I have an early batch Shapeoko 3 XXL where the Cross Members were cut with a less than square tool, admittedly, by Carbide 3D. See images below of what mine look like.
I have tried to resolve this many times with shims and such but the machine is still out of square. I do not want to attempt to square them with a file, chop saw, etc.
One option is to purchase a new “XXL Expansion Pack” however that is $750 and Carbide 3D has declined to sell just the cross members for a cheaper price.
Luckily, these new Cross Members and of course the complete machines themselves have the added benefit of being cut and squared with an actual CNC machine so they are perfect.
With all of this in mind what are some good options for squaring these up?
I am in Laramie, WY and there is not a local machine shop or I would have them do it.
A) Is there a place I can send them to get them perfectly cut square? Any suggestions on specific businesses or search terms?
B) Does someone have a perfect set they can sell?
C) Are there there other options that I am not aware of that would fix this?
Thank you very much for any help I appreciate your time!
Pull all 3 of the extrusions, clamp them together so that they are parallel, mark the high points w/ a magic marker, use a fine flat file to draw file them until they are square.
Shout out to Laramie! I was there a bunch from 2001 to 2003 and lived there full time for part of 2003 and 2004.
See if you can find contact information for a machine shop within the engineering or physics departments at UW. They may be able to point you to someone. Or ping WyoTech, a local automotive shop (especially one that does engine stuff), or maybe someone in the railroad industry. Someone should be able to throw them up on a Bridgeport and get them squared up for you.
Have you tried contacting Carbide 3D support? I’m surprised that wasn’t @WillAdams response. I’d expect them to resolve this somehow as long as the machine is covered by warranty.
Would sure be interested as well. Mine are the same or worse. I have shimmed to some effect, the thing is when I add shims , that changes the length of the beam.
I know these machines are around 3 years old, but the problem was heavily discussed in this forum, 2 and 3 years ago with no resolution from carbide3d.
The beam length is changed by either method, filing or shimming.
Draw filing all the extrusions to make them square will result in them all being the same length which will result in the machine assembling so as to be square.
The bad thing about having them machined square, or trying to file them square, is the change in overall beam length.
If you shim the beams they end up being a tad too long. If you have the ends squared, the beam will be short.
It causes problems with the v-wheel placement on the inverted v-tracks.
If you get the beam squared, you will need to add spacers to the v-wheel screws, (not a good thing).
Keep on it with carbide3d. You need beams of proper length and square ends.
In our experience, draw filing them to square does not usually change the length beyond the adjustment afforded by the holes in the endplates — worst case, clearing the powdercoat and if need be, using a small round file to slightly enlarge them will then allow things to go together squarely.
They machine the ends of every rail on one of their VMC’s now and have for a while. They started doing this before they switched to the Shapeoko 4/Pro. I got one of the 3’s that was made before this change and had to do a little filing to get everything perfect. Regardless, everything costs something and the Shapeoko 3 was a fantastic value for the $1200 it sold for at the time with the included router. The price went up as they made improvements. Being rude helps nothing.
That cutting was done by the extruder, and for the most part, they were cut quite squarely.
Since then, we’ve had them cut overlong and machine both ends — that’s how the SO4 and Pro are done, and is the stumbling block on larger machines — we need a larger machining center to access both ends.
My SO3 was also somewhat off square on the ends, I used a table saw sled to remove the worst of the bumps and then filed / sanded the rest of the high spots off.
You don’t need to get perfectly square as the V wheels have a certain amount of play and therefore can’t enforce the last few minutes of a degree on the X rail anyway. That gets picked up on power up by where the steppers engage, which is why a lot of people pull the X beam against front or rear stops to startup.
