CNC Rail Cover Plates

thingiverse

I was fed up with material covering my rails while working. So, I designed these small mounts to hold onto purchased materials, allowing the rails to stay covered without hindering movement. I bought outdoor upholstery fabric in black and cut a strip about 8 inches wide, plus some extra length for each bed side. After spray gluing and folding it in half, I used 4 mounts on each side. Two 8mm bolts and drop-in hammer nuts secured each mount. The end mounts were tightened and bolted into place. Since then, my rails have remained clean, and the material moves smoothly without any interference. The gantry pushes the material upwards as it moves, keeping the gantry plates clean too. I even created a G-Code file to run the vacuum over the table and railing for effortless cleaning. This feature wasn't available on my CNC by default, but now they offer something similar. If you bought your CNC earlier or want to add this feature, it's worth investing $15 in fabric and $5 in bolts and nuts. I've saved a significant amount of material since I only needed extra length, not width.