The infamous cable arch...

[gabepari]

Well, my time finally came. The cable arch transformed itself from one elegant curved piece into 2 straight pieces, with a loud snap.

The culprit:

http://www.socalteardrops.com/images/shopbot/cable_001_small.jpg
http://www.socalteardrops.com/images/shopbot//cable_003_small.jpg

The quick fix to finish running the current job:

http://www.socalteardrops.com/images/shopbot/cable_005_small.jpg
http://www.socalteardrops.com/images/shopbot/cable_007_small.jpg

The fix that's been a long time coming:

http://www.socalteardrops.com/images/shopbot/cable_008_small.jpg
http://www.socalteardrops.com/images/shopbot/cable_009_small.jpg
http://www.socalteardrops.com/images/shopbot/cable_011_small.jpg

Back in business...

Later,

Gabe
www.socalteardrops.com (http://www.socalteardrops.com)

[thewoodcrafter]

Looks good Gabe.
I may have to do that to mine one of these days.

[benchmench]

E-chain is the way to go. Looks great Gabe!

[seana]

Looks like i will add that to the list of things i want to do also
Nice job.

Sean

[sawkerf]

What's the deal with the funky Z setup? was this an in-house upgrade?

[gabepari]

The "funky" Z setup is definitely an in-house upgrade. The springs mounted above allowed me to remove the silly foot that kept running into 3d work. I will eventually replace them with a gas strut, hidden in the upright.

And the trammel plates are something the bot should have come with from the factory

[jon]

That's excellent. I just saw that someone else did what I had done to my alpha's z axis. I made mine from aluminum plate and angle, then installed the levelling screws into milled blocks. I believe this increased the rigidity of the machine, and made installation, and adjustments a snap. The energy chain is great, does it make noise while functioning? Where did you source it?

[jon]

Gabe, I can see that you have gearboxes on your motors, did you also make those? I've noticed that you have double sets of dual v bearings on your z axis, my machine has only 4 singles, did you also do this mod? And if so, did you notice a better cut quality? Looks like you've done some nice mods there.

[lunapark]

Where did you purchase the cable guide to replace the factory arch? Please let me know.

Chad.
chad@lunaparkproductions.net

[bleeth]

many get it direct from www.igus.com (http://www.igus.com)

[gene]

Dave ,
Let me know how much you need. I have some left over from when i did mine.
cabinetsplusofaugusta@yahoo.com :)

[bleeth]

Thanks Gene but I did mine years ago. Hopefully Chad will get ahold of you.

[lunapark]

Thanks for the info on the cable guide...

[lunapark]

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=85237

DXF on this thread too.

[lunapark]

Gene-
Would love just to purchase. I have not received a quote from echain,
but my research tells me it is not cheap.

I have a 60x120prt standard. I think 7ft (rough guess) is what i would need for my y-cart. How many feet do you have left over & what would it be worth to mail it. I am located in S. California.

Thanks,

Chad.
chad@lunaparkproductions.net