Maintenance for linear rails and ball screws
The linear rails and ball screws on your X-Carve Pro come pre-greased from the factory. Generally, customers should not need to re-grease the linear guides or ball screws before 3 months of regular use.
However, we recommend checking the grease levels within the first month of usage and every few months after. This can be done by touching the rail after sliding back and forth to see if the rail is slightly greasy. If not, then lubrication is low and should be replenished.
You should only use the Inventables-approved grease tube and grease gun: X-Carve Pro Grease
Note:
- X and Z-axis each have 4 guide blocks that require grease
- Each Y-axis has 2 guide blocks that require grease
First home the machine, then move the X-axis 24” to the right and the Y-axis 10” to the back for easy access to the grease points. Then open the grease gun packaging and assemble the gun as shown in the picture below.
Pump the grease gun until you see grease come out of the nozzle. Push the nozzle firmly against the grease nipple in the guide block, squeeze the black tube, and pump the grease gun a few times until you see grease ooze out of the sides of the guide blocks. The indentation in the grease nipple is a spring-loaded valve. The pressure inside the grease tube will depress the ball, and the grease will flow in. This also prevents the grease from flowing out afterward.
For the ball screw, wear protective gloves and smear a 1” long line of grease directly on the ball screw on each side of the ball screw nut.
Note: You will need to lubricate the X, Y1, Y2, and Z ball screws.
Once grease has been inserted into all the guide blocks and ball screws, you can jog the machine manually across all axes or run the “Grease Maintenance” Easel file to spread the grease within the internal components of the guide blocks.
- First, go to the Grease Maintenance project, and then home the machine by clicking the home button or sending ‘$H’ in the Machine Inspector.
- Then click "Carve" to start the project. Jog the Z-axis 2" down, select the home location as your XY work zero, and start the carve.
- The machine will move back and forth 5 times in all axes to spread the grease
Recommended Parts/Tools:
Maintenance interval:
- Check lubrication levels every 2 months of operation