# How High The Plane of The Chain? **URL:** \ **Category:** Hardware\ **Created:** [December 12, 2017, 10:28pm UTC](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/t/how-high-the-plane-of-the-chain/1473 "2017-12-12T22:28:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mcmiley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/91b2a8/32.png) [@mcmiley](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/u/mcmiley)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2017, 10:28pm UTC](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/t/how-high-the-plane-of-the-chain/1473/1 "2017-12-12T22:28:32Z")
Is there already an established best height for the chain from the surface of the workpiece? Has anyone played around with this? I’m frame designing and looking to design-in adjustable motor mountings so that chain height may be adjusted based on thickness of sheet material being processed. Cheers, Miles ---
**Author:** ![dlang](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/forums.maslowcnc.com/dlang/32/859_2.png) [@dlang](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/u/dlang)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2017, 10:48pm UTC](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/t/how-high-the-plane-of-the-chain/1473/2 "2017-12-12T22:48:19Z")
> Is there already an established best height for the chain from the surface of the workpiece? you want the chain to be parallel to the workpiece you want the chain at a height that roughly balances the sled. The router moves in and out, so there is no one perfect height. If the chain is too close or too far away, the sled will tend to tilt away from the workpiece (top or bottom depending on which direction it’s wrong) > I’m frame designing and looking to design-in adjustable motor mountings so > that chain height may be adjusted based on thickness of sheet material being > processed. this is a good idea. The system can tolerate some chain misalignment and some inbalance in the sled, but it’s good to be able to minimize this. Please read the thread ‘musings on frame design’. you really want to make sure that the motors do not move relative to each other. A design that has a straight piece of material between the motors is far better than something that gives the motors leverage to bend things. ---
**Author:** ![mcmiley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/91b2a8/32.png) [@mcmiley](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/u/mcmiley)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2017, 11:12pm UTC](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/t/how-high-the-plane-of-the-chain/1473/3 "2017-12-12T23:12:30Z")
Thank you for the advice. I am trying to design in flexibility wherever possible. I intend to make a large rectangular frame with bracing, I figure if I can get a big square frame to start it’ll reduce flexing, and give me the potential to build other things into and onto it. Not quite sure how it’s all going to fit in the garage just yet. Maybe make it inflatable! ;¬) ---
**Author:** ![dlang](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/forums.maslowcnc.com/dlang/32/859_2.png) [@dlang](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/u/dlang)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2017, 11:27pm UTC](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/t/how-high-the-plane-of-the-chain/1473/4 "2017-12-12T23:27:51Z")
mount to motors to a beam and then have a way for that beam to move in and out relative to the frame. The rest of the frame is far less sensitive to strength and ridgidity. the best examples are the unistrut designs that have been posted. ---
**Author:** ![MeticulousMaynard](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/forums.maslowcnc.com/meticulousmaynard/32/2744_2.png) [@MeticulousMaynard](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/u/MeticulousMaynard)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2017, 1:47am UTC](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/t/how-high-the-plane-of-the-chain/1473/5 "2017-12-13T01:47:02Z")
The unistrut frames I’ve seen so far are awesome! It’s a great way to get a good, rigid frame. On the note of material thickness, @dlang, you may remember an off-topic tangent I had recently about using a lead screw to adjust the motor position to keep the chain parallel. We could specify the material thickness in the program, so that the motors could be adjusted to always be at the right level for the material being cut. I’m open to better, cooler ideas to address this, but I just wanted to throw it out there when it actually was in context. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![dlang](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/forums.maslowcnc.com/dlang/32/859_2.png) [@dlang](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/u/dlang)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2017, 3:39am UTC](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/t/how-high-the-plane-of-the-chain/1473/6 "2017-12-13T03:39:29Z")
What I would do is attach a block to the top beam so that the gap between that block and the frame is zero when nothing is mounted on the machine and the sled is against the back of the machine. That way you can just loosen up the bolts holding the beam in place, slide it forward, stick a couple pieces of scrap (one the thickness of your wasteboard, one the thickness of your workpiece) behind this block, slide the beam back until it clamps the scrap and you have it set to the ‘perfect’ distance. realistically though, you should be able to get ± 1/4 to 1/2" (or more) without any problems, so unless you are going from milling on metal to milling on inch+ thick stuff, you probably can just set it for something that’s parallel with 1/2" plywood (plus your wasteboard) and leave it as-is. ---
**Author:** ![MeticulousMaynard](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/forums.maslowcnc.com/meticulousmaynard/32/2744_2.png) [@MeticulousMaynard](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/u/MeticulousMaynard)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2017, 1:26pm UTC](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/t/how-high-the-plane-of-the-chain/1473/7 "2017-12-13T13:26:23Z")
> [@dlang](#): > > That way you can just loosen up the bolts holding the beam in place, slide it forward, stick a couple pieces of scrap (one the thickness of your wasteboard, one the thickness of your workpiece) behind this block, slide the beam back until it clamps the scrap and you have it set to the ‘perfect’ distance. I like it. Much simpler. No programming that needs to be done. I had a feeling that my idea was over-engineered. > [@dlang](#): > > realistically though, you should be able to get ± 1/4 to 1/2" (or more) without any problems, so unless you are going from milling on metal to milling on inch+ thick stuff, you probably can just set it for something that’s parallel with 1/2" plywood (plus your wasteboard) and leave it as-is. In running my machine, I’ve noticed exactly this. I haven’t done any fiddling with the motor position for different materials and I haven’t experienced any chain jumping because of it. I’ve been able to cut at the level of my spoilboard all the way up the the face of a 3/4" sheet of plywood. ---
**Author:** ![VTWood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/c0e974/32.png) [@VTWood](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/u/VTWood)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2017, 2:13pm UTC](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/t/how-high-the-plane-of-the-chain/1473/8 "2017-12-13T14:13:45Z")
I’m in the process of setting up my Maslow and am struggling with how tall to make the frame. I like the alternative design of the stud wall idea, but did not want to make the structure so tall. Is the critical part of the motor placement the height above the workpiece top edge or is it the initial angle of the chain? Any advice or other ideas is welcome. ---
**Author:** ![dlang](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/forums.maslowcnc.com/dlang/32/859_2.png) [@dlang](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/u/dlang)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2017, 4:36pm UTC](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/t/how-high-the-plane-of-the-chain/1473/9 "2017-12-13T16:36:30Z")
If the motors are too close to the top edge, you could run into grief trying to cut at the very top center of the workpiece, but there is a fair amoung of leeway here if you are too narrow, the angle of the chain gets too close to vertical in the bottom corners and you loose accuracy there In general, I would worry more about the chains getting too close to vertical ---
**Author:** ![MeticulousMaynard](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/forums.maslowcnc.com/meticulousmaynard/32/2744_2.png) [@MeticulousMaynard](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/u/MeticulousMaynard)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2017, 9:12pm UTC](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/t/how-high-the-plane-of-the-chain/1473/10 "2017-12-13T21:12:49Z")
> [@dlang](#): > > In general, I would worry more about the chains getting too close to vertical I cannot emphasize that point enough. I have a “shortened” frame that’s 112" instead of the full 120" and there is a definite point maybe 6" in from the side of the bed where the chains get too close to vertical and anything cut there is basically useless. In my next iteration of the machine, I’m planning on going somewhere between 120" and 168" to alleviate that problem