When setting up my SP5, I squared the table measuring corner to corner. When moving the x-axis gantry to the front, It was 1.5" short of the full travel distance on one side. Similarly, when moving to the far back, it was 1.5" short on the other side. I measured both sides and they are the same length. When I tighten the table with the gantry forward and pressed against the tabs, as instructed in the manual, the table cross bars are heavily skewed.
I imagine it is better to have the full travel distance but this means one side is 1.5" more forward than the other. It sounds like my x-axis is not perpendicular to my y-axis. I have read others need to shim but 1.5" is more than I would like to correct with using aluminum foil and I haven’t seen this talked about on the 5 pro.
Has anyone else seen this amount of misalignment and what was your fix?
thanks!
Do not have the 5. The hybrid table should be the same as my XXL Pro. When I set up my machine I left everything loose—cross bars, “T” trac. Squared, started tightening, squared, “T” trac installed, tightened, squared as I was tightening. Once I had the original frame squared I had no issues. I just kept checking.
One and one-half inches? That’s an enormous amount. That has to be a problem with the way you assembled the machine. Have you inadvertently reversed a part during assembly?
Please note that the gantry has two separate positions for gantry shift:
Gantry Shift for Joinery
Some users like the machining area to come off the front of the machine to make edge machining, to make tenons or dovetails for example, easier. We’ve added a gantry shift option to the Shapeoko 5 Pro that allows you to move the gantry forward by 3.2". Users that want a little overhang can get it, while the majority of users get to keep the machining area directly over the table.
Could you have positioned one side at the front the other at the back?
Does having the gantry shifted forward limit the s5p in any other way? Or is it just a matter of preference and reguar milling can be done over the waste board in both positions?
Thanks for the considerations and things to think through.
The offset was substantial enough I thought the same - some part(s) had to be wrong. I confirmed the x-axis was on the back location on both sides and went through the manual checking every point I could find.
In reading other squaring posts, some had success running the machine. So, I loosed every table screw and the left-side gantry before running the gantry up and back. On the first travel backward, the left side was stopped while going back but the other side ran another inch before stopping.
I then squared corner-to-corner, clamped blocks to hold the frame in place, and tightened all front, back, and middle while moving the gantry to each.
From what I can tell, things are aligned within 1/16". I haven’t tried it for noise, binding, etc. (Christmas Eve and all…)
If I had to guess, the left side was not forward before mounting the x-axis for the first time. I consider myself a decent putter-togetherer with accuracy but can’t say for certain what caused the problem. Running the gantry back and forth and then measuring and locking in seemed to be the solution.
I had an issue with putting together my Pro XL last year where I got a wire caught between the extrusion and the end plate that made it not square. Took me a bit of time to figure that out. Might be worth a check.
