I have now put the entire machine together - and have some questions around tension on the X and Y axis. When installing the X axis ball screw and the felt wipers, the tension was pretty stiff on the felt clamping plate and thereby made the X-Axis carriage pretty tough to move. I know the table is square, and before that, it moved easily with little force. Almost identical, the Y axis ball screw implementation caused it to be stiffer to move. Should these move easily or should there be some resistance?
Not if the ends are not tight yet. I believe the instructions show that the wiper be tightened before the ends are and in my experience you can over tighten the wiper stopping the screw from turning by hand or stopping the ball from turning freely on the screw…
So I can turn the motors by hand - not a problem. Where the difficulty is, is pushing the entire unit by hand is tough. Either X or Y, though X is considerably tougher.
That being said, I did start it up yesterday and it was able to move thru the motors quite well. I haven’t run the setup completely yet. I added additional lithium grease so I am hoping that helped.
X, Y are hard to move by hand once you tighten ball screw ends up. Did you soak felt wipers in oil before installing? I fill the ball nuts with lukis engine oil additive. It is thick sticky doesn’t fling out all over everything.
Were you comparing how the Gantry moved with out the ball screws attached to how it moved after attaching them?
If so yes it will move much harder, as you are now turning the complete drive assy
Definitely have to “push” but when I reach down and use the motors to turn on the screw, it moves easy. I think I am good. I’ll try some passes next weekend and see what happens. Thanks for the reply and advice!
Have a great Memorial weekend. God bless our Vets!