Hi everyone, very excited to be a part of the Shapeoko community!
Recently, I purchased a used Shapeoko 3 XXL and am starting to test it. These are the results from the Hello World run with an “Industrial Fine Point Sharpie” (ignore the border that was drawn separately once the paper was moved [this was a manual test]). Note, I did place the sheet of paper that I taped down to a piece of MDF that was clamped down to the bed.
I thought this was odd, but I wasn’t sure what could potentially cause this. So, I did take my digital level to measure to see if it was not level on the x-axis or y-axis. Results below. The numbers reflect the angle in degrees. If it is green with an up arrow, this means it was sloped upwards and if it is red with a down arrow, this means it was sloped downwards.
It was kind of cool to see, and you can see some general trends. I’m assuming if it was perfectly level, then we would expect to see the same angle across every measurement, but that is not the case. With that being said, every measurement was within 1 degree. I’m not aware what is considered okay (i.e., is it within 1 degree? 0.1 degrees? 0.01 degrees?).
I wish I took a picture of the paper in relation to the bed (but unfortunately I already moved it), but it was somewhere near the center. It was odd that some letters were completely non-existent (the E and first O), and some where light (the S and H).
Is there anything the community recommends I should test or do? Appreciate any and all support!
*Edit: In case it is helpful, this is what the bed looks like:
lay down a sheet of foam on the table the machine is on, and level that
restore the original MDF baseplate to the machine structure and adjust it to be as level as possible, starting with the endplates, then the Y-axis rails, then the gantry, then the carriage, lastly tram the spindle mount
as part of the tramming process, install a spoilboard which is roughly the size of the supported cutting area (plus surfacing tool diameter left/right, plus radius of tool at back) and surface it off as necessary during the process.
It may be the picture but an SO3 has a base board and a supplemental spoilboard on top of that. Without the base board you lose structural strength of the SO3 bed. The SO3 has a steel frame and on XXL it tends to sag in the center. You can fix the sag several ways. One is to put a block in the center. Another way is to remove the leveling feet and place a .75"/1.0" piece if rigid foam under the whole base of t he machine.
Although you are trying to run the Hello World the spoilboard has to be leveled and tram the spindle. There are lots of posts on doing both. The SO3 has a larger spoilboard area than the machine can cut. So when you level your spoilboard you will bet a ridge around 3 sides. That is not a big deal unless you want to tile. If tiling you will not have your material flat. The SO3 can come off the front quite a way so if you have a BitSetter I would remove it before leveling the spoilboard.
So first tram the router. That is done with several methods using dial indicators or 123 setup blocks. Then level your spoilboard. If you get ridges in either direction your router needs to be trammed again and the leveling done again.
If you have a BitSetter you can turn it off but you have to power down the SO3 and reinitialize. Turning off the BitSetter messes with the controller’s internal coordinates. You would use the paper method to z zero. Since you do not appear to have a base board be careful that you dont hit the steel frame in the front with the surfacing bit. Measure your spoilboard area and create a rectangle to match that measurement. Just be ready to hit the off button if you are going to hit the steel frame in the front. The sides and back are not possible to hit. I use a 1" Fly cutter from Whiteside. The model is 6210 but c3d also sells a carbide insert fly bit. There are many more on the market to get. You can use a smaller bit but it will take forever to cut the spoilboard down to level.
Thank you for all of the recommendations everyone! The terminology was a little lost on me since I’m pretty new to things, so I ended up watching and reading a few things until what you all were saying made more sense. So, a few follow-up questions!
I’ve been seeing more and more of the foam recommendation popping up for the XXL, so it’s a little comforting that it is a universal issue.
Is there a recommendation on the type of foam? I’m find a variety from very dense (anti-fatigue mats) to relatively light (Michaels).
Should the foam sheet extend beyond all edges of the Shapeoko? I was consider leaving a small lip so it would be easier to lift up in the future.
Dumb question, but once the legs are removed and the Shapeoko is placed on the foam, does it need time to level or is that pretty instantaneous?
@WillAdams/@gdon_2003: I want to make sure I’m doing this correctly based on the recommendations that the two of you provided. Would this be the correct order?
Remove MDF, t-tracks, and BitSetter.
Place foam on table.
Place Shapeoko back on top of foam.
Reinstall MDF and t-tracks.
Square frame (Timestamp: 1:50)
Level the y-axis rails (Timestamp: 2:35)
Check resistance of the carriage (Timestamp: 3:30)
Surface the board
Spoil board/Baseboard
I’m a little confused here, I’m going to check when I get back, but I thought the MDF slats and the t-track were the spoil board and there should be a layer underneath that is the baseboard. Or is what we see in the last picture the baseboard?
Tram spindle (Timestamp: 6:55)
Surface the board again.
Reinstall BitSetter
Should I redo/check the tension of the belts?
I watched these videos as an introduction (the first video is what I’m referring to in the timestamps above):
If you have a Shapeoko 4, then you’re good to go/ with the Hybrid T-tracks functioning as both workholding and structure and the MDF slats as spoilboard.
It shouldn’t be necessary to disassemble, but that’s probably the safest and most deliberate approach.
So just confirmed, there is a thin layer of wood (MDF?) directly below the t-tracks (you can kind of see it in the picture), would that be considered the baseboard and the MDF slats the spoil board?
Likely is the base board. When the SO3 was new it came from the factory with a 2 piece MDF base board. That base board was never intended to be used as your spoilboard. You would add a supplemental spoilboard on top of that base board. The base board holds the frame square and without it the steel frame is not supported. In your case seems someone added the t-track and mdf spacer between the t-track. A long time ago C3D sold a t-track and slat but have since discontinued it. If it is the factory base board it goes all the way to all 4 corners of the Shapeoko frame on the inside.
Just looked it over and that piece does go to all four corners! So to confirm, that means I should be good to go, right? I wouldn’t need to purchase a new spoil or base board, just would need to resurface slats?
Thank you! I have some extra tools coming in the mail and going to pick up some foam from Harbor Freight this weekend. I’ll slowly take apart the Shapeoko this weekend and hopefully can lift it. Haha.
I’ll keep the group posted on if I run into any issues.
