[gcofieldd]

So, I had started to talk myself out of upgrading to linear rails and just enjoying the machine as is, but over the weekend I sent an email to Precision Matthews to see if they would sell me a PM-25MV table and lo and behold they had one of the old-style tables laying around…damn it.

I was going with the PM-25MV table because ArizonaVideo99 had mentioned in one of his YouTube videos that they were nicer/thicker than the Grizzly tables. The Grizzly tables are thin enough that I was worried about machining off the dovetail ways and didn’t want to spend the money to make one from scratch.

Looks like things are back on…here is the table (new in the box):



I am going to start by making mounts for my new motor (the same one russtuff is using). I am anticipating my bldc motor will burn up soon. After the motor mounts, I will start making the parts for the linear rail upgrade. While I am at it I am going to make a few conversion kits for the G0704/BF20 to help cover some of the cost. I am just going to make the stepper and ball screw mounts and sell the kits on ebay. I am not going to get into providing ball screws. I like the ones from automation4less, but they cost a little more. I will post some pics of everything once it is designed up. It will be based off the parts I designed for my conversion, but incorporate my lessons learned. The kits will be belt drive or coupler driven. I prefer belt drive. The belt drive axis on my machine runs smoother than the coupled axis I have. I am also going to include sheet metal stepper covers and maybe the y-axis way cover. Everything will be black anodized.

[gcofieldd]

I took some time yesterday to poke at the mill. I added check valves on all of the oil lines. They have a 0.5 psi cracking pressure, so it evened out the oil distribution across the lines. I would still recommend metering valves to anyone doing a system like mine. I also spent some time investigating the grinding sound coming from the x-axis. I thought it was the ball screw rubbing on the saddle, but it was actually the gib strip rubbing on the underside of my table. It was obvious after seeing the worn spot on top of the gib. I haven't fixed it and still thinking about what to do. here are pictures of the update to the oiling system:

Before



After