I have the stock Z and am thinking of upgrading. I have not had a lot of problems with my original Z platform but I am ready to move to more advanced carving and I think I am ready for the upgrade. The HDZ had been around for a while and the bugs seem to have been worked out. The Z Plus is not yet available but looks substantial. Since the user base for the Z Plus is small and only new Shapeoko users have them I need some feed back on the Z Plus. The cost is not really the determining factor for me but if the Z Plus works well and gets rid of the belt drive it may be right for me.
If you have an HDZ please chime in and tell me how wonderful it is and that I should go the HDZ route and skip the Z Plus.
This year I want to monetize my shop more and the Shapeoko will be part of that. I make all kinds of traditional wood working projects and use the Shapeoko to embellish my traditional work. I do make some projects all on the Shapeoko. So let me know if the HDZ or Z Plus would be better or just stick with my stock Z.
I have the HDZ. I think the Z+ is a great alternative… on paper with a nice cost savings. There is three considerations that I can think of, will you ever want to upgrade to a spindle*, will you like more Z travel**, and do you see extensive [non-ferrous] metals in you future***
*The Z+ doesn’t support the HD mounts, so a 80mm spindle isn’t an official upgradable path at the moment. There is 65mm spindles, just limits your choices.
**Two caveats here:
A) The Z+ is officially stated as “pretty much” the same travel as the belt Z, whatever that means. There have been reports the Z+ can’t touch the base board with a bit, causing you to add an additional 3/4" to 1" board, further eating into your Z clearance. I honestly can’t remember if that is the same with belt Z. It is common practice to of course have that additional spoil board, but upwards of 1" seems like a lot of wasted space.
B) While you still could have the same/similar Z clearance, the HDZ has more travel, allowing for spindle options that may require higher clamping (there is recommended clamping thresholds on spindles to not damage the bearings), the use of extended reach tooling or creative ways to mill stock that wouldn’t clear the gantry otherwise.
***Honestly, I’m sure the Z+ will have similar rigidity to make it a non issue with cutting metals compared to the HDZ, we just haven’t seen real world comparison between them yet.
In all, the biggest advantage over the belt Z is higher precision, rigidity and driving power, allowing reduced finishing time and faster plunges. Which you’ll get with either.
Edit: The Z+ is a lead screw and uses an anti-backlash nut, so precision/repeatability should be close to the HDZ ball screw if not the same. However it is a wear item, backlash will be introduced and the nut will need to be replaced. I’m sure it would out last the v-wheels and belts though.
I have the HDZ and never saw a Z+ so I can’t compare from personal experience.
I bought my HDZ from Mr Beaver and it cost more than the version being sold by C3D. That said I absolutely love it and would do it again in a heartbeat. The first thing I noticed after installing the HDZ was a huge increase in precision. My carves just looks hugely more crisp.
The extra travel in the HDZ allowed me to use a spindle mounted laser from J-Tech. It works well with the extra travel and does not have the flex/bounce that some of the other mounting methods have at high feed rates.
Go for it; I doubt you’ll ever regret it. Get a blue one if they’re still making them.
I purchased my xxl in December and kicked myself (a little) when I seen the Z+… it looks much more substantial than what came with my machine. I immediately was going to order one, but they were out of stock… As I was having problems with trying to V-Carve and needed more stability, I broke down and purchased the HDZ. This was a Huge improvement over the standard Z.
Again, without seeing the Z+… I would spend the extra $$ and recommend the purchase the heavier HDZ-Axis.
Going to be doing mainly 2" and under parts - Z plus
Want the ability to use all the available space under the gantry and up to 6" high by around 3" deep - HDZ
If cost is not an issue - HDZ
I’ve had my HDZ for almost two years and it has helped cut through easily 200 pounds of aluminum (raw stock weight) without issue and with minimal maintenance.
Z plus might need a taller wasteboard but that would actually help with the leverage effect on the Z. If you check out Winston’s home shapeoko you’ll notice a beast of a wasteboard and if I remember correctly he talked about the leverage in the billet longboard project video.
And although it’s not “official” there is plenty of meat to machine out a stock spindle mount to 80mm. It might not be 100% the stiffness of the billet HDZ one but its been working for me for a looong time.
Thanks to those that replied. I decided to order an HDZ. Went to the Carbide3d Store tonight and they are “Sold Out”. Just my luck. I got on the list to be notified when they are back in stock. The factor for me is the availability of the spindle mount and the more robust frame on the HDZ.
Will order when available again. I have thoroughly enjoyed my Shapeoko. As a side note I will be ordering the Vetric Desktop as soon as i can find out if they mail a CD/DVD or if it is download only. My internet bandwidth is very low and large downloads are nearly impossible for me.
I think you can still buy the software with a USB option but I don’t think it’s very useful nor cheap. Vcarve checks for updates online and then downloads them and installs them. The updates come out frequently and you won’t get them on USB. You can download their trial version to see how long it takes on your internet connection