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My gantry plates don't arrive at same time to the end.

Discussion in 'CNC Mills/Routers' started by Paulo Martins, Apr 1, 2016.

  1. Paulo Martins

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    Hello,

    I bought a 1000x750 kit but im about to give up after spending the last 16 hours or so trying to make the 2 gantry plates arrive at the same time to the axis end.
    - when the first wheel of one plate touches the aluminium, the other one, is maybe 2mm away from it.
    I think i've tried everything by now, measuring, marking, screw the 5 Hole 90 Degree Joining Plate tight, loose, but one side is always offset.

    The 20x80 profiles are 74,5 cm away from each other in both ends.
    Can someone give me some tips or ideas? I can't spot where the issue is coming from. Do you think i can get away with this diference?

    I can take pictures or make a video if you think it can help.

    Thanks in advance.

    Best regards,
    Paulo.
     
  2. David the swarfer

    David the swarfer OpenBuilds Team
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    is the frame square? this means that the diagonals, corner to corner must be equal.
     
  3. Rick 2.0

    Rick 2.0 OpenBuilds Team
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    You could be losing steps in the steppers, have a loose pulley, or have one belt tighter than the other. Start by working through the latter two and if that doesn't solve it, we will need to know a lot more about your electrical setup.
     
  4. Paulo Martins

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    thank you guys for your replys,

    David I didn't check diagonally i thought i just had to make sure the 80x20 profiles were parallel. I`m more an electronic and programming person I'm not used to deal with mechanics. I'll check that.

    Rick, i didn't made myself clear, im still building the thing, i don't even have the belts in place. In the past 2 days i've been trying to put the frame square. I'm pushing by hand and the gantry that gets to one end sooner in one side gets late to the other one, at first i thought that a few adjustments and it would go into place but that didn't happen. The diference is about 2mm dou you think i can leave it like that, im really tired of trying to correct it.

    Do you think its possible that are the gantry plates that are not parallel?

    Best regards.
     
  5. Rick 2.0

    Rick 2.0 OpenBuilds Team
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    All that is really important in the long run is that the gantry remain perfectly square to the side rails. Beyond checking the diagonals to make sure they match, I would also check the ends of the gantry beam to make sure they are cut square. If they are not square, you may need to do some shimming to get them square. The easiest way to check this is once you have verified that the frame is square, move the gantry to the end and loosen the bolts and the cast corner brackets at the ends of the gantry beam and make sure the gap between the end of the beam and the plate is a uniform width and not wedge shaped.
     
  6. Paulo Martins

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    Hi again, I should have searched for help where people know what the are doing a lot sooner , avoiding the last few days of nightmares and frustration. Thanks to your guidance i was able to correct the squareness. Measuring diagonals, there was a difference of maybe 1mm which made a huge difference once i managed to correct it (a lot easier with the diagonals process). However happiness didn't last long because i then went on to screw the middle bar and there was a gap in both ends of it. I measured it and it is 96mm which added the 2x20mm from the end profiles should make the 100mmm, making it all flushed. I don't know if i made myself clear so i made a video showing the gaps at both ends and also wide view of the machine maybe u can spot something I'm doing wrong if you are kind enough to watch it.

    How important is this to the overall performance of the machine?


    here's the link.

    Best regards.
     
  7. David the swarfer

    David the swarfer OpenBuilds Team
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    you must watch the construction videos (-:
    gaps in the center bar are fine, you just let the angle brackets take up the gap.
     
  8. Paulo Martins

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    Hi david,

    thank god thats not a problem.

    I did watch the 2 long videos even before i got the kit, because i was so anxious and i watched again during build process and everything was going smooth until i got the reported problem. The Mr. who recorded it mentioned he had the same problem but that he had fixed it.
    Trust me i know how dumb this question seems, thats also why i was so reluctant in posting it online...come on how is it possible that one cant make a frame square??? I did this question to myself a hundred times and i know its dumb, fact is that after many tries( really many) i couldn't do it. Im used to frustration and debugging in software, i spend a lot of time reading logs to understand whats wrong, so i don't give up easily on things and i may not be a genius but i don't consider myself a dumb person. I don't know...maybe i just needed to talk to someone. It made me feel better about it and i think that you and rick were key to get me in the right track again. For that, i can only tank you so much.

    Best to you.
     
    #8 Paulo Martins, Apr 2, 2016
    Last edited: Apr 2, 2016
    GrayUK and David the swarfer like this.

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