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

1 hour ago, difalkner said:

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.

Glad you did. I'm mostly a visual learner so enjoyed seeing the what, why, how. I liked the upgrade analogy at the beginning comparing to modifying your car with new cam, lifters, headers, etc. Being an old (literally) gear head made perfect sense to me. The picture in picture is great too.

 

One suggestion on the video. You might allow the text to appear on the screen a bit longer. Not being ready when it pops in and being slightly distracted watching the shoot, I missed some...Probably a slow reader too. I'm basically too lazy to "rewind" most of the time unless I'm trying to perform the same function.

 

A few questions for an inquiring (translated clueless) mind:

1. Did/do you have to level the rack to insure a consistent gear mesh over the rack length. I assume the rack holes are machined to a pretty tight tolerance and maybe self-center, but thought the OAL tolerance might be impacted? It may be a non-issue.
2. What type of grease do you use for the rack/pinion? Any issues with contamination transfer to projects? Issues with the grease thickening from dust/chip contamination? I'd have grease over everything just because it's in the same room.
3. Does the machine have an hour-usage meter either in the software or tied to the machine operation?
4. What kind of machine maintenance is required and at what intervals?

Thanks David. Always appreciate seeing what's going on in your neck of the woods. BTW, nice looking walnut doors too.

Thanks, Dave!  I try to keep the text short so it doesn't get in the way but I do read through it multiple times as I watch the video to see if it's on the screen long enough.  I watch videos full screen on YouTube and when I see text from other videos I just tap the space bar and that pauses the video.  And if you're watching a YouTube video you can hit the left arrow to back up 5 seconds each time you hit it.  I do that often, actually.

 

1.  No, I didn't have to level the racks on the Y axis.  The holes are very precise and have finite location.  The X axis, though, is mounted differently.  The holes in the rack are very precise but the nuts are free to float inside the 8020 extruded gantry.  So on that I will have to make certain to push the rack all the way to one side or take measurements, if/when I add the spacer.

2.  I'm using Royal Purple NLGI #2.  I've never had a contamination problem.  I do wipe the excess grease often, especially after I lubricate the machine.

3.  When I built the machine I added an hour meter on the spindle run time and it's visible on the electrical enclosure door.  But I basically lubricate every 6-8 weeks depending on how often I'm running the machine or just prior to a long run if it's been more than a month since the last lube.

4.  About once a month I check all the drives to make sure the belts are tight, I'll put a wrench on several bolts to make sure they're tight (they all have Loctite blue on them), and I check the radiator to make sure I'm getting good airflow.  But I check almost every time I run the spindle to make sure I'm getting water flowing back to the reservoir.

 

Those Walnut 'doors' are actually plaques for an insurance company.  They're large enough to be tops for end tables!  But that's what they want in their lobby to show the companies they represent.

 

David