Our high school has a PRSStandard that's basically ownerless (wood shop classes are no longer taught, the bot was purchased only a couple of years ago and seldom used).
We (school's robotics team) have basically inherited it.
I am starting to wonder if it was assembled correctly (the limit switches weren't correctly installed, for example).
There's a nasty rattling noise that you can hear in the following video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IB2NeJ2ktI
The video is an air cut, router off, so all you're hearing are the carriage motors.
It's mostly present on the left-hand (Y+ side) X axis carriage and on the Y carriage.
- The pinions do have a small amount of dirt, but it's not terrible.
- The rattling occurs everywhere on the table, so I don't think it's rack or pinion wear (the machine's basically brand new).
- There is some backlash that's either in the gearboxes or possibly a loose set screw on the pinion.
The rattling seems to be introducing unacceptable vibrations into the cut, particularly when I'm cutting aluminum. I'm cutting at 60IPM / 0.005" per pass, so it should be a light touch from the router's perspective.
So: Should I be taking the motors off, inspecting the pinion set screw, and getting them back on nice and tight?
Any other assembly issues I should look into?
Thanks a bunch! I'm looking forward to giving our ShopBot some much needed TLC before the robotics season heats up.
/Mitch.