Any word on a z-axis upgrade kit?

[Max Girouard]

Scott, that is a print preview in Rhino 4.

Steve, that all makes sense about the higher Z set up. Luckily for us desktop owners the little machine is an over built beast. I can see how on the taller machines, running the router low on a sheet good could induce a lot of flex and it makes perfect sense to use a filler. On the desktop, we never are really that far off from the X rails. So for the most part, I anticipate all my cutting will be with the Z car centered right at my X rails which is where the machine would provide the most accuracy. If I was to use the machine extended all the way up with a super long bit, I'm sure that I would see deflection in both the bit and travel in the y direction, as a result of the long lever situation. Lucky for me, it is more about having the clearance to bring a 3 inch bit over the highest part of my object that I'm cutting. Eventually I plan on cutting necks that have a 4 inch height at the heel, but that won't be for some time.

I did get the mod in this week, but I'm waiting to finish a small production run of a few parts before I swap over to the new mod. Here is a photo of the parts right before they were shipped. As promised, I'll be sure to get lots of photos of the swap out as I do it. I sure could have used the extra Z this week as I lost a part due to topping out on the Z axis after forgetting to change my safe Z height.

[scottp55]

Anodized? Nice! Now you're going to have a black and blue bot
Close to topping out here today trying to surface out a 34X17X 1.74 live edge piece of quilted that cupped and twisted all to heck. Need a thickness sander
Have fun.

[Max Girouard]

Got the Z mod on and it is working perfectly! I machined my smallest most intricate part and saw no loss of accuracy. I'll work posting some photos and a video in another thread, but now it's time for some wobbly pop, and dreaming of all that will come with my 9 + inches of Z travel!

[scottp55]

Like the Ribbon Tensioner? Not sure what you call it
Any problems installing?

[KevinP]

Hey guys!

It's Kevin from ShopBot here. One of the guys here just brought this thread to my attention. I know I'm not too active on here, but it's because I'm busy making new ShopBots most of the time.

SO- We have increased the travel on the desktop machines to 5.5" recently (from just a tad over 4"). All new machines are shipping with that upgrade as of a month or two ago.

I have a retrofit kit available for sale. The cost is between $245 and $255 depending on how old your desktop machine is. I've been waiting to sell it because I wanted to get the install document all sorted out to avoid phone calls, but it's pretty much done at this point.

It'll take between 20 minutes and a couple hours to install, depending on how familiar you are with the machine and how adept you are with tools. (it'd take me 20 minutes because I designed the machine and the kit. It'd take a first-timer up to a couple hours possibly).

If anyone is interested in the kit, send me an email at kevin (at) shopbottools.com or just call the office and ask for me. 919-680-4800

If, however, you want to go with something crazy like a 9" Z travel, you can get up with Max on that one for now.

In the future, if anyone EVER wants something custom on their ShopBot, we do that sort of thing in house. You'd be amazed at the stuff we've sold over the years. All you have to do is ask us- we rarely say no. Ryan is the man to talk to about custom tools. And believe me, he keeps busy with them....

[scottp55]

Thanks Kevin, Seems Very reasonable for cost. Want a "High Traffic Area" sign for your desk?

[JohnCoker]

I was hot on this upgrade until I realized that I would rarely be able to take advantage of the extra travel. I'll probably do it given the reasonable price, but I'd hate to lose precision because of it.

The upgrade I really want is a third axis capable of handling 6" OD tubes. I think I'll have to wait until the day I have more shop space for one of the larger machines, though.

[vanamaxagon]

I'm just finishing another Desktop 9.5" z mod. Seems like the luthiers in the NE love this mod. It makes an already great machine REALLY great!
The "ribbon tensioner" is a constant force spring which counter balances the weight of the router and slide.

[scottp55]

Sounds perfect for the Luthiers Marty! Had to do our 2 at once, and still not making much money so went Shopbot upgrade, even an extra 1.5" will open a lot of new projects for us. Great work!

[Max Girouard]

I just started a new thread about Marty's mod so as not to get it confused with the Shopbot 5.5 inch mod.......

http://www.talkshopbot.com/forum/sho...d=1#post169470