Shapeoko 5.1 pro, Just put together, issues and solutions.
This is my First CNC machine, I saw the sale for Black Friday I was planning on purchasing this in February 2026, But couldnt beat the price plus the leg kit was a no brainer. I plan on using it to make parts for boat building.
Here is my experience in putting the Shapeoko 5.1 pro With leg kit. The leg kit was delayed a month in being delivered.
HDZ, had issues with the vfd spindle holder being too tight, I had to use a pry bar to open it enough to fit the spindle.
S5 Controller, would not power on, could hear power arc’s when the power cable was touched. I opened it the power connector pins were not soldered to the board, and a 3d printed band around the power cable housing was not fully secured. One of the screws was only driven halfway. I used a soldering iron and added solder to power pins in the board. Tested it and now unit would power up. Before putting it back together I used hot glue around the 3d printed band holding the power cable housing and then tightened the screws down. the power cable no longer rocks and no more arcs.
Screw not driven fully
Solder did not seat at the board only at the tip of the connection no solder touching the board
to little solder none touching the board
Used the guide Shapeoko 5.1 Pro Assembly Manual 2025-12-15
Next in the step 3.7 3. the m6x20mm screws on the shcs were swapped with the roundhead screws on the mount.
Next the wiring harness mounts were not installed on the y-left shcs and y-right shcs assembly and were not discussed in the instructions.
Next I was short 1 M6x10 Flat Head Screw for the waste board
After assembly and fixing issue with the controller. I start going thru the caride motion guide. Had a issue the x axis was binding before it could get to its home position. First I remove the stepper motor. test make sure it can spin and the HDZ was still binding. Next I lightly loosen the 4 screws holding the motor mount. Test manually move the HDZ and no longer binds. With the HDZ as close to the motor mount I re-tighten the motor mount and mount the xmotor and it now moves correctly. Restarted the Carbide motion guide and no more issues.
Past all of that It is working and have already run a project thru, to bad the plywood I used was awful and most of the parts I made fell apart. I also did a test on a larger part of the plywood that was going to be waste and did engraving of a cat my sister-in-law drew. and that came out Great for a first run and test.