I would say you have a power supply issue then.

Are your stock rods bent at all? Do you have anything trying to constrain the top of the rod? Did you change the wooden Y axis bed for an aluminum one?

Quote Originally Posted by tsteever View Post
I am measuring at the power supply. I read a fair bit more on wire gauge from all my text books, online, etc... I am sure that the 14 gauge wire is more than adequate from the job here. I still need to check the connections. I am getting even more convinced that the cheap power supply is just not up to the job of a 12" bed. It is a 30 amp model. I only paid $28 or so from Amazon. I think I may go with this one as it has a higher output and reads to be of better quality. I think a more stable power source may help with my Z banding issues.

My next step in getting rid of Z banding is to replace the M5 screws with M6 lead screws. I'm not really sure what gains that will give me as the 5mm screw has pretty good resolution. I think the biggest gains may be had by a backlash nut of sorts.

Do you guys see the M5 rods as a possible source of Z banding? I was thinking of getting a pair of these.

PS - sorry for seemingly hijacking the OP's thread. Trying to keep this as close to getting rid of Z banding so people can use this thread to serve as a resource.