Xcarve upgrades I did not know I needed

Just spent this past week upgrading to the single piece X axis as well as upgrading all of my eccentric nuts to eccentric spacers. For those on the fence or waiting for a paycheck, I would have to recommend these upgrades asap. I also have the new belt clips in place with no sign that there will be any need to deal with any belt slippage and confidence that my belt tension will be consistent. Carving artifacts I was getting from a loose gantry have vanished, as well as excessive chatter when cutting across the grain of red oak.

Overall the machine feels way more solid and the carriages have a more uniform resistance when I move them manually. My next upgrade will be the y axis stiffening mod using aluminum stock. Now that most of the flex has been removed from the x and z axis, I can visible see the y axis deflect on horizontal cuts.

Originally, I designed my own dust-boot and 3D printed the parts I couldn’t cut, but I was never satisfied with its performance and wasted too many hours to consider further revisions to my design.

Finally, I bit the bullet and bought the Suck It Dust boot. I did hit a snag and my router bit crashed into the acrylic insert that the surrounds the bit. The team at Suck It sent me an STL file so I could make my own (they offered to replace it, but this way I have backups). If you are considering designing, sourcing, and building your own dust-boot, just dish out the money for the Suck It, it will save you all the hassle and probably works better than anything you might come up with.

happy carving ya’ll!

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Do you have the list of things you needed to order to do the eccentric nut to spacer upgrade? I saw it posted in another thread, but hadn’t spent the time to check whether the quantities there were the number of pieces needed, or the number of SKUs to order.

I’ve got a 1000mm X-Carve and the set of upgrades I want to do is the single piece X, eccentric spacers, touch probe, already have the X-Controller but haven’t wired the 2nd Y motor independently yet and want to, but I also want to replace the drag chain assembly with the new version and that’s not listed as an upgrade SKU. Don’t care about the side board since my X-Controller lives underneath. If I had a list of exactly what to order I’d do it right away, but haven’t spent the time to compile the order list I need.

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Here is what I got:

Eccentric Spacer - 25195-08 (×2)
Eccentric Spacer - 25195-07 (×8)
Button Head Cap Screw - 25286-51
Button Head Cap Screw - 25286-05
Nylon Insert Lock Nut - 30265-01
Belt Sleeve - 30677-02

but you may not need the screws, the ones I was already using were just fine. Go through the assembly instructions, you can swap them out while they are on the rails, no need to disassemble.

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Mind sharing the file for that little plate? I’ve crashed down into mine so much it’s more superglue than plastic I think. They did send me a new one the first time, but shocker, like 10 min. After installing it…I cracked it too!

Unfortunately I don’t think the dustboot is open source, so I am unclear if it is legal for me to share it. Just reach out to Suckit! and they’ll be happy to send you the file!

are these upgrades available when you buy a new XC or do I need to buy these parts separately?

Yeh this is what I would like to know too. Looking to buy the latest X-carve in the next month or two. Going to buy the 1000mm X-carve and wondered what’s the best setup for it? Cheers

Your new X-Carve will already have the eccentric spacers upgrade as well as the stiffer X axis and greatly improved drag chain, so nothing to do for you new folk.