Marc's XCarve

Got an email this morning saying my XCarve has shipped. UPS tracking indicates it will be here TOMORROW… Happy, happy, joy, joy. I also finally received shipping data from Speedy Metals. My aluminum plate will be delivered on Friday. Unfortunately I will be out of town 4-11 April, so I won’t get to work on it until after I get back. Photos of the build will be posted here.

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And I will have plenty of BLUE LOCTITE on hand to make this happen.

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Great suggestion on the 2 ahead/2 back instruction method. That provided some needed clarification during my assembly, especially towards the end where it seemed some of the details were not clearly covered.

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Congrats! Looking forward to pics of the new build.

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i have that problem all the time.

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Thanks. I already have some ideas as to what I want to make. But I will enjoy building it.

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I’m a UPS driver and UPS is not on strike! Our contract doesn’t expire until 2018 so we are all good until then!

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I do need to go to the gym… currently there is plenty of me to go around

It’s finally here! Only waiting on the aluminum plate, which is due tomorrow.

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I forgot. I’m also waiting on my Suckit Dust boot.

The Speedy Metals aluminum plate arrived today. It was heavier than I expected. It took two of us to move it to the basement.

I like the fact that you are building it in a padded room… less head trauma when you go to beat your head against the wall.

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UUpdate: I received everything except the linear Z axis stepper motor, which is on its way. I received everything just before I left for the family reunion in Phoenix, AZ., including the aluminum plate from Speedy Metals. I decided when I got back to start with the aluminum plate. Using the diagram from @PhilJohnson, the perimeter holes on three sides went well. The four center holes went well. However, I wasn’t sure if the holes along the top of the plate, were the same distance from the top edge as the rest of the holes. I contacted Phil and he stated that they may be different, so I am holding off on those until he gets back to me. In the meantime, I started measuring out the holes for the MDF pieces. I’m obviously doing something wrong, because the lines are not coming out parallel to one another. So I’m putting it down for the rest of the weekend, and will pick it up again on Monday afternoon.

Sometimes this is the best option. otherwise all the thought start playing leap frog inside your head and even the simplest solutions will evade your grasp.

I’ll still wait for your diagram update. I want to feel confident in what I am doing.

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Update: Following @PhilJohnson’s updated diagram (good job, Phil. It makes things much easier), I have drilled and tapped most of the holes. I have 14 holes left to drill and 10 left to tap. Then I can start on drilling and tapping the t track holes.

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Good idea. I start using WD-40 when tapping the other holes.

Will be sure to do that.

Thanks.

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Update: My first lesson learned the hard way. And a question for all you pros that drill and tap holes every day. I had just finished tapping my last hole prior to measuring out for the t track on my aluminum plate. As I was cleaning up I noticed that I may have used the wrong tap. It appears that I used a .25-28 tap instead of a .25-20 tap. The question for the pros is this: if I get my .25-20 tap, and re-tap the already tapped holes, is that going to screw things up (pun intended) entirely, or is there another way to fix this short of ordering a new expensive aluminum plate?