Z-Axis Adjusting Knob

84 likes
774 opens
417 copies
2 comments
DIYTyler

Project by

DIYTyler

General Information

Quick project to make manual adjustments of your X-Carve Z axis much simpler.

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1

Make shape on computer

Came up with the shape I was after using sketchup, exported to .svg using the "Sketchup to SVG" plugin and imported into Easel.

Once in easel I used the interactive tabs to move some of the tabs on top of each other effectively decreasing the total number of tabs. In the end I wanted two tabs in a location that could easily be broken off.

Estimated time: 5 minutes

2

Carve

Carved using the X-Carve equipped with a 1/8 bit.

Estimated time: 5 minutes

3

Sand, paint and insert nut

Remove your carved knob from the rest of the board. Sand, paint if you want to and insert the nut that is on top of the Z-Axis motor pulley....nylon down into the knob.

Estimated time: 5 minutes

4

Dowel Turning Pin

Drill and countersink a small section of dowel, add to the knob so you can quickly turn the know without taking your hand off it.

Estimated time: 2 minutes

5

Re-Install

Reinstall the nut and knob back to the top of the Z-Axis and you are done!

Estimated time: 1 minutes

6

Watch and Learn

Check out our channel for more projects.

Estimated time: 3 minutes

Fred Sawtelle

Nice design, and it looks to be quite useful. Question: doesn't this throw off position-tracking? In other words, if Work Zero has been set and this is then used to manually move the spindle, the code-interpreting program (Easel, UGS, whatever) will not know that Z has changed, correct?

Fred Sawtelle

DIYTyler

If you change the height manually after you set the Z height it will mess up your cut. This is really for before/after cutting to manually move the head around if you need to.

DIYTyler