Thanks Mr. Cosmo! I immediately ordered the larger bearings. 500 watt spindle was already on it's way.

i had the same problem in my sainsmart 3018cnc. almost same. the screw was not moving but where the linear bearring are. i was also complemanting how to solve the issue. your video is a great help! Thank you. in the end i wrote to sainsmart and they send me a free replacement ; )

I replaced mine with just the standard motor. I reamed out two brass tubes and it works much better

Great video, these machines are a bit of a learning curve and a lot of fun to mess around with and modify. I really like how you've managed to find a way to cheaply modify the stock z axis to get better results.

Just an observation... If you're going to lose some Z axis range with the longer bearings, why not lose it all on the lower end (have all the excess bearing come out of the bottom)? This would make sense if you ever decide to use a spoil board. You would lose some range by using a board, you might as well take advantage of it.

Great video my man. I hope it continues to get the gazillions of views it deserves

Thank you very much I changed my 3018 with long bearing it became better with more precision

Nice solution and I'm sure it is an improvement on the old situation but, I also think the 3018 was not built for a 500W spindle so it will always be a weak spot in my opinion. But, as I said, it is an improvement for sure!

It looks like your 3018 had 24mm linear bearings in the z-axis, which I agree is too small, but my machine came with two 17mm bearings per side for a 34mm total z-height. This seems way more stable than wiggle that you showed, but doesn't stick out the top either, causing a loss of 9mm vertical travel in a machine that already doesn't have a big z-range.. On my machine I can detect far more play from bend in the x-axis rails than from looseness in the z-axis mount.

Thanks for this video. Got the longer bearings and it's made a big difference

Thank you for this!

Thanks a lot for share, is this CNC machine able to worw with plastics, wood and metals?

Thanks I did the upgrade! It came across my mind the is it normal that the stepper motor is holding up the entire z axis, would putting a stopper at the bottom of the threaded rod (where you put the copper ring)?

Hi great video do the new bearings get in the way of the travel up and down cheers

hi can you tell me to get the that holder for the new motor as i have bought the motor and tried other fitting but they are not very good

what about the default acceleration? have you tried to increased? also the default current for each stepper i think is 700ma, have you tried to increased?.

Any recomendations for a low vibration motor for a 3018 Pro CNC, please?

Do you have to get the 500w spindle a psu or can the board deal with it

Excellent video, very well explained! Best regards

Good job, I will do same procedure when I face same problem

I knew that the z axis support made from 3D printed was the weakest part just by looking at them on ebay and such but man...i didn't imagine it would be that wooblie. Jesus. That 3018 is really crappy. Nice fix/upgrade any way. Obrigado amigo.

Thank you very useful upgrade 🙏

Thank you very much for this video.

этим фрезером дерево?! молодец, а главное поучительно)

What about metal 52mm holder ??

Thank you so much for this helping and instructive video with all the details needed.

Fantastic video

I recognize those cheapo linear bearings you took out, LOL. Now I can see why people build their own CNC: if it’s going to built in a garage, let it be my garage!

Did you print that yourself? I have 3x 3018 Pro Machines.. look nearly identical... but all my Z axis looks like a solid piece or maybe some injection molded plates with joints... but they are super strong... and do not have all the ribbing like your machine??? The black part that holds the motor, mine is gray, and not centered... it like wraps around and joins at the back side.. not like yours with the screw connections in the front... Mine is a few years old... well they all are... I am not sure how I ended up with 3 of them... but it think it had something to do with the first GRBL board getting fried ... then they sent me my original machine back.. and then another one... and then another one... I have lots of extra parts though... I am currently taking the appprox 12" x 10" X, Y axis and extending it to just over 24" x 24"... huge build area... coming soon... So what gives? why is your machine different? where did you buy? or did you make the black motor housing for an upgraded spindle motor? Edit: I think after watching more closely, you have a different machine all together... My Frame is not the same type of aluminum, and the way your X -Axis is connected, is much different... Sorry... I am interested to know if you have upgraded the motor though...

THANKS,VERY USEFULL

Are you just going to keep wiggling the dang thing or fix it?

Me pasa lo mismo con los 3 ejes, veo que con esos rodamientos lineales lograste corregir el error

youd be better off finding a bearing the size of the ball screw instead of the home made bushing . it still has ledges that will catch. find a bearing and drill out a hole to fit it and press the bearing in

Hey bro. so i am having a problem with the 3018 regarding grblcontrol. In my carve it crashes halfway, do you have a alternative for this?

Why use a flexible shaft coupler on the Z???? any downwards load, say from a flat end mill, and it will expand like a spring... also, you don't need the drilled out brass threaded insert, all that is doing is now transferring any eccentricity from there to the centre. You only need to fix a lead screw at 2 points, just look at the Z axis on an ender 3.

Can I ask where you got the spindle mount from.. I've looked everywhere for one...

May I ask which spindle motor you have, it doesn't seem the original one?

Ciao cosmo. Ma io avrei bisogno di cambiare i cuscinetti dell'asse x. Quelli montanti su asse z che vanno a destra e a sinistra. Basta batterli fuori come quelli z?

I'm trying to order and replace the Z-Aches but I don't know which is the full discretion of this lead screw I know that we call it T8 Lead screw, but there are many options with can you help me with that ?

