KarveCut Floating Z Head Replacement

[The-Meerkat]

Back in January, I bought a KarveCut Floating Z Head as an addition to my plasma table. With shipping I think it cost around $150. I have not been happy with it since the day I installed it. It works, but It’s got too much wiggle in it for my standards. By wiggle, I mean you can easily move the machine torch horizontally side to side a half inch left and right. If you tighten it down so it doesn’t wiggle, it won’t slide up and down properly. So, after 6 months of tinkering with it, I took the damned thing off. I’m done with it. It’s dead to me. I found a couple promising designs on Thingiverse.com and 3D printed them out. I tested them and settled on one design created by Alan Deane I really liked. I 3D printed out and broke several of them while either assembling or testing. I tinkered with the design and made 3 little (but important) changes from the original. This thing works great. I couldn’t be more pleased. It’s tough, tight and accurate. I’m not sure if the video I uploaded will run, so here is the link to it on Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/431540129

All the best,

Scott Meer

[spumco]

Nice.

Thought I'd post a photo of my DIY floating Z for your consideration. If your printed one doesn't age well here's an easy one.

The torch bracket is mounted to the slider with magnets and three bearing balls pressed in (but not flush). There are three matching holes on the steel slider. It is held firmly in place but can cam out of engagement during a torch crash.

There is also a microswitch (hiddenin photo) tied in to the E-stop system so the arc cuts off and motion stops.

Rest of it should be pretty obvious from the photo.

[The-Meerkat]

Nice design Spumco.