X-axis motor alignment tips?

Hi all... I am having issues with my X-axis stuttering and out of alignment on my V2 Handibot, so I went to adjust the alignment... using the directions for version 1, which led me to loosen all of the bolts holding the X-axis motor, instead of just the two specified in the directions for version 2. Now that I have found the directions to align the axis for V2, I can't get the axis back in alignment, probably from tinkering around too much! Any tips on getting the X-motor bolts back into alignment/as close as I can get it to factory settings?

thanks!

bring the X/Z carriage as close to the X motor as possible. This will be the area where alignment is most critical and that stresses will push things into the best alignment. If you're having trouble moving the tool--go ahead and loosen a few screws to get things moving. Once you're given everything a chance to find its alignment close to the motor...move to the opposite end of travel. There you can loosen the two screws that hold the x motor (the ones that you can see when you look at the handibot from the front)--these will let the motor move to an angle parallel to the X rails.

In extreme cases it can help to also loosen the top rail on the x axis (you can see all of these screws by looking at the back of the handibot). But this shouldn't be necessary.

So I tried this (even loosening the top rail) and I am still getting the grinding noise (as a quick test I am using the measure cutter macro, and that final motion when the motor moves along the x-axis before you put the aligator clip on is when the grinding happens, I am assuming because it is slower than the other motions along the x-axis)

Additionally, when I loosen/remove the anti-backlash nut bolts the machine moves just fine along the x-axis but it looks like it is pushing the anti-backlash nut forward when it slides back into place there, like the motor (or nut?) is slightly angled towards the back of the machine... is there anything specifically that could be adjusted for that? I can send a long a video or picture if my written description isn't enough!

thanks

I know exactly what you're talking about. I've had to talk with the our machine shop a couple of times about that joint there--They try to round the edges on the aluminum parts to break sharp corners--but if they do it too aggressively they can introduce a slight slope there on the large X/Z carriage plate--which can cause what you're seeing.

However--we test run the tools in all axes at 6 inches per second (the faster the motors run, the lower power the movement and the more prone to stalling). So I'm confident that we can get this back into adjustment. I think you want to make sure that the nut bracket (the little T shaped thing) is on as flat a footing as possible. The hole through which the two screws pass is slightly oversized, allowing you to shift the bracket a little bit before tightening down. Try moving the X axis so that the bracket is pushed as far into the X/Z carriage as possible, away from the rounded edge of the plate.

Depending on when your tool was built, it may have a little hole in the right side wall, you can pass a 4mm wrench through there and turn the motor manually--to get an idea of how this works, try it with the Y axis motor, much easier to see there. Do this with the tool powered off--and you can get a good feel for when the binding occurs--which will be where you want to make your adjustments.

So my machine unfortunately does not have the hole in the right side wall to turn the motor, but I did try shifting the X axis so the bracket is as snug to the carriage as possible, then making all of the adjustments again. Still no luck, it is still grinding as the carriage moves along?

Sorry I've been absent from this thread for a while--in the shop when this problem presents itself I will sometimes take the X axis apart and re-machine the mounting surfaces on the nut bracket...not something that I really want to suggest as a solution here! Sometimes a teeny bit of filing will be enough to correct the skew...and that can be done with the bracket still in the tool, just unbolted from the X/Z carriage.

I'm really just wracking my brain for a more standardized solution to the problem that doesn't involve fiddling with a machined component.

I have no idea.