I’ve been a happy Shapeoko user since I got my XXL in 2019. Last fall I moved it – that plus 4 years of usage have me thinking it’s time for a tune (I was also excited when I got it and wasn’t as thorough as I would be now in terms of dialing it in). (I upgraded to a Z Plus a ways back as well).
I thought I’d post to see if anyone had any sage wisdom to share regarding the process. My rough plan is as follows:
Done already:
new wasteboard, surfaced but showing witness marks where spindle is out of tram.
Plan:
Check level of machine
I have a maintenance kit in hand, remove all those parts, clean everything I can and replace. Newer style eccentrics look great!
Re-square the machine following the original instructions or the shapeoko gitbook.
Tram the spindle, I have one of those double dial indicator dealies arriving this weekend.
Surface the spoil board again.
My most egregious problem currently is x-axis cuts being out of square with my spoil board/fence (I use the Myers one) as it goes left to right. What’s the typical culprit here?
I tune-up when I find a problem. Few and far between. Every three weeks I clean and tighten the machine. I mean every nut bolt and screw. Also lube the machine at that time.
I have been zeroing off bottom for some time. My waste board is almost pristine. Lucky that I have someone with the tools to tram my machine. On that note… I have to retram everytime I physically move the machine. So I don’t do it that much. Shop air helps to lessen the frequency for cleaning
YES, when I can. So we are supposed to know the material thickness. Doing so will prevent cutting into the spoil board. I cut a lot of Poly. It is .223, the protective layer, my blue tape/glue and the uneven waste board. At .223 one or two thousands make a difference. I zero off the waste, subtract .003 from zero. Technically I should be cutting through the poly. I may have a “onion” skin left. Same goes for wood or aluminum. The onion skin helps instead of tabs with tape.
The benefit is I don’t have to replace my wasteboard as often, only when I have warpage from moisture. This summer just lite surfacing has kept it good
I agree with @Zman about using the bottom of material (Spoilboard) and I never cut through the material into the spoilboard unless I have made a mistake. Measurement of the material is critical whether you use the top or bottom of material. I replaced my SO3 spoilboard in October 22 and it is still almost perfect. I did have a couple of boo boos but overall it is nearly perfect. When I used the top of material I either cut through or left an onion skin. Both of those a a pain. I primarily use painters tape and super glue unless the project is too large. I use the regular 3M painters tape and Titebond Medium Super Glue and have never had a failure. I also have a long L bracket that I use to square up my project. If I am going to remove the perimeter of the material where it would cut through my L bracket after the glue sets I remove the L bracket. Once done I vacuum the table and place the L bracket back on loosely and use a bit in the router to square it back up and tighten down the bolts. I have a 1/4-20 tee nut at 2" spacing.
Here is the long L bracket plan. You can modify it for your spoilboard spacing like the hybrid tables.
Thanks for the input folks. My SST tram tool arrived Sunday, so I started the clean up process. Will post pictures as I progress. I’m probably going to do a before/after cut with the same program to see the results.
Life finally settled down so I get could done it today. Took about 4-5 hours and was mostly uneventful. The source of my major x-axis tram issue was mounts between the ez-tram plate and the spindle mount. Once I adjust that I was able to get things pretty square.
Feels nice to have new belts and shiny black v-wheels!
