I was inspired by Premiumbasics and his ultra light Axis. So I had to build my own version. My key idea was to learn how to use multiple fixtures on the Datron Neo. This is the CNC-Mill we have in our University workshop. The Axis is designed in Fusion 360 and I used Inventor CAM to program the Datron Neo.

I'm currently a student at the THM in Mittelhessen, Germany. There I'm working in the local Makerspace and teach the students about 3D printing and laser cutting. But my favorite activity by far is the tinkering while building a project. I love the DIY movement and will keep all my designs for free to encourage others to learn.

Supplies

What do you need:

15*15*200 mm with 2 mm wall strength
A CNC machine with multiple setups
2mm end mill
8mm end mill
6mm 45° Engraving burins
14mm Double cutter

File description:

"Part2.ipt" is the file that contains all the milling data.
"X-Axis.stl" is the lightweight rail as a 3D object. One of my friends wanted to print the rail in Nylon-Filament, and this thing would be strong enough for a 3D printer.
"Voron V0.1 UltraLight X-Axis v18.f3z" is the Fusion 360 design file. So you can adjust the file and make your own modification to the design.

Step 1: Desiging

I designed the Axis in Fusion 360. The nice thing about the VoronDesign Printers is that you can get all design files, so I had no trouble to design the rail, because I had all necessary references. You can see the XY-Movement Axis in the first picture.

I also created an FEM analysis in Fusion 360 with a weight of 0.278g with an acceleration of 15k mm/s^2 what would result in a force of 4.2 N. I used a force of around 90 N in the FEM analysis, so the thing should keep up with specs of the voron v0.1. I maybe will design an even smaller and lighter version.

Step 2: CAM-Program

I used Inventor CAM to program the Datron Neo. The picture shows all the different paths I pre-programmed for the mills. The video shows one setup side. Especially the smallest mill, that I had to use with a diameter of 2mm to get the small radius in the holes. I also had to cut the holes in multiple passes, otherwise the mill would have broken.

Step 3: CNC-Milling

The first two pictures show the first try. This was my first try, so something had to go wrong. The hard part for this job is to get the alignment right. You need to mill on each of the four surfaces. So every time you want to mill the next side, you have to measure the position.

My Mistake on the first try was that I didn't calculate the material taken off correct. So I positioned the coordinate system wrong and the mill removed too much material.

The milled part looked pretty well after I fixed the probing issue. It took time to mill each side with a 2mm mill, reposition the workpiece, probe the position and start the process again. The thing I was most worried about was to start the wrong program at the wrong side. You can see that I fixed the workpiece with vacuum glue tape to the milling table. I was excited that the piece still held on, besides having not much material at the bottom left.

So I ended up standing at the Datron neo for about 4 hours for the final component.

Step 4: Cutting Threads

The last step for the axis was cutting the threads on the drill press. I used the drill press for this process, that the threads would come out perfectly straight. For the small holes, I had to use a M2 thread cutter for the small holes in the middle, which was a little bit unusual. Sadly, one of the two cutters we broke in the process. For the 8 Holes on the sides I used an M3 thread cutter which worked flawless.

Step 5: Result

The milling result looks very good. Here are a few pictures that show the size of the x-axis in more detail. The milling results are very good due to the high quality machining of the Datron Neo. The original size of the part was 15mm * 15mm * 200mm. After always taking of 0.4mm on each side, the part had a size of 14.2 * 14.2 mm * 200mm.

Step 6: Weight Reduction

We have 3 important values that can be compared in the final result.

The weight of the milled workpiece with a total length of 200mm
The weight of the originally used X-axis also with a total length of 200mm and additional components such as nuts and 3D printed parts so that the X-axis linear guide can be attached. These are not needed for my axis, as they were cut directly into the material.
And finally, the original weight of the material that was milled. Unfortunately, I only had the idea to measure the material afterward. So I could only measure the waste. By measuring the length and the weight, I was able to calculate the original mass for the length of 200 mm.

The milled axis weight 24.1g(1). The original part that got milled weight 54.4g(3), so I reduced the material about 44%. The weight of the original axis was 47.5g(2). I have therefore reduced the weight for the X-axis by around 50%. I want to try to go even lower, but that's something for the future.

Step 7: Installation

To get the linear rail perfectly centered, I adjusted the Voron spacer, because my rail is 14.2 * 14.2 mm instead of the normal 15 mm. Therefore, I also had to modify the XY_Joint for the left and right side. You can find these files attached to this step.

While assembling, I tried to only take out the original rail and put the new one in. This move worked really well, because you have an enough space to pull the axis out to the back. The printer works still fine but looks a little bit fancier.

Step 8: First Print

The first print was a complete success. And the printer is still working fine after around 188 hours of printing. I also can't see any artifacts in the print results.

Step 9: Conclusion

It was a really cool but challenging project for me. I learn a lot and I hope to be able to use this knowledge in future projects. My plan for the future is to make an even lighter version from higher strength material. If I were to do a project like this again, I would definitely have the threads cut by machine. I hope you enjoy this Instruction, have fun to try it out for yourself, or could get some tips for your own projects. Let me know in the comments what you think or if you have any questions?

Thank you for reading.