I recently purchased a used Shapeoko Pro XXL and did my first test cuts today. I wasn’t sure which Z design to select when configuring Carbide Motion–neither option (HDZ or Z-Plus) matches the design of my machine, based on the images I see online–so I selected HDZ and gave it a go with an extra wasteboard.
Long story short, the CNC is cutting too deep. I zeroed it manually to the top surface of the board, and it cut well over a millimeter below the bottom of the board. I’d greatly appreciate any help determining what I need to do/select to get accurate Z-value cuts. Thanks!
The Z Plus and the HDZ have different steps / mm, I think the HDZ has more. That would explain why you are moving too far.
Before you start cutting, go to the Jog page, and set your travel to 1mm. Each press of Z+ should move up by exactly 1mm, so go up say 10mm and then see if it actually did that.
Your pictures look more like a Z-Plus than an HDZ. As @mhotchin mentioned they have different amount of steps per MM.
However your pictures are similar to a Z-Plus but there are some thing missing. At the bottom is a pass through for the lead screw that I dont see. On an HDZ there is bearing at the bottom.
One other thing is on an SO3 the Z-Plus and HDZ rotate in opposite directions. Not sure about an SO4. On the SO3 picking the wrong Z will fail initialization because the first thing in initialization is the Z moves up to its home position. If you are passing initialization maybe the SO4 the Z-Plus and HDZ run in the same direction.
Hi Guy. Thanks for your input! The apparently missing piece is what had me stumped as well, when I looked at online photos of the HDZ and Z-plus units. The second of the two photos in my original post is a photo of the original assembly manual, so it doesn’t appear that I’m simply missing a piece–maybe it’s an earlier model? There are some other differences as well, like the recessed bolts. This Shapeoko Pro XXL machine was originally purchased new in March 2021, if that offers any clues.
Since it is used maybe ask the original owner if you can contact them. The part at the bottom of the Z-Plus really does not touch the lead screw so you can likely get away without that.
If this is something non standard then you can run a calibration and fix the steps per mm.
Looking at your pictures I would pick the z-plus. Then cut some pockets a specific depth. Then measure them. If they are deeper than you intended you would modify the shapeoko.json file. After modifying the Z in the shapeoko.json file you have to quit CM and I would power cycle the Shapeoko. Run your CC file again and measure and see if you are moving in the correct direction. You will just have to do this exercise over and over until you get to the depth you specified. You dont want to pocket the same hole over and over so move the pocket around and be sure to zero the Z each time. You can use a BitSetter or the paper method. I would use the paper method until you get things set and then try with the BitSetter to see if you can repeat your setup.
Buying a used machine can be a bargain but sometimes you have to straighten out what the previous owner did. In this case hopefully it wont cost you any money just time.
Thanks Guy. As I was trying to explain before, I don’t think this is something nonstandard, like a modification made by the previous owner. I have the Carbide 3D assembly manual that came with the machine in 2021 and it shows the same assembly that’s installed, without that part at the bottom of the lead screw. Here are some examples below. It sounds like I might need to reach out to Carbide 3D directly to figure out what I’m dealing with, unless someone else has a guess!
Even if this is just a regular z-plus and it is cutting too deep or too shallow the calibration is how you will fix this. Work with support to help you set your steps per MM for your Z. That way if you want a .5" deep pocket you get a .5" deep pocket.
My Z gantry, if that’s the right term, looks exactly the same. Probably just an older design. I wish I could tell you which I have, but I honestly have no idea and every time I’ve needed to setup the machine fresh I have to go back and forth to find the right one. I should really just write it down somewhere.
FYI to anyone who’s interested, I had a call with a very helpful support rep and they confirmed it’s just an older model of the Z-plus, and I was eventually able to get it working as expected. Thanks again for your replies!
Well please tell us how you were able to make it work. This forum is very informative not just for fixing your problem today but to help people further down the line. That is what makes it a community.
The fix wasn’t anything fancy–when configuring my machine, I selected the machine type (Shapeoko Pro XXL) and selected the Z-Plus as the Z design. When I had done this previously, the machine buried the bit in the wasteboard during initialization and I was worried about what you wrote before, about the Z-Plus and HDZ rotating in opposite directions. In hindsight, it seems like I must have made a mistake when setting up the Bitsetter. In any case, after talking with support and confirming that what I have really is a Z-Plus, I tried it again and everything worked as expected using the standard configuration for that model.
