Hey guys! Just thought i'd share my upgrade project. Last year I used my x-carve to cut myself some plates for kyos sphinx build. I ordered the rest of the parts form aliexpress/ebay depending on where i could get them cheaper. (Unfortunately i had to replace all my mini wheels with openbuilds wheels because well, they were rubbish ) Anyway I really enjoyed the build and have used the machine a lot primarily for guitar building. I have never liked v-wheels so was keen to get myself some linear rail, and figured if i had to redesign all the plates, i may as well get some ballscrews going as well to avoid the desire for future upgrades (fingers crossed). It's all up and runnings nicely now. Running grbl via arduino and DQ542 drivers. I must say, it's so nice and quiet after upgrading form tb6600 drivers.. Figured i'd upgrade to a vfd and air-cooled spindle while i was at it. I have a bunch of this clear perspex which i plan to cut for dust guards along the Y rails. Big shout out to Kyo and all the folks here. I had a lot of fun designing and putting this thing together. The next step will be to eventually design my own Z axis, this is noticeably the weakest point of my setup now. Oh, and mounting my electronics enclosure on the wall and ducting for dust extraction..
DANKARGHH. Excellent looking machine. Looks good and solid. Couple of questions. I can't quite see clearly, but do you have one or two, linear rails on each Y axis? Could you give more details on the Linear Rails, Ball Screws and bearings you used? I want to go heavier on my 1500mm screws and any advice would be welcome. Cheers Gray
Hey Kevon, I have not. I presume you mean a central screw and not using one of the motors as they stand, that sounds like a bad idea . Rail is cheap chinese mg15, reasonable reviews on aliexpress. I ordered the X rail separately (but from the same supplier) and they were noticeably less smooth but theres no play in them. Thanks mate! I have a single rail on each Y axis, 2 carriages per plate. Ballscrews are 1605's from aliexpress, cut to size. I tried to use technical drawings to get the exact length (so i didn't have to rebuild the frame) but I ended up using a shim on the front end as they were a few mm short. Not sure if that was my fault or theirs, but no big deal
Awesome thanks. As for the single drive, I ask because my buddy has two Thermwoods (a 4x8 and a 5x12). Both of them are driven by a single ball screw on one side. The idea is that unlike the v-wheels, the rails keep the gantry straight on their own.
That is awesome. I just got finished cutting my plates for my 1500x 1500 using ball-screws. Thanks for posting it was a huge help.
Thanks man, that was the plan! I just ordered myself a screw and some linear rail to make myself a new Z axis, it's the weakest point at this stage and i'm excited to put something better together. Glad to have helped in any small way
Hey mate, I will send them to you if you like. They won't be very useful unless you use the same linear rail i did (cheap chinese) or the dimensions will change and nothing will line up
Hi i know this was a while ago but i love your machine and would like to build one could you share your files? Thank you!!
