On the YZ plate there are two lines of holes, for the linear rails, is it possible to have a screw and nut that goes in a larger hole? Say 3mm?
I don’t think so, it’s dependent on the linear rails’ holes.
Thank you for your fast reply Philipp!
What happenes to the YZ plate if you want to remove the linear rails from the plate?
Are the holes then discarded?
Why would you remove them? You can always use Loctite or a little glue if the holes are striped.
Why I am asking is becuse I have asked around at local carpentries, however the smallest hole size most of them have is 3mm in their (I guess) large scale CNC.
So I though that maybe a larger 3mm hole with a nut on the backside could be a possible workaround?
And yes, I agree, why would I remove them once they are in place.
Pretty sure that’ll work.
1 Like
Ok. How do I change the size of the holes to 3mm? (in an easy way for complete beginner)
If you use a 3mm (or 1/8") bit and use the “drill” operation in Estlcam it will end up being the bit diameter. I have a 1/16" bit and just used that for #4 wood screws.
If you drill through with a 3mm hole, you can use longer M3 screws and M3 nuts, it will be fine. Or you can pull the .DXF file into ypur CAD and make the holes an appropriate size for M3 knurled inserts. Lots of options.
1 Like
I don’t have any CAD or CAM software yet.
Not sure how I am to proceed and what CAD and/or CAM software to start learning?
1 Like
For CAM, already seen What is everyone's preferred CAM software ? Lots of great info there. Consider starting out with Etslcam. Unless someone chimes in and suggests something else that’s great for getting started?
3 Likes
Seems like a good read, thank you!
I have read on this forum about Fusion 360 and Estlcam, perhaps I’ll try both. I have some experience with Blender. Anyone here that uses Blender 3.0+?
1 Like
I keep meaning to learn Blender, I suspect that’s my next step, in the meantime, I’m pretty much out of step with the software I use, but my choices were based on user friendliness of interfaces and what works for me.
For a number of reasons I found Onshape much easier to get my head around, and have happily stuck with it although now that I am proficient using it I could probably switch to F360 if there was a reason to do so.
Similarly with CAM - I have a Mac so Estlcam was going to add a layer of complexity (and emulation) that I didn’t need, and Kiri:Moto was really simple to get my head around very quickly.
3 Likes
When I cut my YZ plates, in order to get those little holes, which were smaller than the smallest CNC bit I had (which was 1/8"), I used a small drill bit in place of a CNC bit. It was too small for the 1/8" collet, so I wrapped some painters tape around the shaft until it could get a tight fit! It worked!