Hi, I have a much smaller CNC and am about to buy the 1000mm Xcarve. My one concern is the Z axis. From the pictures it does not look like it has a lot of travel. Is anyone having issues with not being able to cut deep enough or not being able to put a thicker board in there. I work with some live edge stuff that is up to 2 inches thick, with a standard 1/4" endmill, how deep can I cut into that 2 inch slab?
you can always buy or make some brackets and raise your X axis, which will give you more Z travel if you have an issue.
Thanks! I have never seen this machine in person so I did not know how difficult it would be to modify it.
Hey Mark - Raising up the Z axis is very easy. All you need are some riser plates and installing them is simple.
A lot of people also go for the CNC4Newbies z-axis to get more travel to go along with the increased height.
No offense but raising the Y rails does no increase travel.
It only increases material thickness that can be placed on the waste board.
You are correct, raising the Y rails alone does not increase travel. However, you can’t really take advantage of the increased travel that comes with an upgraded Z slider unless you raise the Y rails.
Thanks guys. I went ahead and bought the 1000mm this morning!
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I was referring to Midkiff’s post.
You are correct. Raising the y rail would not work on its own. That’s why I said raise the X rail.
Yes, ok
Raising the X rail won’t do any thing about more travail, That is no better than raising the Y rail. All you get is the availability of working on thicker stock. You still only have so much travail on the Z axis.
For me the real issue has been the length of the bit.
It the bit has a 1 3/4 exposure below the collet that will be the max cut.
I have same problem Where the thickness is 12.7 mm as well as I put it on 14 mm and they do not cut the pieces down
The only two reasons the Z carved distance is consistently different than the programmed depth are:
- Software - Step per mm value is incorrect/uncalibrated ($102-value) making it think it reach full depth
- Mechanical - Something is slipping/flexing or binding.
Make sure the dust britles dont push hard down on the material - it couold add consierable force preventing Z to reach full depth.