Any best practices for squaring my XXL? I’m nearing the final step and have a 1/8”-1/4” off square on the right side when facing the front of the machine and the same on the right side when facing the back of the machine. I’ve tried the instructions on the shapeoko website just need a bit more help.
The big thing is, work from large -> small:
- is the table level?
- endplates level and parallel to each other?
- Y-axis extrusions level and parallel to each other and plumb?
- Y-axis extrusion level and square to the X-axis extrusions and parallel to the end plates and plumb?
- carriage level and plumb/square to the X-axis extrusion?
- Z-axis spindle carriage plate level and plumb/square?
When you arrive at a point which isn’t level/parallel/square/plumb, examine the connections to see what’s causing things to not line up. It may be as simple as loosening the connector in question and pulling things square. If not, things to try:
- clear powder coat out of holes (actually enlarge holes only if necessary)
- shim the extrusions if need be (or, stack them, mark them with a marker, and draw file them to be square if need be)
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The main “thing” that I did when I put mine together was to NOT tighten a set of bolts until that assembly was put together.
The idea is to allow the squared machined edges to align themselves. Then tighten the set of bolts a little bit at a time while checking the square as you’re tightening.
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@wmoy has produced a video on YT to explain how to do this.
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I had the same identical squaring issue with my XXL, with the right side of the x-rail out of square by 1/4". Thanks to Will and the support group, they suggested a simple procedure to identify which screws/connections were causing the problem. First, loosen all connections to the waste board, the front and rear brackets and between x/y rails and end plates. Pull the X rail forward to touch left/right front bracket and square. Then starting with the rear bracket and Y rails, tighten the 4 screws at each connection. Watch for movement out of square for each screw you turn. Continue to front bracket and Y rails, then to X rail. Eventually, you will turn a screw to tighten a connection that will pull the X rail out of square. For me, that was the two front screws on the right side connection of the X rail to the end plate. I shimmed those two screws with a #12 washer (1/16"-1/32" thick). There was a slight over adjustment to square, but when I then tightened the left X rail/plate, it pulled everything back into perfect alignment. Finally, continue tightening the waste board connections. In the end, I slid the X router carriage from left to right, measuring the distance from the front bracket to the point of a “V” bit. While I have occasional OCD issues of my own, it was well within my tolerance limit of 1/32’ using a tape measure.
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