First Proper CNC Router

[diycnc]

So iv moved the motor as JAZZCNC suggested. Im pretty happy with the whole gantry design now so iv started figuring out where im gona put all the nuts and bolt. The whole thing is held together with about a million M5 screw! Takes bloody ages to figure out where they need to go. But id rather do it now in CAD where its easy to move things around, rather than during the build where mistakes could be costly.

Iv also been thinking about Z axis alignment, both spindle to the axis, and the axis to the machine bed. For spindle to axis measurement I plan to use the same method I used to align my lathe head stock. Its called rollies dads method. Probably massive overkill for this aplication, but its easy to do so why not. Rotation adjustments about the X axis will be made using shims, and Y axis by just roating the spindle by hand and some oversizes holes in the spindle mount.

For measurement of alignment of the Z axis to the bed i will use a this DTI method.

Adjustment will be achieved with shims between the stationary Z axis plate and the X axis plate, plus two M3 leveling screws though small blocks shown in the attached image. The two screws are just over 100mm apart, and m3 screws are 0.5mm pitch. This gives me 0.3 degree adjustment per turn. I can lock the leveling screw when the axis is allied, and hopefully I will be able to remove and replace the Z axis if needed without the need to realign anything.