X Axis Travel Accuracy

Hi Leon,

I’m using conventional cutting.

I have recently been cutting Aluminium which puts more strain on the machine. My loss of accuracy and hole shape being off probably coincides with some of this activity...

Cheers,
Jason.

Your wear pattern on the pinion looks like poor alignment with the rack. The overall design looks rather weak and prone to wear issues. Any slop in the pinion bearing or the plate pivot is going to result in the issues you are describing.

That is due to miss alignment or loose spring.
I do not like using springs to one side of them, that usually ends up messing everything, including accuracy.

Yes, having the spring on the side like it is would put the alignment out and is most likely the reason for the odd wear I’m seeing.

The pinion runs on a bronze type bushing and the pivot point is the same. Both bronze bearings run against a ground shoulder bolt.

When removing the pivot bolt it did seem like the bolt was bent. I’ll check that before reassembly and correct it if need be.

I’ll have a think about the tensioner to see if there might be a better solution.

Cheers,
Jason.

Hi Guys,

I’m after plenty of mucking about and measuring I have fixed my machine.

The worn pinions haven’t been replaced yet. During the measurement process (scale and backlash) I discovered the root cause of my X axis issue. The X and Y axis of my router run on hardened V rail with V bearings. The bearing pressure against the V rail is adjustable. Turned out that the bearings on the X axis were too tight. Bugger!

Anyway, all fixed now and the machine is working much better. I now have round holes.
Both the X and Y axis ended up with 0.001” backlash compensation. The Z axis uses a ball screw. It required 0.0005” of backlash compensation.

Cheers,
Jason.