difalkner Posted March 17, 2018 Report Share Posted March 17, 2018 There really wasn't a need to do a video but I wanted to and that's about all the reason I need to shoot videos. The upgrade is to place spacers between the frame and the rack on the Y axis so that the pinion will achieve 100% engagement on the rack. As designed, the pinion had about 75% engagement on the rack because the rack is bolted directly to the frame and that means you can't utilize all of the rack or the pinion would hit the frame (better explained in the video). Several of us Saturn owners pointed this out to Nate and we discussed options for improvement. What Nate came up with is spacers that simply drop into place. I haven't had time to shut the CNC down but Friday afternoon all was quiet, no orders pending, and I figured this was as good a time as any. Good thing, too, because I got some Etsy orders today! Great! Anyway, here's the video on installing the spacers - David 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick S Posted March 18, 2018 Report Share Posted March 18, 2018 Nice job on the video, David - as always! It reminds me that I need to reseat all the bolts on our machine with a torque wrench. We found two of the bolts weren't seated when the machine was delivered. It's surprising how much difference a torque wrench can make in minimizing periodic ripples, etc. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
difalkner Posted March 18, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2018 Thanks, Mick! Yes, I had some loose bolts on the Z axis plate and it caused me to get some sloppy cuts on a couple of Longworth chucks. Being the prototype machine I'm sure Nate missed a few bolts with Loctite because he was putting things together and taking them apart several times. I talked to him after I found the loose bolts and he apologized but said it's SOP now that every bolt gets Loctite. David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodenskye Posted March 18, 2018 Report Share Posted March 18, 2018 David, I know your machine is 2x4', before doing the spacers did that mean that your actual cutting area was 23" X 48"? So now installed the spacers add that extra inch (or whatever exact measurements are) back? How long did it take you to recalibrate everything after adding the spacers? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
difalkner Posted March 18, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2018 No, Bryan, that didn't affect the cutting area. The actual cutting area is 26" x 50" and that hasn't changed. All the spacers did is to move the racks away from the frame so the pinions would have full engagement on the rack. There was no recalibration at all. Just put it back like it was, home everything, and away we go! David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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