Z-zero plate - an excuse to see if you can post pics on this Forum

[gerald_d]

Well, I will show you mine if you show me yours


Here is something simple enough to take a picture of, and post it here.


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All the conductors of the curly cord (from old telephone handset) are twisted together.

The lump of metal with the 1/2" thread is only a weight to hold the plate down:

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See the cushions of double-sided tabe underneath:

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This plate is 4 years old, maybe it is time for replacement? I shudder when I hear that some guys are using steel......

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The "holster" or insulated parking bay is the lid of a coffee jar. (I wonder how many guys have z-drift problems because their z-zero plates are grounding when they shouldn't?

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[stickman]

Gerald,

Fancy!

Mind telling us what that router bit is that you've got fitted in your router on the top page?

Jay

[gerald_d]

Jay, nothing fancy at all! Just some scrap and some time.... Wanted it to be small, but then the wire pulls it around - had to go for a very soft/flexible wire and a ballast weight. Then we heard how hard the bit hits it, and then added the cushions underneath.

The cutter is 1/4", single flute, spiral up, by Belin in France.

[stevem]

I just installed a Z zero plate on my machine. It’s one of those accessories that, after using it 2 or 3 times, you don’t want to remember what life was like before installing it.

Since I’m using a third party software to control the Bot, the solution was to put an additional button on the screen for use as “ Z zero” with an attached macro. The bit hits the plate at the user set speed of .1666" per second.

Still on the subject of accessories, yesterday I finished constructing my first digitizing probe. Although the probe is a prototype and is not 100% reliable, it has enabled me to design a probe that should be 100% reliable, accurate to .001" but eliminate the requirement for precise manufacturing of the electrical contact elements. Will post an update here.

[bruce_clark (Unregistered Guest)]

Steve,

Any chance that 3rd party controller is Mach2?

I saw someone just yesterday asking how could they interface Mach2 with the ShopBot controller.

Are you using the ShopBot controller/stepper drivers?

Bruce

[stevem]

Bruce,

Yes
Don't know
No

[gerald_d]

Er, gentleman, please keep to the topic: Z-zero plates.

[daveiannone]

Hi Gerald,
I use a standard zero plate, but i made a holder from sintra that it slides into...I'll try and attach a pic.
Dave

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[Scott Smith (Unregistered Guest)]

Gerald, After seeing the close-up of the nicks in your plate, I took a look at my Shopbot supplied 2 year old plate and was surprised to see the same nicks in mine. Guess I just never looked. I’m thinking when it gets worse I could surface it with the bot. Like surfacing my spoil board, just smaller.

David, Nice holder and some slick looking wire-way! Can we get a better view of the wire way? And do you have in on the X-axis also? OOPS back off the subject, sorry Gerald.

[daveiannone]

Scott
I bought this at McMaster Carr part # 5561K42 for a 6' piece and (2pcs) part # 5561K72 -- 1' extensions to give you a total of 8' --cost was about $100.00 and then I bent a "J" channel from .090 aluminum and mounted it to the X carriage.....No i do not have one on the X axis.
If you want any more info , let me know.
Dave

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[gerald_d]

Is the "standard" z-zero plate really that huge ? With a plate of that size, I would seriously think of "surfacing" it to make sure that it has a parallel/flat top, but I wouldn't know how to hold such a relatively thin plate for surfacing without distorting it.

Scott, all our nicks are concentrated in a small target area - with a big plate they will be more spread out and probably less visible. (I did pick some harsh lighting to emphasise the nicks - IRL they don't bother us.)

[ron brown]

The stuff is called "E-Chain".

http://igus.bdol.com/echain.asp

It can sometimes be found on E-bay for less than outrageous prices. Somewhere in that site is a formula for calculating exactly how much of the stuff you will need.

Edited to add: my E-chain also carries the wire for my ZERO PLATE. And, the 5 foot of travel was about $35 off ebay

Ron

[gerald_d]

More commonly known as cable & hose carriers (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&q=cable%2Bhose%2Bcarrier&btnG=Search). Igus is an aggresive (and expensive) new kid on the block and Energy Chain + E-Chain are their brand-names. David's carrier is probably about 2 foot too long - most of the bottom right end will never flex.

[daveiannone]

Gerald, If you notice in the first picture the carrier starts at the end of the j-channel. I felt the extra 22 bucks I spent (for the extra 2 ') was well worth protecting wires.
Dave

[gerald_d]

Yes, did notice that - the j-channel can also be at least 2 foot shorter. You could have used rigid conduit for at least the first 2 feet coming from the right side.

[daveiannone]

That would look pretty dumb....for 22 bucks???

[scott_smith]

I didn’t mean to start a long thread about wire ways. We use the Igus stuff a lot. I just thought it was cool the way it was mounted to David’s Bot and wondered if he did anything about the big loop of wire that hangs in the back of our machines. Mine seems to brush against the dust collector hose under the machine; the static can't be good.

Gerald, the factory zero plate is that huge. It’s OK, it fits under the dust skirt and the majority of the touch down points of the bit are within an 1” (25mm) diameter. I could tell by the nicks that you pointed out. And yes they don’t bother me yet either.
Scott

[gerald_d]

Aha! Forgot about the dust skirt - then the big flat thing makes sense. (Our whole SB is in a sealed room - our dust extractor is a broom and scoop every few days)