WorkBee CNC Router: 5 Inches of Z Axis Travel!

I found a way to use all 5 inches of the Z-axis travel.

[@grahamshere]

This is a great idea, not only does it give you more Z clearance but you also get some extra extruded aluminum for making jigs or fences. We all know how much jigs and fences can be. Thank you, Franco. After 4 years I'm finally getting my machine together.

[@justd3fy]

Im gonna have to try this once i run into z axis limitations. good idea man. simple but effective

[@FrancoCNC]

Thanks.

[@perro0076]

Nice one!! Mine started life in the same way, but I ended up chucking those motors and controllers out the window as for my needs the accuracy just wasn't there. So I retrofitted a closed loop setup with stepperonline motor kits, NVEM V2 Novusun controller and Mach3. Now I can see on the software the exact position of the tool tip, and with the Xbox controller move the thing around with joy sticks!! So happy days. Still a nicely put together machine thought. No question. I would buy another one, but without the electrics.

[@msdosfx]

I have been lamenting the low z work area, and slamming my z limit switch every time I'm trying to cut 1.5" with a 1" flute. Was going to get new extended plates cut for the gantry, but you just saved me some $ and time. I think I'll recess the spoilboard to be just hair above the 20 40 on the front and back so I can cut longer materials hanging off front and back (already ditched the 20 60 to buy a little extra Z).

[@Hoss_1966]

very cool, mines on order, should be in very soon.

[@joekl9]

Mate, thank you for posting this!! I'm building a very similar machine and really disliked the design of the base and spoil board setup, then thought of the same solution you have here, but kept thinking "I'm an idiot, It must be like this for a reason". After seeing your machine though i'm still sure i'm an idiot, but i'm definitely going to mount the waste board directly to the table, and throw those middle beam things in the corner somewhere. So feel free to let me know if it turned out to be a bad idea..

[@FrancoCNC]

It works great. I'm not sure why they don't tell you to do this in the instructions. The only thing I would do differently is make the base smaller. If you are doing a lot of cutting, dust and chips can pack up under the y axis rails. Macy the base narrower and the problem goes away.

[@joekl9]

@@FrancoCNC Nice! Thanks for the tip!

[@Ezanity]

God dam why didn't I find your video before now. I have already fixed my CNC to the desk then struggled to fix to the extrusion.

[@gzcwnk]

Great idea, I intend to build a very heavy base anyway like 2 x6s with 1inch ply on top and this is the icing.

[@FrancoCNC]

Thanks. I wrestled with this for a while before I finally settled on this approach. So far, it seems like it is going to work great. Why would they give you five inches of Z-axis travel if they didn't want you to use it?

[@Giblet535]

The wood will change shape with the weather, especially in that garage. The selling point of these is that .02mm accuracy, but you won't get that with this. I bought two extra front/rear extrusions, welded them to the bottoms of the original front/rear, mounted the usual spoil board supports to those added pieces. It's just as rigid as stock, almost as much Z gain, I still get .02mm accuracy (better than that, for most things). I added angle brackets to reduce flexing, but it wasn't necessary.

[@ColinMill1]

0.02mm accuracy is handy for small items but It's possible to get too worried about that accuracy over distances of the order of the length of the machine. Bear in mind that the length of the 1000mm extrusions increases by more than 0.02mm over just a 1 degree C rise in temperature.

[@boredymcboredface8624]

dont suppose you have a photo somewhere?

[@Z-add]

If the length of the machine was 4ft long. With this current set up you can slide in a full 4x8 sheet from the side. This is a very nice option.

[@triumfdula9734]

Hi, what is the difference of Workbee and OpenBuilds cnc 1500 x 1500 ?

[@Sevenator69]

What's underneath the 3/4" ply? Seems you could cross-member or torsion box the frame underneath to help with any rigidity problems. Also, your video has convinced me to go ahead with purchasing a workbee. Woot! :)

[@bradfrancola8485]

I put a few 1x6 braces under there. It seems to be good enough - a torsion box would be better. I've seen several of my friends build these routers and they all seem to like them.

[@triumfdula8830]

Hi, wanted to ask what is the deiffernece between 1. ooznest 2. openbuilds and 3. bulkman since they all display the workbee ?

[@brukernavnfettsjit]

Always trade offs. Like you mention the Z rigidity (which is my main concern with this machine). And you also loose the option to slide longer pieces in, and cut them in multiple operations. The original setup would allow you to cut basically infinitely long boards, if you index each machine length with dowel pins etc. But if that's not important your solution will probably work fine. I hope you can manhandle the Z axis some, and try to gauge the flex and rotation in it. I would love to see how rigid this thing is. Coming from the shapeoko world, the Z axis deflection is what worries me about machines in this class. Im wanting to get this kit too, but don't feel confident enough in the design yet.

[@FrancoCNC]

Good points. Give me some time, and I'll take some cuts that test the rigidity of this router. Thanks!

[@martinkuba7538]

IS IT SUITABLE FOR PROCESSING STAINLESS STEEL?

[@PBCWednesdayFellowshipGroup]

Hi Franco, thanks for you videos on the building of the WorkBee 1000X1000 they have been a great help to me in my building process. I hope you can help me with the decision to do the same as you have done in screwing the frame to the bench top to give more Z distance. Have you had any problems with this configuration, or should I revert to option 1 or 2 as shown in the instructions. What are you thoughts?

[@FrancoCNC]

Hi. No problems. I sold the router to a close friend who does woodworking and he uses it quite often. He likes the way it is mounted to the table. Just be sure to keep the dust and chips from packing up under the rails.

[@PBCWednesdayFellowshipGroup]

@@FrancoCNC Thanks for you quick reply, will go ahead with this method.

[@paolocusinu]

hi any improvement for the workbee 1500x1500?

[@Z-add]

Please add as much detail as possible when adding the acorn to it.

[@SB-rc4uz]

Hey Franco - just saw this. I did exactly the same thing right out of the box. I couldn't understand why I'd want to waste all the available z travel putting the rails down on the inside, creating a false floor essentially. I get it that the cutter might not be as rigid at the lowest point, but I'm not machining metals. One question though - did you have to alter the z-axis limits in the config file?

[@FrancoCNC]

Hi. I'm not sure what software you are using. I used Centroid Acorn software/hardware. Part of that setup is describing the limits of travel for every axis. Naturally, the table arrangement we have used permits more travel on the Z-axis. Thanks.

[@ricardoxperts]

Use 20x40 or 20x80 on horizontal you gonna lose 20mm but cnc is gonna be a lot stronger

[@rafaelromero742]

Heard you say just over 2" of clearance... I bought this machine (delivering today) because it said 3" with a 3/4" spoilboard (3.25" with a 1/2")... Did you measure the real clearance before this mod? Great idea though! TY!

[@skysurferuk]

I've done that, seemed better. So far so good...!

[@mattyfromlondon]

realistically you will not be using all 5 inches of travel so this was pointless

[@jmgraydz]

depends on 3d work in wood, or if he wanted to use a 4th axis. if he wanted to work in aluminum he could just throw down a couple sheets cut it and pull them back out

[@Ale_Lab]

Depends. I would like to see a project of a CNC longboard decks and they can be quite high profile before CNC. I was wondering if this router would work but looks like it will like that. Another mod possible to do it it to cut new X gantry with the additional 5 inch and keep the rest stock. Then you will probably need to make the Z a bit more rigid but for cutting wood should be fine.

[@grahamshere]

That's not so, most my work I do is over 3 inches, 2 inches of cut is almost useless if you ask me, un less your cutting out flat shapes.