Okay, I’m going to try this one more time. I will be calling to speak to someone @Carbide3D today, but I just can’t believe I am the only Pro Standard user on these forums, so here is my final plea to the community: PLEASE tell me why there are no specific instructions pertaining to the Pro Standard and Carbide Motion and Carbide Create setup and job creation?
It’s pretty frustrating not finding your machine, a $2800 machine, in any selection boxes while following the instructions, and when you DO follow the instructions as written, the machine tries to tear itself apart.
Yeah, I get it, I’m probably doing SOMETHING wrong, right? Well, then, if I am doing something wrong, it should be VERY easy to spot it and fix it, right? Well, it would be much easier if there were defined selections for my machine, right?
BTW, is it normal to have oil dripping from the Z-rails?
So far, this is my worst experience with a machine, and that includes building 6 different 3D printers starting back when they were hitting the DIY market (about 5 years ago).
Hopefully support will help you with assembly issues. The oil will drip for a little while. The bearings have wipers that keep dust out of the bearings. New units have a small excess of oil that drips down on your spoil board. When you get ready to machine wipe the bottom of the rails off with a paper towel until it quits. Suggest leaving a paper towel under carriage during times not in use until it stops.
I haven’t looked too hard, but search shows there doesn’t look to be anyone with a Pro Standard on the forum other than yourself, so it looks like you are indeed trailblazing for the community! As such, I know most forum members would love to assist in some way, but we I don’t think we (the community) can tell you why there are no instructions.
(edit: looks like a fellow Pro Standard owner has helped you out in the other thread! best of luck - let us know if it gets you cutting things )
I have spoken with someone from Carbide3D, and I have had a response from another Pro Standard owner who actually had the primary answer I was looking for - turns-out that the correct travel dimensions for the Shapeoko Pro Standard are the same as the Shapeoko 3 Standard, which DOES have an entry in the defaults in Motion. We’ll see what happens!
FWIW, I have the XXL, and I had to fine tune my dimensions. This is due to variability in the homing switches, and consequently each machine has a slightly different home location (your machine will be consistent though). The final dimension is then the distance between your home location, and the physical stops. I just inched my machine until it was ~1mm from the end stop, and set my dimensions there. This was all necessary because I wasn’t able to reach the bit zero with the stock dimensions.
Instructions and just general documentation doesn’t appear to be a priority for Carbide3D. It seems to be limited to Winston creating a video and posting it to YouTube. I’ve been disappointed with the lack information published by C3D also.
As a first time CNC user, but with a background in engineering, I found the assembly experience very straight forward. This is very big since the internet has told me that CNC assembly is a nightmare, and yet the Shapeoko Pro went together so easily. The only complaint I have is with some QC issues involving wiring. Some of connectors don’t fit well (z limit switch) and the y-axis motors were backwards.
While I agree that documentation should be provided, I think a video is probably more helpful. Documentation always seems to be written by gnomes who’ve never actually assembled the thing. With a video, you see the nuance of the installation, and that makes your life a lot easier.
Not to be condescending, but some of the issues that people have, pale in comparison to actually making things with a CNC. Sometimes you just have to put in a little effort to figure it out. And if you’re having a brain fart, both this forum and the customer service have always been helpful for me.
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