Learning the hard way.

Questions/answers/discussion about initial setup of your CNC Shark

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bill z
Posts: 342
Joined: Fri Sep 25, 2015 9:09 am
Location: Spring, Texas USA

Learning the hard way.

Post by bill z »

This is more of a reminder to the CNC Shark users to not only keep their machines clean but to check all joints for tightness.

Recently, I started a project of making 350 5 pointed stars for a Christmas project for my local church. I started noticing that some of the stars were not just quite right. The coupler between the Y axis drive motor and the worm gear had loosened enough to distort some of the stars.

I had mis-diagnosed the problem by thinking I needed to clean and lubricate more, which I did and created even more, less than perfect stars.

Because I purchased my machine used, I don’t know if the coupler is factory or not, but the small allen set screw that I had hoped would stay tight because I had used lock-tite, had come loose again. The drive motor has a flat side of it’s shaft that the allen screw fits in, but, if just a little loose, the motor will still turn the worm screw but will allow the Y axis to move 1/4 of an inch side to side (in and out). 1/4” is way too much for most any project.

Real problem would be the same connector on the X axis motor. Much harder to get to.

Just another one of lives learning opportunities.

OCEdesigns
Posts: 105
Joined: Fri Jan 11, 2019 8:26 am

Re: Learning the hard way.

Post by OCEdesigns »

Good info! I always clean and lubricate all moving parts after 4-6 hours of use. I'll check these too!
Shark HD4 Extended Bed, Water Cooled Spindle. VCarve Pro 10.5
Maker of many chips

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