I started the upgrade procedure from the journeyman x-50 to the elite series last night. I completed the changeover with the exception of the z-20 slider install. I was at the point where I needed to square the machine. I tried squaring it according to Onefinity’s instructions, like I did when I first purchased the machine, and it worked ok then. But this time, not so much. I couldn’t get it to within 1/4” of square! I fought with it for a couple of hours to no avail. So, I took out all the fasteners in the feet of the Y rails and took off the X rail gantry entirely. I then measured the Y rails to ensure they were the same length (they were). Then I measure the X-rail gantry. It was 58-5/16 or 59-5/16 (Forgive the senior moment in not recalling the measurements). So I proceeded to put one fastener in the left front foot of the Y-rail and laid out the squares, levels, and 48” rule as pictured and dialed in the squareness to within 1/64” from inside corner to inside corner on the diagonals (I think the measurement was 64-1/4” on both diagonals). Along with checking for square I ensured the distance between the front of the machine and the back of the machine was perfectly set to accept the gantry when I got the Y-rails square. It took about 1 hour. A little frustrating but well worth it. Next up… Z-20 install, wiring, then testing!! Did anyone else find it a frustrating experience trying to square the machine?
Hey Frank,
after having attached the machine to a machine base (e.g. table top, anti-torsion box etc.) like described in the setup manual (hereby using the X gantry once on front and then on rear position to ensure the distance between left and right rails), for adjusting rectangularity (“squareness”) of the machine, it is enough to loosen two of the four machine’s feet, and also slightly loosen the bolts that hold the X gantry on top of the Y carriages, and make the parallelogram a rectangle by ensuring identical diagonals with a bar gauge. No need to measure anything. You can also use the bar gauge to first check whether the Y rails have same length.
You put the bar gauge ends exactly where the chrome-plated, hardened steel hollow shafts enter the black anodized aluminium extrusion feet.
Before surfacing the wasteboard, it is important to ensure the machine is rectangular (“squared”) (bar gauge) and 2. coplanar (“not twisted”) (fishing line method). If the latter is not adjusted, all workpieces (including the surfaced wasteboard) will remain twisted.
I think it would be nice if there was an adjustment mechanism for coplanarity (like shown here), as well as one for trimming the Z axis perpendicularity, like found on industrial machines. At least the QCW Frame owners can adjust coplanarity with the now included Any Surface Leveling System, but the QCW Frame has other disadvantages.
Thanks Aiph5u. Thank you for the ideas.
I like the idea of a bar gauge. I would use a similar approach to checking the inside diagonals of a drawer box. Except I just held two plywood strips together, spread them out until they reached the inside corners of the drawer box. As far as being co-planar, I never had any issues with the table being twisted. I built the frame of the table I’m using out of 2x1 thick wall steel tubing. It was welded on a flat welding table and has 2 sheets of 3/4” high grade maple plywood as the surface. When I surfaced the spoilboard on the original machine it was perfect. When tramming it was within .005” anywhere over the tramming surface. Granted the table is heavy at almost 200lbs. But I’m always interested in ideas for machine setup and I’ll look into the fishing line method.
Frank