For anyone else that has been checking the PwnCNC site every few days to see if the Shapeoko 5 Pro 30mm risers are back in stock, I can say that they are finally available again! I’m not sure what the demand is for them but they had 21 left after I placed my order.
I’d also love to hear any additional thoughts from current riser owners if they’d like to share. Thanks!
They are a no brainer. You will need another set of hands to install, remove the spindle to lessen the rotation on the transom.
You can ALMOST assemble the rises is the wrong orientations.
You will find out if you are wrong when the bolts do not want to pass through.
It’s a snug fit, but not that snug.
Here are a couple of pictures to clarify.
Note the ridge on the inside of the Y axis mount.
Note the ridge on the front of the X transom.
21 for something that comes in pairs.
Makes me think of an old Steve Martin routine 
Ah I see. The pics are very helpful and I appreciate the info! I’m pretty sure I’ll have someone around to help me install the risers but in the event that it shows up right when everyone leaves for the 4th of July, I think I’m going to make a riser jig that will hold the entire gantry and front mount with the spindle removed and then use one of my crank-up Husky work tables as a jack to raise it up just enough to install the risers.
That’s the only way I can think of doing it without interfering with the light underneath the gantry and that won’t be unbalanced by the weight of the spindle mount. Hopefully it doesn’t come to that but, if I do end up going down that route and it is successful, I’ll share the model for anyone else that wants to attempt it.
Honestly, I would wait until you have a good set of extra hands. The X axis wants to rotate, it would be easy to screw up.
Old guy here.
Noted! I just got an email from PwnCNC saying that it could take up to two weeks before they have all the parts for the kits. I guess they listed them as soon as the risers arrived and they are waiting for hardware or something.
Is the basic purpose to have 30mm of increased Z-travel?
More accurately to support 30mm more in Z height.
That most likely translates into 30mm more travel depending on how your spindle is mounted.
