Phil's linear rail Z axis upgrade

X-Carve Upgrades
33

socks

4 Likes
35

Absolutely. I don’t know why you would engineer in added complications when the linear axis removed them.

I suppose if it was purely for the look of the machine, but at the end of the day how it works is far more important than how it looks to me (not that I dislike the motor mounted directly on top of the Z axis)

1 Like
36

The old audiophile turntables would add a belt between the motor and the platter to help remove any motor vibration from the system. If the motor is directly coupled to the top of the drive axis can it add motor vibration to the entire Z axis?

37

I don’t see what would prevent it.

Good analogy with the old turntables.

40

not necessarily.
I understand your point,but yet i chose to add a belt mainly for aesthetic purposes, but I would be very surprised if it were to give me lesser results than mounted directly on top.

Also the clearance issue you have is not an issue for me since I can easily cut off the top plate because I don’t need the motor mounting holes.

43

yeah in theory… :sweat_smile:
Anybody who wants the level of accuracy that differentiates the belt system from the top mounted one, probably has little use for a shapeoko in the first place.

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46

Saw that. Will you have a way before you install it to test for differences in flex between the new one and the one with the steel bar infused?

Dan

48

Just priced this. $US49 for the extrusion and $US48.13 for shipping to Oz.
Won’t be doing this upgrade anytime soon

49

same for switzerland :disappointed_relieved:

51

Nor me here in nz

54

Wasn’t the belt introduced to compensate for the lower torque of the small steppers of the original design?

56

says the guy with only the 60 minute mod :slight_smile:
sorry couldn’t resist hehe

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58

Don’t use. Gecko package.

60

no offense taken. :blush: I didn’t say anything about the Z in particular, just pointing out that it is funny to hear you comment on other people’s theoretic potential flex points when you haven’t properly addressed the most obvious and important source of flex.

I am curious to hear people’s experiences with the 1-piece rail although I am not really interested in taking my machine apart again in the near future. The steel bar should be as stiff if not maybe even stiffer. Either way it is too expensive to ship to Europe anyways and not that big of a deal if you already did the steel bar mod. imo off course

62

i feel this is getting slighty offtopic. Lighten up, it was a joke…

Personally i consider the 30 and 60 minute mods more to be fast & easy fixes rather than hardcore modifications. But you ordered the new rail so you know that already.

1 Like
65

I did the ebay z axis update a few weeks back and love it!

Here is a shot of my mounting plate, it’s 3/16" aluminum with the screw holes countersunk on both sides.

20160902_221211.jpg1440×2560 661 KB

I could have gone a bit wider than I did since the countersink does go off the sides a bit but it would have interfered with the 20x20 extrusion that my @PhilJohnson inspired dust boot mounts on.
You can also see where the whole shebang is fastened to the carriage with the machine screws as well. I tapped the new holes in the carriage and there are no nuts on the back side. I havent had any issue with things coming apart so far and I did use blur loc-tite but if needed there is room for nutsif I need to use a longer bolt.

I used the direct motor approach since it involves fewer moving parts. But it does look like a skyscraper! I should have gone with the 4.5" z axis… Oh well. I is certainly a big improvement in how it all performs.

20160902_221050.jpg1440×2560 648 KB

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66

Phil you posted as I was editing my post. You must be my brother from another mother!

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68

The 3/8" isnt a bad plan since you are running a dewalt, I only have a quiet cut spindle and it puts almost 0 weight out in front of the linear axis. That and 3/16" is what i could readily get my digits on in short order.

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70

I think I’ll stay in the northwoods 100 miles east of Fargo, it’s dead quiet outside right now aside from some really slow crickets. Even if it takes a bit longer to procure materials, 40 years in the twin cities where I grew up was more than long enough.

Your comment on raising the x axis got me thinking that if I do the same I can simply make and install a new, thicker adapter plate to hang the spindle lower and take advantage of the linear rail’s height as well!

1 Like
77

Yes, I thought I did the math wrong so I dumped it to check my math. It was right.

Z 1/2 stepping 4799 steps/inch
X and Y 1/8 stepping 1016 steps/inch