Description
The ULTIMATE Bee is a solid and reliable CNC Machine. Featured by HGR Rails and Ball Screws! The ULTIMATE Bee CNC excels at cutting through plastics, foam, softwood, hardwood and even soft metal such as aluminum and brass.
The ULTIMATE Bee is our second CNC Machine based on the initial WorkBee design lineage, which is characterised by the use of C-Beam Extrusions and the rectangular-shaped Y-Plates.
This is an Upgrade Kit including all parts available to convert your QueenBee Pro to Ball Screw ULTIMATE Bee!
It requires you to disassemble your QueenBee Pro first, then rebuild it to ULTIMATE Bee with the disassembled parts and Upgrade Kit.
This Upgrade Kit Includes:
- Extra Aluminum Extrusion Profiles
- Linear Rails
- Quiet Transmission Precise SFS1210 Ball Screw
- ULTIMATE Bee Aluminum Plate Set
- Upgrade Hardware Kit
- New Design Drag Chain System
- All Extrusions are M5 Threaded Tapped for your convenience!
Attention:
- The Ball screw nut fixing and dismounting requires professional tools or done by professional stuffs!
- Never rotate the ball screw nut over the ball screw end! This is very important as if the ball bearings come off the ball nut the ball screw will not work properly and you will void any warranty!
ULTIMATE Bee
Bulk-Man 3D is the largest wholesaler of Open Source CNC parts worldwide. By producing or sourcing parts directly from the factory, we eliminate the “middle man”, and in doing so, we can provide the best wholesale price direct to the public!
ULTIMATE Bee

After many CNC owners and members of the community approached us requesting a linear rail solution for their machine at an affordable price, our technicians worked hard researching different options available and ways we can improve on existing designs. The result of the project was the QueenBee Pro CNC Machine.
Carrying on the tradition of community engagement, CNC owners and members wanted more, our technicians went back to the drawing board researching more improvements based on community input, the resulting machine is the ULTIMATE Bee CNC Machine.
The ULTIMATE Bee mainly distinguishes itself from the first design, the QueenBee PRO, by having Ball Screws as a transmission system instead of the traditional ACME Lead Screw. The Ball Screw has high-efficiency levels, delivering more torque to the motor when compared to an ACME Lead Screw used in the QueenBee PRO.
Capability
The ULTIMATE Bee is not only a machine capable of cutting through a wide diversity of materials. The ULTIMATE Bee excels at cutting materials outperforming others.
Compatible Material for Cutting/Milling/Engraving: Aluminium / Hard Wood / Soft Wood / Oak / Plexi Glass / Delrin / HDPE / Foam.
Workable Dimensions(mm): | |||
Frame Size | X-Axis | Y-Axis | Z-Axis |
500x500mm | 273mm | 262mm | 180mm |
500x750mm | 273mm | 512mm | 180mm |
750x750mm | 523mm | 512mm | 180mm |
750x1000mm | 523mm | 762mm | 180mm |
1000x1000mm | 773mm | 762mm | 180mm |
1000x1500mm | 773mm | 1262mm | 180mm |
1500x1500mm | 1273mm | 1262mm | 180mm |
Recommended Waste Board Dimensions(mm): | ||
Frame Size | Width | Length |
500x500mm | 355mm | 500mm |
500x750mm | 355mm | 750mm |
750x750mm | 605mm | 750mm |
750x1000mm | 605mm | 1000mm |
1000x1000mm | 855mm | 1000mm |
1000x1500mm | 855mm | 1500mm |
1500x1500mm | 1355mm | 1500mm |
‘ULTIMATE Bee’ Features
After many hours of research and prototyping and also getting feedback from the community, we worked on creating the ULTIMATE Bee. The ULTIMATE Bee has many features over previous CNC designs and our team has once again brought an innovating machine to overperform others.
Some upgrades from the QueenBee PRO to the ULTIMATE Bee include:
Ball Nut Bracket Gaskets
Precision laser cut 1.5mm rubber gaskets are used on all Ball Nut mounting brackets to allow for easy alignment while maintaining a ridged and secure join to the gantry plates.
The Gasket aids in the building by compensating for any minor misalignment as well as acting to absorb vibrations during operation (essential in a more ridged drive system).
Quiet Transmission Ball Screw Drive System
There are many benefits in using Ball Screws, such as high efficiency and reversibility, backlash elimination, high stiffness, high lead accuracy, and many other advantages. Compared with the contact thread lead screws, a Ball Screw adds balls between the nut and screw. The sliding friction of the conventional screw is thus replaced by the rolling motion of the balls.
The ULTIMATE Bee drive system has been upgraded to SFS1210 and SFU1204 ball screws and ball nuts. The 10mm pitch SFS1210 is used on all axis giving a noticeable increase in speed while maintaining the ability to be accurate and with measurable repeatability greater than or equal to 0.01mm. Using the Spark-Concepts xPRO V5 the calculated resolution of the Y, A and X-axis of the ULTIMATE Bee is 0.00625mm at 1/8th micro-stepping.
The Z-axis SFU1204 Ball Screws have a 4mm pitch so the Z calculated resolution is 0.0025mm.
Ball Screw Resolution vs Microstepping Table
Micro Stepping | SFU1204 – 4mm Pitch | SFS1210 – 10mm Pitch | ||
Full | 0.02mm | 0.05mm | ||
1/2 | 0.01mm | 0.025mm | ||
1/4 | 0.005mm | 0.0125mm | ||
1/8 | 0.0025mm | 0.00625mm | ||
1/16 | 0.00125mm | 0.00313mm |
By using an SFU1204 with 4mm pitch on the Z-Axis the system is able to maintain its position even while the motors are not energized – even with heavier 2.2kW water-cooled spindles! This simple choice means no more broken bits or spindles falling into stock when powering off.
X-Axis Extrusion Revision
The 2040 Extrusion on the rear of the X-Axis has been replaced with a 4040 to allow for improved cable management and rigidity.
By adding a 4040 extrusion to the back of a C-Beam Extrusion, the X-Axis is braced with a stronger support.
Plate Design
All plates have been completely redesigned to incorporate better cable management, mounting sensors and switches, and allowing for more adaptive integrated applications. All of the main plates are made with thick 10mm aluminium. All surfaces where bearing carriages are mounted have been machined flat to provide a smooth surface for easy and accurate alignment.
HGR Linear Rails
The Y and A Axis each utilise a single HGR15 linear rail with 2 x HGH15CA bearing carriages on the gantry plates. By using 2x HGR15 linear rails, one on the Y and one on the A-side, instead of 4, this reduces the complexity of assembly and rail alignments without compromise on the performance.
Each HGR bearing has a dynamic load rating of approximately 14kN (or approx. 1,400kg).
Diaphragm Couplers
We have introduced diaphragm couplers with the ULTIMATE Bee machines. One of the main benefits of using diaphragm couplers instead of standard flexible couplers is that there is significantly less backlash, as well as drastically increasing the resolution and repeatability of the system. Diaphragm couplers are also designed to have noise reduction and vibration compensation. The vibration compensation increases the lifespan of the mechanical hardware used on the transmission system.
What are Linear Rails and Bearings?
Why use Linear Rails?
Credits
“V-Slot” and ” C-Beam” are registered trademarks of OpenBuilds LLC as released under the Creative Commons Licence “Attribution-ShareAlike”.
Became Our Partner
Bulk-Man 3D is the largest wholesaler of Open Source CNC parts worldwide. By producing or sourcing parts directly from the factory, we eliminate the “middle man”, and in doing so, we can provide the best wholesale price direct to the public!