Any word on a z-axis upgrade kit?

[Coogara]

That would solve a lot of problems. Very nice.

Shipping cost to Australia please.

[wespor]

Enough Z for you Weston?

It's beautiful!

[wespor]

So the limit will be the gantry height? Did they change the gantry height between the old/new Desktop upgrade?

[Brady Watson]

So the limit will be the gantry height? Did they change the gantry height between the old/new Desktop upgrade?

No. Same as it ever was...

I would be cautious about how cutting much force you exert with a raised Z, especially in the Y direction, because that gantry wasn't designed for a Z that long. (Simple physics - short lever vs. long lever) The same deflection issues that occur on large gantry tools with a 12" Z will also show themselves with this setup.

Of course, that said - has nothing against the spirit of tinkering, retrofitting and upgrading these machines. I'm all about making the tool YOURS to suit YOUR needs...which I think is in the spirit of true 'ShopBotting'.

-B

[scottp55]

Brady, good to know about Y direction-Makes sense when you think about it. Think Max and his friend should be good, as one does guitars and Max does mandolins and it's more the shape of what they're cutting and the need for a 4" bit to reach the whole surface that got them"out of the box".
Not like they'll be doing post and beam with ebony,quilted, and MOP
Max, what diameter is that long bit? and again-What will it be doing? Can you show a pic? I think you said it was for the necks?
Brady, the plate is 1/2" thick vs our 1/4". Is that going to put a significant strain on any of the components like steppers?
I take it you've worked on the 12"? Any other idiosyncrasies inherent in the design Max should be aware of-or concerned about? Believe he's router-not spindle.
Congrats Max and Lauri! Looking forward to a blow-by-blow of the install

[Max Girouard]

Hi Brady, thanks for the tip. Due to the shape of my object, I will be doing very little cutting with the Z raised up. For my particular situation, the higher Z for me is to allow for clearance without topping out, and the use of a single ball mill for the whole file taking 0.010 passes after the roughing pass.

Scott, here is a photo of my neck. For this neck the highest point is the heel which is about 2 inces tall. So add the vacuum fixture, the 2 inch cutter and I'm just scraping by with almost no Z for safe Z pullup which I change when running this file to .2 I use a .5 end mill for a roughing pass, then a .5 ball mill for the finishing pass. The cutter does travel mostly in the X direction. On my other larger sized mandolin family instruments, that heel height is going to increase up to 4 inches in length while the rest of the neck will remain the same. None of my parts are machined to final dimensions as I've got to hand fit a dovetail on each one, so they are a bit oversized to allow for this shaping and final sanding of the neck. I'm sure I'll see some deflection as the Z is completely raised on these models, but like I said these are oversized and it is not a problem for me. I'm more concerned with maintaining the accuracy of the machine within the first couple of inches of travel as that is where some of my parts are machined close to final dimensions.

[steve_g]

I don’t want to put words in Brady’s mouth, But… I think what he meant in his previous post by “a raised Z” was the entire raised Z concept and not just when the Z is in the “raised” position. In fact, those of us with raised Z’s or the 12” one, often use a “filler” to cut with more precision with the Z axis in a higher position and therefore less leverage against the mechanics of the axis...
If I’ve misunderstood something here, please correct me!
SG

[scottp55]

Thanks for explanation Max. Like the extra 1,000 words,that doesn't look like Aspire?
I typically run VCP with a .2" Safe-Z, but only rarely with SB3, just to speed up the cuts,with my Plunge(Z2) set to .02". I can see how close you were to topping out(and you had material there before cutting!).

Steve, I THINK I know what you mean by "filler"? How much Z do you have-and at what height do you have your most accurate cuts with the least leverage? I'm a visual guy and I think I'm going out to shop for some hands on with spindle lowered/raised to fully grasp("Grok") it.

[steve_g]

“How much Z do I have?”
Good Question! It’s 12” from the factory, I added a 2 layers of ¾ ” Baltic Birch to my bed and a ¾” Medex layer for a spoil board, then I lost a little bit with my belt reduction boxes… I’ve never measured what I have, but it’s enough!
When I add a “filler” it’s a been a 2’X2’ framework of 2”X4” material with ¾” Medex on both sides… That raises me bed 5” and gets my Z into a sweeter area for better detail when V-carving. It’s always been my intent to hook a vacuum up to the filler and use it for a huge “puck”, but I never have.
SG

[scottp55]

Thanks Steve, Looked at mine earlier, and it looks like with a 3/4" vac fixture on top of spoilboard it might VCarve even tighter and crisper than it does already, Which is kind of hard to imagine! (for 4/4 that is).