them and then drill the holes from the back of the plate, into the clamps. Tap the holes in the clamps. Countersink the holes in the back of the plate. Then, just drill and tap the clamp tighteners on the front. The rest of the holes in the back plate to be used for mounting to the z-axis were drilled to 9/32" to accommodate 1/4" bolts that screw into the ebay zaxis bearing block. The 9/32" provides some adjustment for truing your mount.

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The dust shoe is my old design, just 3/4 HDPE using the same router clamp and a hole for my Rockler vacuum hose. Velcro is applied to the outer edge. Then skirts made from various lenghts of carpet runner can be velcro’d on an off. The underside of the HDPE shoe has two pockets milled into it where I put two strips of LEDs submerged in a hot glue puddle. When the power is one, the lights are on. This makes it easy to see what is happening, even through the carpet runner.

The DXF File:

MakitaHolderForEbayZAxis.dxf (45.8 KB)

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how bout using two Lever-operated latches to secure the router in holder.
Mcmaster.com sale a stainless compression spring latches #1794A43 for about $7 each.

Well, the brackets are only 1/2" thick… BUT - this is a great idea for the dust shoe! It would look cooler anyway. You could use this to hold on the skirt as well.

i used for a couple of latches for a underwater housing.