From my understanding there isn’t a way to “reset” the zero to a fixed position. IE… I want to always start at XYZ where I set up a jig to hold a 10x12" piece I’m going to make 20. That way I can place the object in the jig, tighten, and hit mill, without having to run a zero each time I power up. Once I shutdown the machine I have to home/initialized and then set zero once the machine comes back online. Does that make sense?
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Hum…I’ll try to see if I gotcha. 
The zero you set last time should be persistent even when powered down. Mine has always been. I have ran a part, turned off the machine, and re-ran the exact same part in the same position without having to reset zero. Quite often I have also ran a different job that used the same zeros without physically resetting it. Is that what you’re referring to?
Or are you referring to maybe different spots on the same jig? You want to have your XYZ zero re-set to a pre-determined position?
Sounds like I need to do an experiment. I guess I’ve never actually tried it but I was told that when you shut the machine down that it won’t hold the previous set zero. I realize with a belt you could have an ever so slight deviation compared to a metal screw drive, but that’s beside the point. Does the zero remain even when you initialize upon connecting back to the computer?
Yes it does. It remembers the XYZ relative to the homing switches.
If the belts are properly adjusted, technically they are pretty darn precise. They shouldn’t have backlash, so they can technically be superior to poor quality lead/ball screws at times. I never found precision to be an issue on any of the 5 belt driven Shapeoko machines I have ran. Many times I hold repeatability/tolerances to 0.010".
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I’m assuming we still need the BitZero for initial zero, or manually set it. Correct?
Correct. The basic functionality of the machine hasn’t changed — it’s just better, stronger, faster (and mostly bigger).
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When I read that, it instantly made me think of Daft Punk’s Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger
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I was queuing up the theme to The Six-Million Dollar Man myself:
w/ all due credit to Bruce Peterson, whose ill-fated crash is depicted:
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We just posted this in another thread, but it’s worth putting it here as well.
Winston just posted this quick aluminum test on our SO5 Pro:
Tool: Carbide 3D 278-Z 1/4" single flute endmill + air blast
RPM: 22000 RPM
Feedrate: 2200 mm/min
Stepover: (Fusion 360 Adaptive Clearing) 1.25mm optimal load
Depth of Cut: 6mm
The toolpath is limited by spindle power. The Shapeoko 5 Pro can push harder, but the spindle begins to bog down.
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Scared to ask - does the gantry have any provisions for tramming?
The gantry is held down by 4 screws, so you can shim it if you want to.
That said, on our in-house machines, we’ve never done anything but put them on a reasonably flat table, and then surface the wasteboard.
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Any chance that new beefy Bitsetter will work with the current Pro? Looks like the new one will work so much better when using flattening bits.
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It would require an adapter cable, but if there’s interest then we can definitely do that.
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Put me on the list of interested people.
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Sigh… I’m gonna need a bigger shop. Congratz on what looks to be an amazing new machine.
Edit: Also just noticed the Gantry Shift, which I really missed on the 4. Awesome!
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Is this change compatible with HDM Warthog electronics and can we expect gantry squaring?
I broke a handful of end mills originally ordered with my Pro XXL due to not realizing my feeds/speeds were set to wood while cutting aluminum, despite having chosen aluminum in the setup menu. I was too embarrassed to contact them to get replacements. 
It’s not compatible with the HDM electronics. It’s a whole new PCB for the Shapeoko 5 Pro.
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Any hints on what the expansion port/s would be used for? I’m also just curious to see what kind of connectors and the general layout of the pcb is as well.
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No hints for now. We’ll post more later.
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