Redneck Canuck builds a steel cnc router

[Steel]

I have made a bit more progress. The machine is now on its feet and the work on the gantry has started. The gantry is made from 2 pieces of 2" x 6" x 3/16 steel welded in an l shape.



I did break a tap while doing the holes for the x axis rails but was able to get the broken part out of the hole, got lucky there.

I do have a question about linear bearings. On the x axis I have a plate that the bearing blocks bolt to. This plate will bolt to a plate on the gantry. I did this so that I can adjust the gantry. My question is about the plate that the bearings mount to. When I have all the screws in their holes but not tight the bearings move very freely. Once I tighten the screws there is a wee bit of tightness. To give you an idea of how tight if I lift one end of the rail up 2" the plate with the loose screws will slide down the rail. The plate with the screws tight has to be lifted to 4" to start to slide. I am thinking that the plate might not be flat enough or maybe my holes are not 100% lined up. Is this OK or are my bearings going to wear out in a week?

Nice machine your building there, steel is never flat and throw in welding and you end up with a even less flat surface !!
Im guessing the plate your using is not flat, you could try shim washers between the plate and bearings, one at a time just find what bolt hole on each bearing makes contact first then use some feeler gauges to shim the remaining bolt holes and also make sure your bolt shank is not binding on the drilled holes in the plate. If you run out of ball screws or rails and bearings i have a full kit for sale 1000x600x330 20mm
That's my thoughts, what do you plan to cut ?