XZ Axis Squaring issue

I’m having issues getting the x axis squared to the table. One side is off about 1/16 compared to the other side. I can’t find anything that indicates how to square this up - ie; which bolts to tighten, things to move, etc etc. This might be a good item for the FAQ on how to get the the X / Z squared.

Thanks,

Allison

You should be squaring it before each cut unless you have dual endstops. There is a section for squaring in the FAQ’s, and the instructions.

Working on your previous suggestions.

1 Like

No matter how perfect the build when you move it by hand (unpowered) it will tweak it one way or the other. So you need to do a quick check before you start every cut. Measure from a roller to a corner.

1 Like

Ryan, is there squaring instructions for the Lowrider 2? Seems the FAQ is for the other one.

What part are you asking about?

When you build it you should initially make sure the belt stops are square. You can do this by cutting or drawing a large square measure the diagonals and adjusting until it is as close as you care to get it. After this just always start it from the blocks. The lowrider is square, it does not have any overlapping parts that can be tweaked, so it as square as your table and stop blocks.

Ryan,

 

Here is the level that i am having issues with. The two rails are not square to the table

When it is at the bottom is it level? How far off level is it?

Do you have the spacers in the corner pieces?

It should very easily be perfectly level at the bottom if it is not, something is extremely wrong.

More pictures will help here. To give you an idea most builds will always sit on the YZ rollers. powered off and not plugged in it usually will not stay up.

Thinking about this again. Make sure your corner pieces have an even gap all the way around a few mm (looks like no gap on the side I can see, that is why I asked if you had the spacers in place). If you have it all tight on one side and wide on the other your Z rails will do weird things.

?? Can you take a picture of yours and annotate? I didn’t understand that one, and I have a working lowrider!!

So after sleeping and resting, I realized that the Z pieces might have been slightly tilted for some reason when I bolted them to the Z pipes. I also thought maybe the G2 belt wasn’t level on the bed . You can see in the pictures that the one side (right) is up just a little bit - 1/16th on one side and 1/8th on the other (not pictured).

Steps that I did to fix this:

  1. Loosened the Z axis purple screws from the pipes

  2. Took off the threaded rod

  3. Set the z axis purple pieces exactly onto the top of the Y carriage

  4. Re-tightened the Z axis purple screws onto the pipe

  5. Put the threaded rod back on.

This seems to have solved the issue. I’m not sure at all how it got bolted with a slight twist on it but none the less, it’s square and running the crown now. Whew-

A big shout out to you Ryan for all the help last night. I can see why this has not come up before. I originally thought this morning that maybe my 3d print of the Z/X purple piece was warped. That was the only other reason I could ponder on this. Luckily it was a twist and was fixed.

 

So there ya have how I fixed the X rails not being parallel to my bed.

 

Take it easy with those screws they look mighty tight and your spacer is even cracked. They are not holding much force at all and no need to crank them down. Plastic is self limiting with too much force (exceeding the plastic zone) will induce creep. Looking at your first picture on the most recent post your left corner is touching the XZ main and the right one is not. The parts should have an equal gap all the way around, that is what causes the z rails to angle.

Thanks for the catch on that spacer crack! I’ll reprint a few and put them in stock. I was able to level the X rails once I loosened it up. I had tightened them I think way to tight when I was trying to eliminate the y wobble. I’ll go back and reprint some parts over the next few days and pop in some new spacers. The unit right now seems to be cutting. My biggest challenge is to get the dfx file working in Estlcam after being exported properly from Sketchup

Ryan- was thinking a pen unit could be attached to the 2 screws that hold down the vacuum hose fitting on the X plate. Was also wondering how the roundish plate attaches to the vacuum plate. I don’t necessarily see a way to do that- pictures of yours please?

I added a blurb to the instructions.

1 Like

That plate is for the dewalt. Drop it in the tool body hole, the small holes line up with the lights and the opening lines up with the vac duct.

Estlcam doesn’t do components well in the dxf format. I open them in librecad and select everything and then “explode” everything. I’m not sure if there’s a similar in sketchup (ungroup? break components?).