Greetings All:
I built a small router out of MDF that has performed amazingly well on the scroll saw type cutting that I use it for. One feature that I thought may be of some interest to others is the adjustable skate bearing slides that I designed.
I always liked the modular axis design of the Rockcliff Flying Gantry machines. However, I didn’t like the idea of adjusting the bearing rails to the slides. I wanted to fix the rails and then adjust the slides to them. That concept would allow me to glue the upper and lower MDF rail components into dados to create a very rigid and self-aligning assembly.
The slide adjustment was accomplished by positioning movable upper and lower bearing assemblies inside a hollow rectangular framework. Jacking screws threaded into each end of the bearing assemblies push off of the framework and snug the bearings to the round rails. Once a gantry side, Z-Axis assembly or router plate is affixed to the slide using the (4) through bolts everything gets clamped in place.
Hopefully I have attached the photos and 3D PDF correctly and they give you a good look at the design.
Enjoy!
Wolfspaw