I'm pretty sure that is what he meant by bending it into a "z"
I'm pretty sure that is what he meant by bending it into a "z"
Yup. Exacto. Essentially, a 3' diameter one flute bit.
ShopBot Details:
2013 PRS 96x60x12 (Centroid upgrade)
4hp Spindle
12" indexer
Aspire
Rhino
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Before I used my tram gauge, I used the "Z" rod method, but only 1 foot long. Even tho the longer length will exaggerate the error, the flex in the rod was a detriment. The best way is to use a tram gauge, but the cost of those gauges added to a surface plate is more than the occasional user wants to bear.
Gary Campbell
GCnC Control
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Servo Controller Upgrades
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"We can not solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them"
— Albert Einstein
I just pulled an x motor just to check it out. Took off the pinion (WITH MUCH FORCE). I noticed after that where the set screw hits the shaft of the motor is just mutilated. The key also has so much set screw damage. How do you deal with that? Is it normal when turning the pinion back and forth slightly to hear a click in the motor? Same is so for all of mine it seems. Just wanting to rule out motor failure.....
Just for the record......... this is the problem I'm having. Been cutting signs like this for years.... Super smooth. Now this and seems to be getting worse.
Can't seem to locate the post,
but a few years back someone added some adjustable setscrew brackets on their Z axis which made it very easy to micro adjust...
sort of like leveling a pool table.
They would then simply lock the setscrews in place with a nyloc nut.
The decimal point seems to be the most important on the z axis... x & y not so much....
ShopBot... Where even the scraps and things you mess up and throw away are cool....
The click you hear and can feel is due to backlash in the motor gearbox. This the Oriental Tapered Hobb motor which ShopBot and others say can be adjusted, I have tried and can't seem to find the sweet spot between zero lash and loading up the gears. This is from Oriental's website, this should give you an idea of what is going on. http://www.orientalmotor.com/stepper...gearheads.html as far as the scarring on the pinion shaft, I would just clean it up a little with a fine file (I didn't say to make a flat spot) just remove metal that may be raised on the shaft. If the key is damaged, do the same or get a new key. I hope this is of some help...joe
Thank You for the info. Today I realized, and not 100% sure how I feel or anyone else will, that the pinion set I received is slightly bigger than the original. I practically have to hammer on the originals....these slide on with no problem. The set screws are in a different place...this is how I saw the difference. I pulled out my old set and cannot even test them out because they are so tight. There are protruded burr areas on the motor shafts where the set screws have damaged them. I don't know if it's normal for pinions to vary in size like this, but it's evident that the force of the machine is primarily on the set screws. In addition there are damaged areas inside the pinions from the shaft slipping I guess. Just thought I'd share. I'm hoping that my motors don't need replacing.
I have a 2008 Buddy with the red label motors that look like yours. I ordered one new pinion gear and talked to ShopBot directly to make sure the order was correct. The pinion they sent me was for .5" shaft dia. It turns out my motor had 12mm dia. shafts which is about a .028" smaller. I had no idea there was a difference. I thought they would know, but the new pinion was too big for my motor. You may have the wrong pinions for your motors. If you can get a digital caliper that can measure MM, check the shaft size and see if you have the right pinion gears. You mention having to use so much force to remove the old pinions, I was able to remove and replace this one pinion with only hand or maybe gentle pry bar force, nothing dramatic. Other people have had similar problems as you. I wonder if the correct pinions were matched to the correct motor shafts from day one? Hope this is of some help...joe