I appreciate Phil posting his X axis gantry lift plates and his Z axis linear slide upgrade. The only true issue I had was reversing the +/- direction for the Z axis stepper motor. This was accomplished by swapping the green and black wires at the X-Controller. Plans for 2017 include replacing the X and Y axis drive belts with lead or ball screws.
It took me way too long to finally be able to get to this, but the wait seems to be paying off so far. I actually ordered my linear Z in June, but was too skerrd to do the upgrade. I then saw how Phil was doing his adapter plates so I got to thinkingā¦
I ended up getting new Y plates water jetted out of .25 6061 and incorporated a 1" lift. I think I will need to go higher there but weāll see. I also had the adapter plate to hold the router on water jetted out of .375 6061. I got lucky on these water jets, a friend works with a machine shop so they did the work out of parts in the scrap bin for me. Then I had to travel for work for 3 months, and during that time ordered the upgrade kit and that showed up just before Christmas.
In installing the X Controller, I decided to flip the Z axis to 1/8 stepping, just for fun. I then ran through the machine setup to get everything set up. After that I took Philās 95.5 steps/mm setting and multiplied it by 4. I didnāt like the speed of the Z travel so I upped its max rate and accell a bit, too. I also increased its current from 2.4A to 3.2. I doubt changing the current or the microstepping was necessary, but, I wanted to play around a bit.
Overall Iām happy with the results but I need to finish tuning the X and Y again and make sure everything one last time is square, tight, etc etc. I do notice there is still a little slop in X axis coming out of the Linear Rail due to flex but nothing like what was there before. Iām excited to get it cutting carbon fiber panels again and see how it performs in comparison.
In the end, here are my settings if anyone is interested. HUGE thanks to Phil and all the others who provided support in this thread, even to me when they didnāt know I was consuming all the info. Thank you! Iāll post a couple pics once I get everything cleaned up.
$3 = 5 (dir port invert mask:00000101)
$23 = 3 (homing dir invert mask:00000011) <āI actually disabled homing in Easel Machine Setup
102 = 382.000 (z, step/mm)
$112 = 2500.000 (z max rate, mm/min) <āI tried 3000 but there was a sound I wasnāt sure about so went down
$122 = 100.000 (z accel, mm/sec^2)
$132 = 100.000 (z max travel, mm) <āthis will get tuned this weekend but it can go up another ~25mm.
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Sounds interesting.
I wish the rods were stronger, I can still twist the router around in my hand with what feels like ānot too much pressureā but its still much stiffer than before. I do think Iām going to make slightly higher Y plates as I canāt get to the bottom of the linear rail when the bit touches the waste board, so, that to me feels like wasted travel.
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Hmm, okā¦ I swore I saw the rods twisting. Iāll go down there and pay more attention when I try again.
Is there a way to stiffen it up that youāve found?
Ok so maybe just bolt something on to the back plate, could it be that easy?
Iām having a hard time visualizing that. Do you have a drawing?
Also, I noticed that the linear axis you purchased, is no longer available. Do you have any recommendations for an alternative?
Thanks. I didnāt see this one when I was searching.
Those are good points too.
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I think I know what you mean here, but am looking forward to a drawing to be sure Iām following correctly.
Part of me wonders if a plate on the side of the rail (it would have to be spaced out to allow the block to move up and down) would be effectiveā¦ the linear rail would have to get holes tapped in to the top piece, back piece, and bottom piece of the rail to allow screws to thread in from this imaginary side plate. My idea sounds like a lot of work though 
Phil,
What do you think of open builds C-Beam Z axis?
I have been wondering about those too. The wheels look solid and its still screw-driven. Might be an interesting upgrade for X and Y down the road 
Well, that kills that idea.
I respect the opinions of my fellow engineers.
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How would you go about attaching to the gantry extrusion. I can think of several methods, none of them easy.
I think a plate would be easier than rods.
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AH! The lightbulb just went off, thank you!
I love the solid plate idea because it also provides a place to mount the JTech laser driver, versus on top of the Z axis with a plastic enclosureā¦
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Very nice.
How will you accomplish the bends in that aluminum?