A while ago i finished the Z axis plates and got it all fitted up for a test fit. I decided to make my Z axis plate to tight tolerances and found this to be a big mistake when it came to fitting the Z axis rail blocks. The axis would not slide at all and it all came down to the fact that the Linear rail block fixing holes were way off , by at least .50mm in all directions. Also the blocks are not drilled square so i had to find pairs that matched to get the best fit or drill the holes even bigger in the Z plate to allow for alignment , so just a heads up if your using Linear motion Ebay screws. All the major parts are now finished with only the ball-screws end to be machined which is having to wait as Ive had hand surgery and cant get dirty just yet.

So i got on with the electrics , in a moment of complete madness i cleared my credit card only to put a further £320 on it by buying the AM882 drivers and the ZP5A board ( just because it was one lot of postage! ). I really wanted the digital drives over the analogue after seeing how much smoother they are in a you-tube vid.
I have a love / hate relationship with electronics ( as in ) its a means to an end and the sooner i gets done the better . For me electrics usually is about problem solving and the problems Ive created putting something together with limited knowledge. You would think i would learn not to play with wires, electricity and electronics but i just wont stop !!!. So Ive plugged it in with one drive connected to test , set Mach3 up , got green lights and ...... nothing !..... damit !!. Also the EM stop dont do anything so theres some kind of issue ...LoL.. thats all i know at the moment.
So IL be back when Ive done some more reading , i think the motor wires are wrong ( maybe !) . I just love it when the GF comes in and says "have you got it working?" and i say "No!" and she says " whats wrong then ?" ....errrr!... like if i new that i would fix it wouldn't i !!!.

Back to more head scratching L8r