Phil Johnson Build

The plastic will compress just slightly, not much though. So far it has held up perfectly. Just keep in mind that a small shim can have significant amount of adjustment from one side of the gantry to the other on a 1000mm rail.

You can also try aluminum foil and fold it, but it will be more likely to tear when things are tightened down.

Cardstock could also work, it will compress slightly though as well.

If the compression over the long haul concerns you, consider finding a Sheetmetal distributor and pick up a selection of different gauges. For the amount that you need, you could get away with scrap pieces from their shop if they are willing to give away their trash. :wink: One mans trash is another mans treasure.

A word of advise. Check each side of the gantry, not just one and on front and back. On one side you may have to shim the front makerslide, whereas on the otherside you might need to shim the back makerslide. Some of the issue could be coming from how the ends were cut. So it might take this to balance it out. However, you may only need to shim one side or the other. Each machine might be slightly different, requiring different shims or no shims at all.

The key is to have the X makerslides perfectly perpendicular with Each of the X-plates which are parallel with the Ymakerslide. Just correcting one side may not alleviate the other, it could possibly cause binding in more severe cases.

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Brass or stainless steel shim stock is the way to go. Available in packs of assorted sizes, cuts with scissors.
I got mine from an automotive supplies shop.

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Thanks for the info, I will check those out.

Doesn’t powder costing need an oven of some sort?If so what type of oven do you use?

Thanks. Good use of recycling.

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I imagine if you do that, you will have to increase the size of the drag chain to accommodate and maintain flexibility.

Nothing yet. I haven’t ordered my X Carve yet. Waiting on the IRS.

I ziptied mine to one drag chain but not the other. I didn’t want to chop the cord, and my relay is wired into a 2-outlet box so I can potentially control a vacuum with the m3 command as well as the spindle. It also allows me to retain my warranty on the DeWalt.

I replaced the entire cord on my Dewalt with a 14/3 flexible service wire. It is larger than the factory Dewalt and has a grounding wire for the aluminum housing. The cord is ran through the drag chain along with 5 other wires.

Also in the drag chain are:
X-stepper wire(18/4 shielded)
Y-stepper wire(18/4 shielded)
X-limit/homing switch wires (18/4 shielded)
Y-limit/homing switch wires (18/4 shielded)
LED light power wire (18/4 shielded)

All 5 of these wires are shielded cable just like what comes with the X-Carve. I purchased a 500ft roll of it at Lowes.

http://m.lowes.com/pd/500-ft-18-Gauge-4-Conductor-Stranded-Shielded-Grey-Security-Cable/50165189

http://m.lowes.com/pd/Southwire-14-to-3-Black-SJOOW-Power-Cord-By-the-Foot/50148244

So, in the STOCK drag chain there are 5 shielded 18/4 wires and one 14/3 power wire. There is plenty of room, it’s tight but I still have room for one more 18/4 wire. Adding this last wire will be tough though, if it is needed.

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That is a 1000x1800 Xcarve. Sam-Bo. The X drag chain is the stock drag chain whereas the Y has been upgraded to a much larger one.

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Because I can read and even look at pictures.

I will accept what you say, since you have it in front of you. It just looks crowded to me.

hello…I had the same thing on my i3v printer and found that one of my homing switches was bad I not using homing sw on the the xcave

Also double check your wiring on the limit switches with a multimeter to make sure you have the right two post wired up.

Hey Phil, where did you get your wire duct?

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@PhilJohnson
Did not find an answer to my cuts being a parallelagram. I like em square…

Believe it or not did all those. Still off…:confounded:

On top of torsion box.
Squared the base and wasteboard.
Could it be that the x plates are bent causing the y rails to not wanna be parallel?
And i checked the y rails cut squareness… seems like mayb its off a drop in z axis but not enough to affect hopefully.
Also the wasteboard size is smaller by 1/16 on both sides in the y direction. Needed to shim with washers. Im beginning to go nuts… i made some items for a client and he was a designer or somesuch and it took him a sec but he realized it was off…

This is a great tip and I always do this during my mental power on checklist. @Phantomm This could be a cause of some of your squareness issues.

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No blocks but if the base is square and the front y rails are flush against it and the belts are checked constantly… then im lost…