I’m going to be moving a few states away in the near future and I’m curious if there’s any advice with how to move my machine (Shapeoko 3 XXL)? I’ve already removed all the cords that don’t run through the cable way (power to the machine, router, data, etc). Is it safe to stand the machine on its side and zip tie the gantry into a single corner? should it remain horizontal? I’m trying to avoid disassembly of the whole machine if I can.
Sorry if this is in the wrong section of the forums.
I have moved two SO3 and XXL and XL. I just removed the router and put them in the back seat of my 4 door pickup. If that is not practical then they are easy to disassemble. When getting to the final destination just square it up and start machining.
The SO3 XXL has a defect built in. The middle of the steel frame sags. So there are a couple of solutions. The first is to just put a block of wood under the center. The way I used was to remove the leveling feet and put a piece of 3/4 or 1" foam insulation under the XXL. The foam has worked well for me. Plus I built a torsion box under that and on top of my table.
The best thing of course would be to disassemble the machine and pack it back into the original boxes.
If that’s not an option, then you should:
With the weight off the frame it should be safe to move it, so long as it isn’t stood on a corner — I’d recommend not standing it on edge — keeping it horizontal would be better. Be sure to cover the V rails so that the don’t get dinged.
The power supply often goes missing, so be careful of it and the cord when packing, as well as the hardware.
If you have an old 1/4” end mill or 1/4” probe pin, drill a 1/4” hole in a piece of wood with a drill or drill press. Put the old end mill or probe pin in the collet of the router/spindle. Push the board over the end mill or pin, lower the Z somewhere around the middle of the waste board and screw the board down the waste board. I’ve moved my S3 a couple times like that.
Unfortunately the original boxes are long since gone to the recycling facility so thats not a possibility. Ill have to look at remocing the rails for transport. Id prefer to send it in the moving truck but may have to settle for in the bed of the truck
I’ve moved my SO3XXL a couple times long distance… So I made my table into a dolly on its side to put into my trailer. Used some foam & velcro straps to keep things from moving around much & provide support.
The big concern with moving is that things be secured sufficiently well, and the jostling be limited enough that the Delrin V wheels aren’t stressed to the point of failure — which can damage the V rails.
I just moved my SO5 across town. I removed the router and then screwed down the unit to the table using 2x4’s crossing the y rails, and more blocking around the xrail to lock it in place. Covered with a tarp, and then the whole thing was rolled into a 7’ dump trailer. It went much better than I expected, considering it weighs about 500 pounds all told, with the table.
