Rob
Very good video. I did not know I was going to generate all this interest when I posted my first question in this thread.
One question I have for you has nothing to do with the mod but rather what program are you using to edit your video to make it look so good.
Dave
Thanks Dave, I use Sony Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum 11.0. I got it after Steve Ramsey mentioned the Sony Vegas series, and paid $30 or so for it on Amazon.
It wouldnāt have happened without your instructions, I am pretty hesitant to make major changes like that on the fly. Iām just glad you like it and that itās useful.
Do me a favor and keep putting out videos, especially software-related ones. This whole UGS thing is still new to me, and anything beyond Easel is over my head. 
I just did this mod on mine but i bought the 36"Ć1-1/4" steel from lowes and didnt have to make any cuts. I slipped the plate between the rails and clamped everything together before unbolting the rails from the y plates. Then i drilled through all 3 pieces at the same time on the drill press using a 3/8" bit. I then reinstalled the rails back on the machine and tightened the furniiture bolts and removed the clamps. All done
Way to go Dude! The thought of the mod is a little intimidating at first, but once you get in to it, it really is not difficult at all, and man oh man does it help the machine!
Yeah it really wasnt hard. Most challenging part was balancing everything on my tiny drill press table
I already have steel laying around collecting dust. But I donāt have a drill press. Thatās got me a bit nervous. My spindle hasnāt died yet, though, so Iāve got time before I make the 611 switch and have to do this upgrade
.
you could do it with a hand drill. its not that thick of metal. i thought about doing mine with a drill while it was still on the machine but figured it wasnt that hard to remove
This is a great idea, over here in England its quite hard to come by imperial steel flats but finally today I managed to get hold of some 3/16" x 2 1/2".
I got worried about increasing the gap size between the extrusions to 3/16" as I found the V-wheels ran a little stiffer across the makerside when I increased the gap. So I have taken my steel flat to a CNC company and they are in the process of milling it down to 4.4mm which should mean the wheels are seated a tad better. This could be going a little over the top tho!
This was super easy to do and boy is it solid!
I figured while we are drilling holes in our expensive machinesā¦
The stepper wire can be routed through the slot next to the steel plate, you just have to drill a hole in the X plates next to the wire slot.
SMK
Pretty much exactly what i did except i ran the wire above the steel plate as there was a 6mm gap which fit the wires perfect
Hi Folks.
I receive my machine tomorrow and iām getting pretty antsy to put it together. I cringe at the idea of drilling holes in it. (iām sure iāll get over it)
Iāve been reading about the rigidity problem and fiddled about in my CAD/CAM program and made this little guy.
I reckon a couple of these along the X axis gap could help the situation, but I could be wrong.
I used the inventibles-created CAD model of the machine for the measurements.
probably better (and easier) to just put the metal plate in there. the x carve is open source, we are SUPPOSED to do mods to it!
That looks really cool, what are you planning on making that out of? I will be looking forward to hearing how it works for you. Very nice
once iāve built the machine Iāll make them from 12mm thick MDF and test them. If that works out perhaps Aluminium.
I do think that the slight give in the MDF would provide some vibration damping though. Iām no materials expert though.
Iām happy to share CAD files for the part if anyone wants them.
what you want is already available on thingiverse
All the good ideas have been had already. But i donāt own a 3d Printer.
the stl file is on that page
Iāve downloaded it but Fusion 360 refuses to convert it in a way that allows me to calculate a tool path. Thereās no doubt some way to manage it, I just havenāt got it figured out yet.
i got it to work in aspire but it imports it at a huge scale. not sure what the exact dimensions are.