Chapter 9 - Motor Mounts

The material required for the bearing blocks and motor mounts. The hardware required for the bearing blocks and motor mounts. Like every other chapter so far I try to gather all the parts I will need to finish the chapter before I start.  This one is no exception.  You may want to get a drink of your choice and hunker down for this chapter.  If you have been following along you know that I had to make some modifications to the carriages because of the new anti-backlash replacement nut from cncrouterparts.com.  I will have to make changes to the bearing blocks and motor mounts to compensate for it.  I will lead you through what I will have to do to get it all back on track.

Starting at the top with the Z-Axis

Parts laid out and punched for the Z-Axis bearing block and motor mount. Parts cut and drilled for Z-Axis motor mount and bearing block. I am going to try to save you a lot of the boring detail as I go along in this chapter.  I am starting with the Z-Axis motor mounts and bearing blocks and will progress on.  Additionally, I am going to wait until I know the modified blocks are going to work before I paint them.  The first image shows the parts for the Z-Axis motor mount and bearing block all marked and punched.  The second shows where they have been cut and drilled.  I forgot to include the angle pieces in the picture.  Sorry about that.

Z-Axis bearing block supports. Here are the Z-Axis bearing block supports all painted up and ready to go.

Z-Axis Bearing block and support installed. Z-Axis Bearing block and support installed. I have the bearing blocks installed on the Z-Axis.  Note that I have not painted them yet because I want to make sure that my modifications are all correct.  This way I don't waste any paint if a need arises to make new blocks.  Zachary climbed on the machine and done an eyeball through the bearing and the two anti-backlash nuts.  He seems to think that they will be just fine.  We will know for sure when in the next chapter we attach the lead screws.

Download the DXF files of the Z-Axis bearing blocks and motor mount. Download the PDF version of the Z-Axis Motor Mount and Bearing Blocks. Recall that I had to move the bearing centers by 1/8" to accommodate the spacer.  I have redrawn these for your convenience and can be downloaded by clicking either ICON to the left.  Both DXF and PDF versions are available. These are for the Z-Axis.

Doing the Y-Axis bearing blocks and supports

Y-Axis bearing blocks and motor mounts marked and punched. Y-Axis bearing supports marked and punched. Here are the parts for the Y-Axis bearing blocks, motor mounts and supports.  They are all marked, punched and ready to go.

Y-Axis bearing supports and motor mounts cut and drilled. Y-Axis bearing block supports drilled. The Y-Axis bearing and motor mount parts are drilled and cut.  The support pieces are drilled.

Y-Axis bearing supports are painted and ready to go. Here are the Y-Axis bearing supports all painted up and ready to go.  Again, I am waiting to paint the actual bearing blocks and motor mounts when I am sure all is well.

X-Axis bearing mount left. X-Axis bearing block assembly, right side. Here the Y-Axis Bearing blocks are assembled and attached to the machine.

Download the DXF files of the Y-Axis bearing blocks and motor mounts. Download the PDF files of the Y-Axis bearing blocks and motor mounts. Here are the PDF and DXF files of the Y-Axis bearing blocks and motor mounts.  Click the ICON to the left to download.

Zachary "The Drill Master" Hildreth

Zachary "Drill Master" HildrethWhat can I say, Zachary is a drilling machine.  After drilling all the holes for all the supports, bearing blocks and motor mounts for both the X-Axis and Y-Axis, I am sure he has mastered the Drill Press!!!  Thanks Zach for all your help and hard work today!!!  Not to mention that he cut the slots too!

Doing the X-Axis bearing blocks and supports

Parts for X-Axis bearing blocks and motor mount marked and punched. X-Axis bearing blocks and motor mount supports marked and punched. We are finally winding down on this chapter a bit.  Here are the parts marked out and punched for the supports, motor mount and bearing blocks.

X-Axis motor mount and bearing blocks drilled and cut. X-Axis supports are drilled. Here are the bearing blocks, motor mount and supports all drilled and cut.

X-Axis bearing block supports painted. Lastly, the bearing block supports are all painted up and ready to go.

X-Axis bearing block assembly, left. X-Axis bearing block assembly, right. Here the X-Axis Bearing blocks are assembled and attached to the machine.  One thing I noticed was that a hole was missing for the X-Axis motor mount.  I was a little confused by it at first.  Anyway, I have fixed the DXF and PDF files below.  One further note, because the Y-Carriage supports extended past the X-Beam by a very small amount, 3/64" I notched the block that goes against the beam so the bearing assembly would rest against the X-Beam extrusion.

Download the DXF files of the X-Axis bearing blocks and motor mount. Download the PDF files of the X-Axis bearing blocks and motor mount. Here are the PDF and DXF files of the X-Axis bearing blocks and motor mounts.  Click the ICON to the left to download.

The machine at this stage

KRMx01 after the bearing blocks have been installed. KRMx01 after the bearing blocks have been installed. Well here is the machine as it sits at the end of this chapter.  I must admit, it would look a lot better with the bearing blocks painted, but I want to wait and see how the lead screws go.  So that's it for this one.  See you in the next chapter!

UPDATE

Painted bearing blocks. Painted bearing block installed on KRMx01. We have painted the bearing blocks and motor mounts.  I thought the 1/8" piece would be kinda cool looking if it was painted red.  Sort of like a racing stripe.  Anyway, here are a couple of images so you can see the results.