Hi,
I’ve got a Shapeoko 4 and I have about a 1/16th inch of movement of the spindle forward and backwards. I’m thinking this may be causing some issues losing my accuracy of Z zero during jobs. If that is the case, how do I adjust that? If not, any ideas?
Thanks,
Randy
What do you mean by movement forward and backwards?
Best way to check on this sort of thing is to slowly/gently move the machine to the center of movement for each axis, then power up, grab the tip of the spindle (install a probing pin if possible) and push/pull trying to shift it in all directions — it shouldn’t move, if it does, investigate what aspect of the machine allows movement. For a belt-drive machine things to check:
For that last , it’s possible that only one Y-axis motor is working — power down, remove both Y-axis belts, put a bit of tape on the pulleys (so as to more easily see their rotation), then power up, connect to the machine and try initializing — it will lift the Z-axis as normal, then try moving both X- and Y- axes, the X-axis should also initialize as normal while the Y-axis motors should turn until they time out, do they turn evenly and in synch?
If both Y-axis motors don’t turn evenly, then the problem could be a motor (not likely), problem with wiring extension, or the stepper driver chip, power down and swap the Y-axis motor connectors at the controller and repeat.
If need be, power down again and swap parts/connections to determine what specific part needs to be replaced.
Power down and reinstall the belts, swapping side-for-side and end-for-end if in good condition.
Hi and thanks for the fast response. What I mean by forward and backwards is it is tipping basically up and down backwards at the top making the bit move forward by 1/16th of an inch. there is no side ways tipping. All motors and movement seems normal but randomly it seems to lose it’s Z zero. The Delrin V wheel adjustment looks to be behind the Z tracks and I don’t see a way to get to them to adjust.
Most likely you need to adjust the eccentric nuts on the bottom of the X-axis carriage so the V-wheels are in contact with the gantry rail. With the Z-plus unit removed from the machine, you should be able to easily access the eccentric nuts. Adjust them by about 1/8th turn at a time (clockwise preferably) until the lower V-wheels no longer spin freely and are lightly in contact with the V-profile on the rail.
If that doesn’t do it, let us know or reach out to support.
Hey thanks! I believe that’s what is going on too.
Thanks all for the input! The issue was the V Wheel eccentric adjustment. No more rocking.If you crash your machine, this should be something to check afterwards.
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