SO3: New z axis plate

My z axis plate had a small bent in the middle. I disassemble it and lay it down on a straight clean surface. I was able to clearly see the bent and the plate had a play from its one edge to the other because of the bent. Even checked it with a machinist square.
So i decided to make a new z axis plate more rigid without any bents. I visited a guy who has a water jet machine, took him my old z axis plate and told him to copy it.
Next day the new z plate was ready. More rigid and thicker by 2mm. I removed any rust from it and painted it silver. So here it is:






I replaced some m5 screws and put longer because the new plate is 2mm thicker. Now its better and i dont need to reinforce the sides of the plate(as i was going to do). Previous plate was playing back and forth if i was putting some force with my hand when it was on the SO3. The new one is hardly moving by hand. What do you think about it?

I hope to get more accuracy and better results with the new one.

Cheers.

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Why measure rather than use the published plans which are linked to from the wiki?

To be honest i didn’t know that such plans are published in the wiki. Can you tell me the link please?

http://www.shapeoko.com/wiki/index.php/Shapeoko_3#Drawings

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i really had no idea about it… :hushed:
Thanks for mentioning though. I’ll keep that in mind for any future changes on the machine. :slight_smile: