Hey everyone, longmill mk2 for a while now. Of course in the swing of making Christmas gifts…
my long mill makes a weird sound on the z axis only when moving down (sometimes you can barely hear it on the way up). Attached video of it below. I checked what felt like everything, all tight. Turns nicely by hand - still makes the noise by hand.
Video: iCloud Photos - Apple iCloud
To my ear that sounds like it could be the anti-backlash block. Not sure if you have the manually adjustable or the spring kind but that’s where I would start. If it’s the manual adjustable one it’s even possible for the bolt head to contact the lead screw when they are worn too much.
It also wouldn’t hurt to put some light weight oil like 3in1 on the linear bearings once in awhile if you haven’t been doing that. I only mention that because it’s Z axis related maintenance, I don’t think they are your current problem.
I have the manually adjustable kind, I’ll give that a shot once the carve is done (Christmas cant wait). I’ll report back in a couple hours!
Regarding the oil, I have 3 in 1 oil that I put on semi-regularly. Put extra recently thinking that might be the issue.
I’ve listened a couple more times and it really has that sound like a metal part dragging across a ribbed surface. Like a metallic ‘zip tie’ sound or something.
Can confirm adjusted the backlash piece on the z axis and the sounds have minimized or gone away! Thanks!