Wow, a big difference. I think I would be tempted to do a complete make over of the Z axis in aluminium, slightly more travel etc, and at the same time fit either fully supported SBS linear rails to the X axis frames or Hiwin linear rails…..cost is irrelevant. You could make this machine so much better with a few tweaks like that.....ask Myfordboy. At the same time I would also install another 4 axis controller and run on Mach3..... even a 4th axis is possible.....it has the potential to be upgraded hugely with a bit of craftiness.....why settle for less...….to put the cream on the cake, I see Taig has some 12mm ball screws for an update to their mill......that would be a huge step forward.

Replacing bearing reduced play but wasn't worth it. That is the only place it 'wobbled' on my cnc. Went from 1mm at the tip to about 0.5mm. Not worth the time and energy, looking at other options.

Instead of boring out the threads of the lead screw nut, would using an 8mm bore sleeve bearing work?

boa tarde, pode me ajudar tenho cnc 3018 : na hora de gravar ela sobe o eixo z e faz desenho no ar, grato

hello, do you recommend this spindle? how is it compared to the stock motor that comes with the machine? I want a more quite machine, maybe this spindle can help

Ok maybe i'm blind but were do you get the upgrade kit ?????

Can the original 3018 be used to make the 3d printed parts in aluminium?

Uh thank god my 3018 is much stiffer out of the box. You got me worried there for a second.

thank you for showing this upgrade, do you thing this motor would be able to mill small aluminum parts? I plan on changing the Z axis on mine as the plastic printed parts are just not up to the job i think, going to rebuild it all in aluminum

z axis linaar rod is fine becouse its short ,but x axis rods should be linear rails so it stop wooble more. then z axis stuff other than 3d printed parts lol. try cut 0.2mm tip when it wobble more xD

why they not casting that spindle holder with some better material?

Hi. Nice stuff, i also have this one. Printed big upgrade for this. The motor holder and some bearings stuff. But i have stock motor (silver color), you have some black one. Havent seen this. EDIT: oh, you did motor upgrade. Nice, have to do this also. I also bought longer Z profiles the 2 vertical ones, this to increase the space between the bed and the chuck itself. I have a wooden plate on bed and its thick and its very hard to change the bits. Havent installed these yet, because im doing other things atm. I want to try to make PCB with this one, there are tons of videos and ideas. Have to try. Specially drilling hundreds of holes is very nice with this CNC. Good enough for hobby stuff.

Where is the link for grease?

Your missing Roller bearings on the Z there should be 4 and only looks like you have just 2, and your also missing the bottom lead screw bushing part. my CNC came with all the parts your missing your also missing the x axis bushings to

you should replace the end nut with a kfl08

Those Z-bearings were broken. That was not a backlash problem which affects only the lead screw.

I must say I wouldn't hammer those linear bearings, the tiny ball bearings inside them can fall out, ruining the bearing. Press fit them every time. If you must hammer them, put a short length of the correct size rod inside them to prevent this happening.

Useful. But you have just lost 10mm of travel on an axis thats already a tad short

My dream is to buy it some day, to create and texperience

Anyone used this machine to cut 2mm carbon fiber panel?

Its really sad that this defect so easily passes inspection

Thankfully the latest version of the 3018 I received from Sainsmart has a totally different head and is rock solid...for now... PS.. banggood = worst retailer ever and blatant IP thieves....caveat emptor...

All those upgrades should of been done when the new spindle motor mount was made . But the you could not of had to make this video.

Your videos are good but you have very less likes.. For which i felt a bit bad I suggest that you should add your voice or put text. Also try making a complete diy CNC mill atleast structural from scratch with good precesion rather tahn 3d printed parts, that will be a cool video

upgrade for 3018 keep cables motors control board power supply aluminium. UPGRADE everything else xD

that 500W spindle motor with its fan will vibrate that Z gantry even with that upgrade and break your bit tips all the time even with just pcb milling. that z gantry design could not even handle a 550 dc motor. better design and print your own z gantry and downgrade to the smallest fanless spindle motor that can hold an ER11. the x and y design and materials used just lack the necessary rigidity to prevent a bigger motor from vibrating the whole set-up. any upgrades of the 3018s should include anchoring the T8 screws firmly to the gantry/body and not rely on the stepper motor bearings and coupler for stability.

Hahaha thats why i bought Mine entire metal structure machine ...never use plástic at CNC body structure we can see many wood structure CNC over internet and they Work Fine for a good time till you need remake some pieces ...but plástic should be avoided ...If you buy your First machine ITS ok for learning purposals but dont Go sny further

Its only because you change the bearings...

You used 1 half of a backlash lead-screw nut twice. you could have used the other half on each occasion to actually get the benefit of them. secondly, the part you used was 3d printed for the bearings. you could have printed it with the right tolerances to begin with to have the original bearings fit with no play. thirdly, you haven't used a grub screw on the opposite side of the lead screws so it is naturally now going to "ellipse" as it navigates the x in the Z and Y axis. Just because it has less play at the end does not mean that is more accurate since you could have pre loaded the play and it would have been more accurate than the set up you upgraded it to.

OMG!!! just freaking replace that 3D printed material with a stiffer one like thick acrylic.

Why did you have to start with that intro 😭😭😭

Better use a ball bearing!

To be frank, I think this is a fake. The 3018 comes with bearings. They never clank around like this. True, they have a tendency for the bearings to slip, but they are never like this.

You definitely need to kill that soundtrack, totally annoying !!

"First". Before.

Please stop wiggling that, please!

,

WHAT KIND OF A JOKE IS THIS MACHINE.. . THAT INITIAL SLOP IS RIDICULOUS!!! Even if it was only carrying a laser or printer that was sloppy

Pain full video

what, is your tongue broken?