Let the fun & learning begin!!
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Bravo, Gary! Still tons to learn so be patient and enjoy the process!
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Just got in from learning more about the CNCā¦understanding the zeroing, changing to a new bit, moving around the table. Hopefully tomorrow night is cutting! I have the first project designed and ready soā¦we shall see. Thanks guys! Ready to continue to have fun and I will be patient. 
Make sure you secure the stock. I find that to be the most challenging and fun.
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@jtclose thanks for the input, and now that youāve said it, I sure as heck will make SURE I do!
Wellā¦I need to turn that frown upside down today!! Itās (the pro 5) working and the warm fuzzies in my stomach are massive balls of yarn! 
Anyway, thanks again everyone. I know youāve all experienced this, but here I am bragging on my new baby.
This is the kind of work space I want all the time. And my first project from the jumpstart tutorials with my and my wifeās spin in it. That is Butternut if you are at all wondering.
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The first project from the Shapeoko Jumpstart Tutorialā¦with my wifeās and my spin on it. From Butternut
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And your journey starts. Congratulations
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@jtclose exactly how I feel!!
As Iāve continued to progress through my learning, Iām starting to realize the value of zeroing of the table. Which method do you prefer?
Have you flattened the table yet?
@Redlander it honestly didnāt cross my mindā¦needed?
I would if you want consistent surface to clamp to and zero off of, especially if you set your Z axis zero to the surface of the table. All types of wood and MDF can absorb moisture. I live in central Fl and humidity can be an issue. Another reason to flatten the table. Itās not hard and more importantly teaches you more about your machine. K Barnett has a file uploaded in C3D CutRocket and you can download for free. Itās specifically for your machine.
As of now I zero Z axis off the top of the stock 95% of the time.
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Thank you sir. I will definitely look into the file. Great infoā¦as always
Your welcome and this is what the forum is for!
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I prefer to zero from the table and then putting in the exact thickness and let the machine do the rest of the work for the project to be planed down, and cut to the design I have. Now, I do still zero from the top as well when I have a design and only want the carving to go only so deep in the material. Doing the top zero helps with being able to have the thickness I like for backing material or to be able to come in and cut insert tabs so I can add a different species wood as the border. I can cut this design feature on my table saw.
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Great input. Have leveled your table surface as well?
One very important thing you need to check, if you havenāt already, is your machine squareness. The assembly of the machine does not automatically square up your machine and table. You need to do that at the beginning so your table is true square to your gantry and spindle.
It would also be wise to tram your spindle to make sure it is as close to perpendicular to your table as possible before surfacing your table. If your spindle isnāt perpendicular to your table, no matter what you do, there will be step lines in your passes. Some users have gotten lucky and when assembling their table, they got a really close tramming of their spindle without even realizing it. Other users might not even care or worry about tramming because they cut more openly with designs that will not even really notice these lines.
I havenāt leveled my table because I had to move my machine in my shop and my floor isnāt level. The person that finished the concrete in the shop did a terrible job and it is out of level anytime I move anything in the shop that requires a level floor. I was resetting up the layout of my shop and the area I had for my machine became the incoming area for my lumber material, and has been turned into my lumber storage at the moment. So, my machine is sitting on unlevel ground. I still donāt like where it is at and once I have the machine moved to the right area, I will have the table leveled completely again, and then resurface my table.
I was planning on remaking my table with drawers and areas for my electronics to be boxed in away from the open dust of the shop, but still have filters and fans in place moving air in and out of the electrical panel. I also will be buying the 80mm spindle in the very near future, so I have to build an area for the chiller to be stored and serviceable. Plus, I want to tie into my dust collector as well so I dont have a shop vac running all of the time on the job/designs.
Unlevel floors are HORRIBLE! The person who finished my shop floor did a terrible job, and unfortunately that person was me 
. I ended up getting it resurfaced by a professional and am SOOOO much happier!
As far as square, fortunately I watched the installation video and took to heart the need to square it. It was at least 1/4" out of square when I began the process. I spent quite a bit of time ensuring square to the 1/64" give or take a 1/128th of an inchā¦at least per my tape measure.
Tramming my spindle hasnāt even crossed my mind. āYou donāt know what you donāt knowā is a place I feel like Iāve lived and breathed while learning this awesome machine! Thanks for that input!!!
As far as surfacing do you have a choice of bits?
And thanks for all the great input!!