Going Vertical

I went and picked up some sheet metal from Menards yesterday for making the corner braces to help keep the entire machine square.  The other advantage of these braces is that they can also house the bearings for the Z axis drive rods.  I spent a few hours in the shop today cutting and drilling the sheet metal squares.  Here is a shot of the frame with the newly installed corner braces.

The Z axis drive rods are attached to the corner braces by bearings on both ends salvaged from the photocopiers.  This will greatly reduce the friction required to turn them.  You can also see where I plan to put the drive motor for the Z axis.  Please note that the corner braces aren't actually doing much of anything right now.  I still have to pick up all the nuts and bolts required to attach the sheet metal square to the tubing down below.  That connection is what will actually hold the entire frame square.  You can see an example in the top corner closest to the camera.  The one extra rod in there shows how the sheet metal squares will hold the two pieces of tubing at a close to 90 degree angle.  I expect a little bit of play but I plan to use cross bracing to tighten it up even more.