I bought a Shapeoko 5 Pro at the end of last year and I also ordered the hybrid table. The hybrid table seems good for the most part, but there are a few occasions where I have to become creative in making my material holding work. During my time researching different aspects of my machine, different types of projects, and overall fundamentals of running the machine and designing in Carbide Create Pro, I have seen many a’ machine with either the hybrid table or the MDF spoil board table.
Now, my question is, which table type seems better from your perspective? I would like to hear other people’s opinions about why they believe the hybride table or the MDF table is a better choice. Me having the hybrid table on my machine at this time, I was thinking about going ahead and making the MDF table top and installing the screw sets and machining in the grid, as well, into the MDF table top. I’m thinking a 2" x 2" square grid hole pattern for the screw locks, and the same size for the grid across the top.
Give me the pro’s and con’s of what you have experienced, learned, or even desired to want to know as well about these types of table tops.
I was even thinking about installing a drop in rotary jig for machining full 3D designs on round lumber or logs. It wouldn’t function as a lathe, but it would give me opportunities to mount 4 sided and 3 sided pieces of wood to be machined on each side.
Looking forward to each and everyone’s input on their thoughts of the table types.
You have a 5Pro with a lot of head room. Just drop a ¾" spoilboard with a 2x2 grid of threaded inserts on top of that. (Add a vacuum table in the same manner.) When you need additional head room, just take off the top spoilboard.
I’ve been running a 2x2 threaded spoilboard since “Hello World” without a single significant regret on my 2019 3XXL. I can only wish for enough head room to get a 4th axis.
If I run a spoil board on top of the hybrid table wouldn’t I have to compensate the height difference in each program design by the thickness of the spoil board as well.
For example; wouldn’t I have to add 3/4" to the height in work setup to account for this 3/4" increase in the table height? So, instead of inputting stock height to the thickness of my board, (say 3/4"), I would have to add the 3/4" plus the 3/4" of the spoil board making my material height setup needing to be set at 1 1/2" instead?
I also wondered before if I could add spacers to the gantry of my machine to increase the clearance height. A 3/4" aluminum spacer machined to the exact height of each other and then added between the gantry and the Y axis rails with longer bolts might do the trick. This way the machine would have two adjustments that would cancel each other out if I added a 3/4" spoil board to my hybrid table top. Can this be done without compromising the machine in any way and would that void out the warranty to the machine because alterations were made to change the original design of the machine?
By added the spacer alone, one could increase the gantry clearance height by 1" if one wanted to, and that would increase clearance by 5 1/2" instead of 4 1/2". Then cutting away the table top for a drop rotary insert would bring total clearance to a possible working area of up to 8". That would open up possibilities for more complex designs to be ran on the machine. It would also open up an area that could later be retro fitted for a 4th axis if Carbide 3D decided to offer a 4th axis add-on to our Shapeoko 5 Pros.
I knew that and feel like I had one of those brain farts there for a minute. Wouldn’t matter how tall the table was just as long as the material was zeroed out to the machine. Then when the machine touched off on the bit setter, it still would be good to go for operations.
I would like to just add my MDF board to the hybrid table just because I would have to find a place to store the hybrid table if I changed it out. I don’t know why I even concern myself with storing it because I have built a section under my machine for storing such things as the hybrid table pieces. Think I answered my own question about using the MDF with or without the hybrid table top.
I was also looking into seeing who may have ran into issues either way. I also need to tram my spindle and then surface the MDF to make sure everything is perfectly squared up to each other. I didn’t think about this being an issue until I read the thread about tramming the spindle and realized that I didn’t check this or calibrate in any way, shape, or form. I have a big project that requires a big piece of wood and I have to true up the top surface of the board first so the detailed cuts won’t be too deep from high spots or non-existent because of low spots.
The Hybrid T-track is a significant portion of the structure and the weight of the machine — I don’t think we sell many SO4s w/o it.
A supplemental spoilboard on top of it makes more sense, esp. on an SO4 or Pro or gantry-shifted SO5 Pro where the entire surface of the MDF filler strips can’t be machined — if you’re concerned about height, remove the MDF slats and secure directly on top of the aluminum.
I just have an SO3 with an MDF spoilboard with 2" spacing and 1/4=20 tee nuts. I use cam clamps mostly but also use the C3D gator/tiger clamps and recently bought the basic green ones. The combination of all the above make clamping anything possible with several combinations. I also sue the painters tape and super glue a lot. So adding a supplemental spoilboard makes a lot of sense for flexibility of clamping a variety of material. When you dont want the supplemental spoilboard you just remove it because when you design it you put holes in at the t-track spacing and remove it. For my SO3 I had 1/4" holes in the spoilboard when cutting a new one and put 1/4=20 brass threaded inserts in so I could secure the supplemental spoilboard. I used a countersing tool to make the flat head screws holding the spoilboard down low enough so I can surface the supplemental spoilboard far enough so it is time to replace the whole thing.
