Thats exactly what I plan to do.. Use drop in T-Nuts..

The rails will be from local market here.. They are 15mm by 120mm with 8mm slots and they have M5 drop in T-nuts as well.

Here are the specs of the rails:



And you can download the model from HERE

 

An easy-lock option would be great bu I am short of ideas for that for now

I will though reverse the rails so that they will have 3 slots on top instead of 4.. 1 less screw is going to be better I think..

 

Hmm that looks promising.. Wish I could source them here.. but then again I just might..

Something that would prevent the screw to release the t-nut would be far better as well. Coz.. you know when you turn the screw a bit too much to loosen the grip one of the t-nuts may be released and then I will have to undo them all 3 to "catch" the fugitive t-nut

 

Yeah, but then I found this in the local market.. Add a knob on top and voila? Don't you think?

These are M6 and they have L 23,5mm or L 18.5 mm versions too

 

Yeah the rail is 8.2 mm wide and these are 8mm so they drop in perfectly

Edit: I spoke too soon I guess 8.2 is the width of the lips alongside the rails.. The rails are 8 mm I believe.. I will have to go there and check and see to make sure . But then again yeah this is so much fun

 

By the way, during the test runs, (after activating homing and hard limits) the limit switches activated and locked the controller when the DeWalt spindle is on.
I am suspecting this is because the power supply and the spindle are fed through the same electric mains and the spindle is generating some electromagnetic interference (EMI).
I have been looking for EMI filters but their ranges are so cunfusing that I could not make up my mind which one to buy.

Any advice on that problem?

1- What specs should the EMI filter have?
2- What type EMI filter do I need?
3- And where should I connect it to? I am assuming best practice would be to connect it somewhere between the PSU and wall? Or do I need to filter the cables from micro switches to the controller card as well?

These seem to be best practical solution as they are (i guess) simply clipped over the cables..

Duh this is a bit confusing but am sure theres a solution..

 

Thanks Sonny..

I am using Thea for the renders. It has a plugin for SketchUp and you can directly render your design inside SketchUp. Material library is great and the rest is scene/studio setup of your imagination.

 

Thank you for great sources Moag.

Yes they are mechanical micro switches and I soldered them to be "NO" using high quality speaker cables.

I read somewhere "NC" helps as well.. So during the upgrade I need to reverse them I believe. But then again I have to be 100% sure there will be no EMI in the system as it woıld be far too frustrating if the machine halts during a cut (specially while cutting some complex design from expensive stock) .

I disabled the homing and hard limits for now to avoid the issue.

 

Awesome idea! Removable jaws for different purposes!

Render is nothing compared to awesome ideas LOL

 

This is my version of your idea.. For 15X120 mm rails..

 

OK one final eye candy..

 

Hmmm. Collision alert!

Carriage bolt + knob setup will cause Z actuator to collide with any knob taller than 7mm

I guess will have to move back to drop in t-nut + low profile screw setup..

 

And the solution is using M6 dome nuts (DIN 1587).

The tool diameter to tighten/un-tighten is 14mm. The hole diameter I made is 16mm so this should work. And it should not be too difficult to tighten these down.

The dome nuts stick out like 2mm from the blocks so no Z clearance issues.