The engraving carriage is the assembly that provides the X-axis movement. The carriage rides the bridge rails by means of 4 v-wheels. The engraving table provides the Y-axis movement, and also rides the base rails by means of 4 V-wheels.

On both the carriage and table, only two V-wheels are adjusted. On the carriage, the two rear V-wheels are adjusted. On the table the two left V-wheels are adjusted. These two V-wheels are marked by slits in the table.

To maintain precise positioning on the rails, the pre-load on both the carriage and table V-wheels must be properly adjusted. To do so, follow the procedure below:

1. Using a 3/32 hex wrench to remove the 4 button head screw which hold the metal lower carriage cover (protects the 4 V-wheels on the X-axis).

2. Examine the hex nuts located between each of the rear V-wheels and the under-side of the carriage base. The hex nuts are eccentric to the vertical axis of the V-wheel. By tuning these rear V-wheel he nuts, you can increase or decrease the distance between the rail and the center of the V-wheel (See drawing below) The carriage base has a series of saw cuts in the area where the V-wheels are mounted. This mounting area is actually a spring, and moving the V-wheel towards the rail increases the spring pre-load.

3. Check the current pre-load on the rear two V-wheels.

4. The correct amount of pre-load is determined by turning each V-wheel with your thumb and two fingers while the carriage is at rest. If a V-wheel is easy to turn by hand, the pre-load is too low. If a V-wheel cannot be moved at all by hand, the pre-load is too high. When the pre load is correct, the V wheels can just be made to turn. The setting should be checked at several points along the entire length of travel along the bridge rails.

5. To adjust the pre-load, first use a 9/64" allen wrench to loosen the button head screws that fastens the V-wheels to the carriage base.

6. Next, use a 9/16" open end wrench to turn the hex nuts. Turn the nuts counter-clockwise to increase the pre-load and clockwise to decrease the pre- load.

7. Retighten the button head screws.