So I understand that the Shapeoko Pro has holes in the aluminum extrusions below the hybrid table to screw the machine into the table to secure it in place. That said before I do so I was working on my enclosure yesterday and when my eye was a table height I noticed a little daylight between the aluminum extrusion at the base of the hybrid table and the table surface itself. In other words if 3 corners of the Shapeoko Pro hybrid table are touching, the fourth corner of the machine has a little daylight between it and the table under it. Keeping in mind that it’s probably about 1mm on the entire span of the XXL model but just curious what would be the suggested approach and at what point should someone need to concern themselves with this? It’s possible that the hybrid table is slightly warped but I’m leaning more towards the torsion table I built is not perfectly flat.
In my case with less than 1mm of daylight do I just ignore this and screw it down?
Should I shim the spots that I can see daylight especially where the screws to secure the machine are?
What would be the recommended limit to this before issues could arise with the linear rails and also see tolerance issues in the projects itself?
Personally I’m thinking of adding some cork under the aluminum extrusion holding the hybrid table together to dampen the vibrations of the machine and over time it should pack itself and likely address the flatness of my DIY table + the flattening of the spoilboard.
Cork sounds like a great idea — a lot of folks have been using foam — I have two squares of Harbor Freight anti-fatigue mat under my XL, and am planning on getting a full set for my Pro when it arrives.
I would like to assume that the Pro is flat, and the table is out of level — my inclination would be to shim the gap and unless the table is significantly more rigid than the Pro ensure that there’s some give in the fastening so that the table (which could have a lot of leverage if the legs are fastened securely) can’t pull the machine out of square.
I really didn’t want to stress to much about this but was actually considering setting up some rails (struts) and run a manual flattening job on my table (hand router, flattening bit and I’m the human CNC).
However I’ll probably just use some metal shims, then add the cork under the aluminum extrusions and make some cork washers in combo with a metal washer and screw to secure it from above but very loosely as I would not want to add unnecessary stress to the Shapeoko’s bed as I wheel it around my uneven garage floor.
Put a level on the bed, it could be the table is not flat. If the bed is level put a shim under the corner. Dont make your machine not level if it is the table top.