Maintenance

[audigger]

H i have a 4x4 growth series table about 4 years of use. I have binding problems have done the usual to fix the problem still binds intermittently. So i would like to take it apart replace bearing's & set everything where it should be! Is there a in depth tutorial on what i want to do? thanks in advance

 

[Kchoghead]

watching

 

[audigger]

So i have taken the carriage apart and cleaned & inspected everything! i have leveled the parallel tracks with a builders laser level What i have found is the gantry has a slight twist ,so if you reset the bearing height on gantry to .120 inch in the 4 places shown in the tutorial one of the bearings will have less pressure than the other 3. I do not know why there is a twist but i [have compensated] to have equal pressure. Along with this adjustment i have cleaned the bearings [ one has deterioration on the rolling surface ] and will replace in the future. I did find dirt & residue in behind the torch lead screw,where it rolls on the rail. I find the table to be more precise in the cuts as well a much smother motion [ less jerking ] now!

 

[Kchoghead]

Where did u find the tutorial?

 

[Dnmeistr-LECS]

Here is the alignment guide for the rails. Which falls in-line with setting the height of the gantry according to the alignment of the holes on the aluminum L bracket.

 

[audigger]

Dnmeistr has posted it ,[ GS Alignment,png ] ,there should be a more detailed procedure available!

 

[audigger]

So i have cleaned up the carriage but to set the bearings ,there has to be a tutorial somewhere?

 

[Dnmeistr-LECS]

Are you referring to the carriage that the torch is mounted to. The upper and lower bearings are spring loaded, no adjustment there, then you have 4 bearings on the front and two bearings behind. The two bearings behind preload the 4 bearings on the front, so that the carriage is held firm to the 1/2" guide bar eliminating any free play.

 

[audigger]

So with my torch carriage 1 of the four bearings doesn't ride flat on the flat bar [ because of a 50 thousand twist] also the other 8 bearings [ mounted on aluminum blocks] are engineered wrong because they do not touch the upper and lower rails along the same axis? unless they serve a different purpose?

 

[Dnmeistr-LECS]

The 8 bearings on the upper and lower guide rais, their purpose is to prevent the 1/2" guide bar from twisting due to downforce when using a router they are not meant to be in constant contact with the guide bars. My only concern with the cassette would be, does it ride back and forth on the 1/2" bar smoothly without any wobble. If so then the bearings are fine.

 

[audigger]

The reason i want to change the bearings is the previous owner had a lot of dirt buildup and if you leave it it can migrate into the grease behind the seals and the extra friction can make them roll with more resistance . Not sure if he ever set up the router but he did include a unused router attachment with the table! I was able to clean the led screw & led screw follower and that made the most improvement to the smoothness of movement thanks