The tee is upside down cause it would hit belt idlers just drilled threw middle with bolts
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Used my x-carve to cut out some notches in my dust shields for the y-axis support brackets so they will sit flush against the makerslide and further increase the rigidity.
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I think I prefer the tee idea. It seems as if it would provide better rigidity for both twisting and sagging. Not that there is anything at all wrong with the steel bar sandwich. Keeping the weight down is a plus too for long-term motor and belt wear.
From the pictures above, it looks like you could do both. Horizontal connecting bolts/nuts through the middle–like the steel plate… and then tee nuts/M5 bolts in strategic locations in the bottom slots. I can’t imagine that the X axis would have any flex at all–in any direction.
My X-Carve is still on its way, but I like this tee idea for my solution when the Inventables boxes appear on my doorstep. JosephSmith did a great job.
Man, that “T” looks absolutely perfect. Talk about stiffening, with that bolted in place, no chance at all of flex! Not just shearing on the bolts holding it in place any more.
Found this on McMaster-Carr. Seems about right, would have to trim to length from the 4’ (or use the 2’ and leave a little at either end not tied together). About $20 (less if you go with just 2’).
If I do this I’m thinking of drilling thru at about the bottom insertion nut slot even though that means drilling thru more material, to avoid the Y-axis motor wiring channel.
thanks its a learning experience i ordered 8’ of the aluminum tee i think with shipping it was 38.00$ just made a jig and used drill press when you feed your stepper motor cable thru then bolts was not hard and from what i can tell rock solid i just got to finish my y axis braces and i think all will be well. not bad for a cnc that is 1500x1800mm and i can easily make y axis longer at any time.
I designed my stiffening mod so that the front of the makerslide with the logo is not altered, which I think looks nice. I 3D printed the gray inserts shown in the picture and drilled a larger hole in the back of the far makerslide to accommodate the fastener heads. This way the y-axis motor cable can pass through the makerslide unobstructed.
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I see the principle you are using. I am just not understanding how you are getting threads to hold in printed parts. How are you getting the inserts down to the holes close to the center of the MS
Dave
The purpose of the printed parts is to allow the nut and fastener head to have a surface to rest on and distribute the force over a large area inside of the makerslide. The threads of the fastener are held by the nut, which is held in place with its corresponding 3D insert. The inserts slide down the inside of the makerslide similar to how you slide a t-nut in the t-slots.
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OK I see how your doing it now. I don’t have a 3D printer but I do have a CNC milling machine so I’m wondering if I could make the inserts from Alu. I would drill and tap the nut side and drill and counter bore the bolt side. Just need to come up with a cutter to get the outside profile.
Dave
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This turned out well. There is enough room for the y-axis motor cable to easily pass through after the hardware is fastened. The printed nylon inserts flex enough so that when the fasteners are tightened they conform to the contour of the makerslide, distributing the force very nicely.
I ordered the steel through McMaster. Unfortunately, it arrived bowed. I asked for a replacement, and that was also bowed; I suppose it may be due to how it’s stored in the warehouse. I was able to work the steel bar until it was straight. Other than that, their steel is nice, but it may be worth sticking with a local store so that you can select the best steel bar for your project.
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If VHB tabe is used, then the metal thickness will have to be reduced to 1/8". The tape is 1mm thick, so when applied to both sides it would take up 2mm (1/16"). Not to mention it would be permanent. If you could ensure perfect alignment then it would certainly work.
Hello. Sorry, total newb here. I am researching easy mods to do to my XCarve when it arrives in a couple of weeks. Do you need to drill holes for these screws/bolts (on the extrusions I mean)? What kind of screws and washers are these? I found the metal part itself (McMaster-Carr) but not the screws.
You will have to drill your own holes. The fasteners I used on mine are furniture bolts, which I got at Lowes. You can see my build video, which has Lowes SKU numbers for the bolts at X-Carve Maintenance/Troubleshooting Videos - Add Your Own!
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Has anyone considered just using aluminum bar and taking it to someone to TIG weld it? I’d imagine just a series of 1" welds on both sides and top and bottom would be pretty quick. The only concern would be keeping it all cool so it doesn’t warp.
If you are talking about welding the aluminum bar to the maker slide rails you have 2 problems. 1 You would have to remove the anodizing where you want to weld. 2 There is no way to keep every thing straight. Aluminum loves to warp when welded and there is no good way to straighten it after the welding.
Drilling and bolting does not introduce warping if done carefully.
Dave
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I’m thinking of doing the steel bar mod…are there any negatives for doing this? not being an expert of I wonder if the added weight of the steel would stress the motors and make them less responsive. could anyone comment on that I’m on the edge on this…thanks
We have seen a lot of folks make the mod with both steel and Aluminum and I don’t remember seeing any one report any problems.
I think it would be best to have nema 23 steppers and not nema 17s.
Dave
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The type of movement the gantry does is twisting along its length. Adding an open-channel (T, C or L cross-section) will have very little effect in this mode of deformation. The main thing that will help is fastening the two maker slides against each other to keep them from moving relative to each other. So, long story short, it really doesn’t matter what kind of material you use. Aluminum is fine, and MDF would even give you close to the same performance.
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