Z Axis Problem

[davhig]

As the carving proceed to the right the Z Axis raises on the plane to where it's cutting air.

[gordread]

I had a problem similar to this. I turned out that the table was not flat/square with the gantry.

There are some really great posts in the Setup Forum about how to fix this, but essentially you have to ensure the deck is level, and then replace the plastic supports underneath with something a little more rigid, like aluminum.

Here are a couple of the posts:
http://www.cncsharktalk.com/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=2297
http://www.cncsharktalk.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=1725

The first one is the one that I printed out and followed. It worked great.

Gordon

[jeb2cav]

I agree with Gordon, but depending on how much air you find yourself carving, it could also be the motor/lead screw connector.

Another mechanical thing to look at are loose motor to lead screw couplers. A couple posts on this are:

http://www.cncsharktalk.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=722
and
http://cncsharktalk.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=1422

I've also seen where a loose electrical connection will result in this condition - http://www.cncsharktalk.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=767

Poor lubrication can contribute to this as well. My own experience was that until I serviced each of these connectors myself, eventually they were going to come loose.

[tonydude]

How high is your gantry set? Chances are that you have the gantry set too high on the mounting holes. Lower the gantry and see if it makes a difference.If the gantry is set too high the z axis bottoms out and you are going past the Z travel capability of the machine.

Tony