I got sick of creating a job for using the Shapeoko as a router plane/sled for planing wood. I want to throw a piece of wood in the bed, manually set the Z and plane it down as quick as possible. I hate setting zero on the machine and hoping I didn’t screw it up when the bit setter offsets by where ever it hits on the button. So many things can go wrong in a job and a nice piece of wood is ruined.
So here’s what I do…I put the wood in the bed and manually set the Z using carbide motion. Then I unplug the motor cable to the X axis so I can manually move it around at reasonable pace like you would with a router sled. The Y motors I leave connected and jog with Carbide Motion.
Not having to wait for the relatively slow carbide motion jog speed when planing speeds things up immensely. I’ve done it a few times now and I don’t think it harms the machine (let me know if you disagree).
Usually, this phrase is used because one has a large chunk of wood with a lot of surface to flatten. “In a hurry” is usually the phrase that goes with that, too.
Who could disagree? You’d need to provide some of those sticky details that you “hate.”
I’m thinking that if you’re doing enough surfacing that you’re willing to disable parts of your machine to do it your way, then you could do with an additional tool called a sled that uses a standalone heavy-duty router; buy or make.
A router sled is a great idea! If only I already had such a mechanical device that could move around in X/Y while holding a router and that was already perfectly trammed…
Unplugging a stepper from a driver while it is on can damage the driver. It isn’t a guarantee that it will or will not damage it but I would not roll the dice. Especially if you burn out a driver you will have to replace the entire control board.
So, assuming it’s a belt drive machine, maybe leave the machine and spindle/router off, unplug all steppers (if necessary?), and manually move and adjust the spindle/router to the highest spot(s) - as would be done with a router sled?
Yup - being able to manually move the router/spindle quickly and easily in x and y should facilitate finding the high spot(s) to properly set Z zero.
Nice sled design approach though!
my thought on “free to move” is that would be a bad thing. Being free in the X axis would be controllable, if you hit a knot or something. Free in all axis could be exciting if you hit a knot.
Ideally it’s free in XY but not Z just like a normal router sled. Wonder if there’s a way to bring up the system so that only Z is being controlled by the software.
I like the suggestion of making the router sled and while it looks simple, it requires a large flat table, long flat rails and a flat sled. That’s a basically a shapeoko. The CNC already takes up a large part of my tiny shop so re-using it for other purposes is a must.
I don’t have a problem with generating tool paths, setting my zeros, and kicking back with a cold one while the machine does its thing. Although, instead of kicking back, I should be cleaning the shop.
If one must do this sort of thing, that is how we would suggest it.
It can be quite quick and kind of relaxing if done using a game controller on a stock/workholding setup where it isn’t necessary to worry about hitting the clamps.
Please note that that or using a formal toolpath are the only modes which we support for this — we strongly recommend against disabling power to an axis and moving the machine by hand out of safety considerations for both the user and the machine.
I am closing this thread, since I think everything possible has been said.
