Hello everyone.
I bought an XZero Viper XY 24x48 from George a few years ago. I have been traveling constantly for work and hadn't had the time to really dive in and commit time to getting it going. Well.... I received 5 out of 5 boxes that were shipped so I thought I was good. I discovered that I'm missing the large aluminum plate that connects the gantry uprights together and the dust boot I paid extra for.
I have read that George has had some health problems. I have tried several times to email him and contact him through Facebook and have not had any response.
Does anyone have any thoughts on where I could at least get the aluminum plate? I can buy another dust boot but need this plate to finish assembly. I guess I could make one as a last resort.
Any thoughts would be VERY appreciated!
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Tim Schoenhals
www.timschoenhals.com
My guess is the plate would be 24"x5.5" .... maybe 24"x6". The 3 holes on each side are 1.25" apart.
It's unfortunate that it's missing these parts. It seems to be a very well built machine.
Tim Schoenhals
www.timschoenhals.com
I think it was mentioned previously that user Ryanscustom on CNCZone was affiliated with XZero, I suspect they used to machine the parts for XZero. Could be worth a PM to see if they might be able to dig up an old part file based on your measurements and machine it for you. I know the documentation (or lack there of) that George provides with his machines could make it difficult to track down the part number.
yeah, pm him first, see if he can help. its a straight up plain plate with 6 holes though, 3/8" thick or so. just prevents twisting side to side. would be easy to make your own from 6061 or better, mic6 if it came to that.
note, everything is metric on these, so i you think its 1.25", its likely 32mm, etc etc.
I have had many of George's customers contact me over the last year and a half. I have tried to help as many as I could. I will just put this out there.....I am a machine shop and George was my customer. I have no contact with him now. The last few times I tried to call him, his phone was disconnected.
I have no ballscrews, rails, dust boots, cable chain, bearings, or electronics. I have a few spare parts and partial machines that I would like to sell to recoup some of my losses. Other then that, if I can help by sending you a drawing for a part , or some information I will do that. But, I am not Xzero and I have no customer information on what was shipped and what wasn't. I hope this helps.
Steve
Hey Steve,
Thanks for the reply. I sent you a PM yesterday. If you check that PM I think you'll understand that I wasn't trying to get anything from you for free and don't expect you to know what was/wasn't shipped. I'm simply trying to find the parts I need in the quickest/least costly way possible. If you have what I need from a partial machine that could be great for both of us.
Check that PM and hopefully we can help each other out.
Thanks!
Tim
Tim Schoenhals
www.timschoenhals.com
For some reason I am having trouble sending PM's.
The plate you are looking for was an option on the first generations of that machine. While it adds a little rigidity, it is not necessary for the operation of the machine. I could make you one, but it would not be cost effective. If you give me your email, I will send you the DXF file for the plate and you can make it your first project.
As for the dust boot, I did not make those so I don't have a drawing for them. I think at one point George offered the files up for those. You might want to check on the forum to see if anyone has them
I hope this helps.
Steve
the dust boot was made by someone on the forum i think.... i cant remember who.
Thanks to all of you for the help. Steve was nice enough to send me the file for the part so I know the exact dimensions now.
I believe the dust boot George used was from KentCNC.
Now back to work on getting this thing together!
Tim Schoenhals
www.timschoenhals.com
I started making some good progress and then..... ughhhh????? what?!
I finished assembling the y-axis for my machine and went to slide it onto the rails and the y-axis is about 20mm too narrow to slide onto the rails. I'm not talking about the linear bearing blocks being too small. The actual assembled y-axis is too narrow to slide onto the rails which are mounted to the table.
When I purchased the machine George said that he had one left that had been upgraded to 30mm Thomson rails. It almost seems like he gave me a table for a machine with upgraded 30mm rails but gave me a y axis for a machine with regular rails. Just a guess.....
Now I'm at a loss of what to do. I'm starting to think this might be a scrap it and start over situation.... so bummed.
I'll try to get pictures tomorrow.
Any direction or thoughts would be amazing!
Thanks.
Tim Schoenhals
www.timschoenhals.com
oof. so, the rails on the gantry, are they also 30mm, or are they 25mm?
i am trying to think what is easiest to fix here (with no george help). what tools do you have?
The X rails are 30mm, the gantry rails are 25mm and the z are 20mm..... so I got a little of everything.
Tool wise I have a pretty extensive wood working shop but no milling or metal working stuff.
Tim Schoenhals
www.timschoenhals.com
Looks like there may be enough room to have the linear bearing mounts machined down in order to move the the rails outwards and closer to the gantry uprights. This could be accomplished by a small machine shop with a manual mill, square the mounts up in a vice and face them off the required amount. Would require some careful measuring though to determine the amount to remove.
this seems like a poor choice, too much room to mess up. even being out .0002" across the face will project that error.
im not really sure how this mess of parts is possible. weird. can you confirm the gantry ball screw is not also too short and the back plat on the gantry lines up? i imagine it does, but we cant see it
easiest solution is to pocket the end frames wider on one side. leave the other alone. but youll need a mill and larg-ish vise for this.
proper solution is to cut the gantry rails shorter. but youll have to re thread the ends, the cut the back plate, and possibly shorten the ball screw. so may not be doable.