Production upgrades for 3/4 plywood monograms

[TylerDotson]

I’ve has my xcarve 1000 for around a month now and am overall pleased with its results… the machine was intended to be a business focal point, mainly used to ramp out 32x32 monograms, like the ones you see hanging on doors etc.

I have had great results at 50 ipm with a mortising bit, 2 flute straight on birch wood… but I feel that if I am going to produce any real profit…

My question is what upgrades could I explore to turn out these monograms as quick as possible without error?

Currently I am using the Dewalt 611… could I upgrade to a turbine router?

The eccentric nut system seems flawed as well, causing nose diving on the x axis occasionally, has anyone used a connected axle system to keep the volleys in place?

Also, is their any upgrades to the steppers that would produce a more effecient speed in combination with a production type spundle?

Basically… if you have any tips, I’d love to hear them, even if you haven’t tried it yourself!

I’d love to get around 30 mins average on cut time, which is half of my current time!

[Mike]

Here’s a link to a mod I did for the eccentric nuts to keep them adjustable yet still very tight.

X-Axis V-Wheels and Eccentric Nuts Keep loosening

Here’s how I set up my eccentric-nutted V-wheels. I haven’t had to make a single adjustment to them since I’ve done this (almost 2 months ago!) Basically I spun the eccentric nut down to the head of the bolt, then used a Nylock nut on the other end. So it would go: Bolt Head -> Eccentric Nut -> Carriage -> Spacer or Washer -> V-wheel -> Washer -> Nylock Nut. The trick is to really crank down the nut against the bolt head. This locks the threads together and allows you to adjust it with an a…

You might also look at the X Controller. Apparently it allows you to drive the steppers with much higher current, so much faster and more accurately than with the standard Arduino+G-Shield setup.

On my machine I’ve been running at about 2000 - 2500mm/min which would equate to roughly 75-100ipm with standard bits in pine, birch and MDF. I have all the standard electronics, so you should be able to push the speed considerably on your machine as well.

[AaronMatthews]

Stiffing mods, either the 30 min bolts or the metal bar (you can use a doweling jig to line up the holes nicely)
Extra stiffening brackets on the Y axis.
Some people have replaced there eccentric nuts with eccentric spacers (the older style but uses more parts)
I was looking at going with a single long bolt for a wheel pair on the gantry, but that will require switching to eccentric spacers for the bottom wheels. And I am not sure if it is needed with the stiffing mod in place.

For production work always having to change out brushes on the router will be pain.
So you may want to switch to a spindle or get a second router so you can quick swap them.
I have been looking at spindles and it seems the water cooled spindles are close in power to the router. Close enough anyway, when I was loading my router down enough to be using most of its power it was way to much for the XC to handle.

I have been using GWizard to calculate my feeds and speeds. It took me a few weeks to figure it out.
The biggest tip is manual set your RPM to a lower speed to get a feed that will work well with the XC

Here was my first attempt at cutting out plywood for reference:
Cutting plywood with a downcut bit)

[BenRios]

I made a few changes myself like the ones you are mentioning with great results. Alot of UPGRADES with LASERBEAMS! (belts, extrusions, wheels, axles, etc)