I have worked really hard at leveling the machine. When running Hello World the marker continues to not get to the paper on the right side. So I jogged the machine around to all 4 corners. The right side is exactly 1 mm lower than the left side. Also the front is like 1/2 mm higher than the back. I am not sure if it is the spindle or the wasteboard, but my question is will this small amount matter much, and how do I go about finding this small difference if it does matter. Thank you in advance for your help.
After you install your supplementary wasteboard (not the one that comes with the Shapeoko), you need to level it by running a pocket job that will remove enough material to make your wasteboard perfectly parallel to your gantry.
My supplementary wasteboard will be the T-Track and Clamp Kit, that will cover the entire wasteboard. So the spindle will not reach every area of the T-Track board. Does this matter at all. Also the pocket operation obviously needs to be deep enough to make up that 1mm, how deep can I go with the T-Track wasteboard? My initial thought will be to go 2mm. I don’t have the T-Track and Clamp it yet, but does it give me that much room to surface it?
Well, I don’t know the tickness of your supplementary wasteboard or the T-Tracks from Carbide but most T-Tracks I have purchased are around 1/2in thick. When you set your height, take into consideration the dip. One mm would be enough if you set your Z on the highest point and the difference is 1mm in order not to remove too much. If this is not enough after the first pass, you can remove another mm or so. To do a good job, you also have to ensure that your spindle sits precisely at 90deg to the wasteboard in both X and Y axis, if not, you will have scallops on your supplementary wasteboard. Also, ensure that your stepover is 40% or less to get best results.
Finally, there are special endmills for surfacing like this one from Whiteside https://www.amazon.com/Whiteside-Spoilboard-Surfacing-Router-Shank/dp/B071748JQN.
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