There are may ways to skin a cat but in the end you have a skinned cat.
I think I’m a little lost then when you say the hybrid table is a significant part of the structure of the machine. Thought I had to pay extra for the hybrid table when I bought my Shapeoko 5 Pro? So, my understanding was that the hybrid table was optional, thus meaning the T-rails and MDF board slats were not necessarily needed when I bought my machine, thus allowing me the option to go ahead and purchasing an MDF board and fitting it to my machine’s under-railing? Am I correct on this assessment or no? I do understand that the T-rails do help with the structural integrity of the machine, but so would the MDF board as well.
I think some of what I am dealing with is worrying about reducing the amount of cutting height of my machine by adding extra layers to the table. Adding a 3/4" MDF on top of the already taller hybrid table, I reduce the clearance height of the gantry by 3/4", thus, reducing my total cut height to under 4". No matter how high the spindle can be moved and adjusted, I am still limited to what the gantry will clear. That is why I also asked about adding machined spacers between the gantry and Y-axis rails, and would that void out any warranty to my machine for said alterations?
Maybe I’m overthinking this but spending so much money on a machine and then even more reducing efficient cutting area, makes for one to get a bit frustrated that working surfaces can not even cut a true 4x4. Then that causes an owner to have to work lumber more to reduce it’s overall thickness below standards of wood that one buys at the lumberyard.
An ideal setup for cutting thicker boards and full clearance heights would be being able to cut standard boards that are 6" tall, but because I don’t know if adding a height increasing spacer would void out the warranty, I do not move forward with said alterations. If the alterations could be completed, I could setup my machine to be able to machine 6" tall lumber, allowing me to cut deeper 3D models, (of course with tool clearance in mind), and/or cut 4 sided setup models, corbels, rail pockets, etc.
So, by being able to reduce the hybrid table height, and increase the gantry height, within limits that the machine can still function properly, one could possibly get a total clearance of 6" plus. But maybe this is all just wishful thinking and a gantry height increase would be null and void because it would void out the warranty.
The Hybrid Table has never been optional for the Shapeoko 5 Pro.
The machine can cut a full 4x4’
It’s your machine, you can swap out the Hybrid table, add risers, etc. if that makes it more useful to you. Since it’s just a few bolt on mechanical parts, I don’t think it’s likely to damage the machine but the machine may or may not perform properly. If you have have any problems under warranty that could be related to these modifications, we’ll probably say “put it back to normal and then we can help debug it.”
I know I have limitations on my cut height due to the full travel of the Z axis ball screw. Then again, I have a bit leeway because I can move the locking location of my spindle. So, things can be adjusted to accommodate within limits.
I do appreciate your all’s help. Working my limits of my machine allows me to know the true limits of my machine and this helps me when I am trying to sell a design with someone and I know how far I can and can not take my machine. Knowing my limits also allows me to know my design limits. Thanks again for the input.
One option for a SO5 Pro is to do the gantry shift, then clamp your part at the front of the machine — if things are less than 3.2" in the narrowest dimension you can use the entire range of Z-axis motion for cutting.
Well, got into my shop three days ago and started having electrical issues. First thought my shop vac broke on me. Then ran my 5Pro while I was taking apart my shop vac to see if it was repairable. Didn’t find a single thing wrong with it. Put back together and was still running a little funny. Then the next day I got the vac to run and cleaned up the sawdust on my machine. Decided to replace my truck door hinge and had to cut a jack block to support the bottom of the door.
My compound miter saw wouldn’t work. Then I switched to the table saw and it wouldn’t work. The extension cord was lit but once anything was turned on the light would go out and nothing came on. I grabbed my multimeter and started testing the circuit breakers, because anytime I tried to run something on that line it would cut power.
I went back to the main breaker box and tested everything in there. The tests were good, so I headed back to the shop breaker box again. Upon further testing I found that one leg of my wires coming into my shop was bad. Figured that I was going to have to dig up this whole wire and replace the total length of it from the house to the shop, (we’re talking 150 yards out.) This was not what I was wanting to do.
Called my Dad and was talking to him about it and he informed me that there was a wire junction just down the line between 5 and 20 feet from the trench where the wire comes in. So, now I am digging to find the wire. I come across it 20 feet out about 33" deep. Now I will have to dig back towards the shop at least 18" wide and this 33" deep to find this junction to replace the busted waterproof setup. In the meantime, my shop is completely down. I can’t run a single tool in the shop. Plus I can’t see in there other then having the doors open.
This is why I bought more wire than I needed when I wired my workshop into the power. Most electrical problems are mechanical. And I put it into PVC conduit buried at least 24" deep. Its a bitch to repair well, so don’t scrimp on it now that you have it uncovered.
I wish I had been the one wiring the shop in with the buried cable. I would have made sure to have enough wire to complete the whole distance in one cable. I did find the cable junction after digging the trench for 10 feet. I was told the junction should be at the bottom of the hill coming from the shop.
So, I went down at first to 10 feet and started to dig and remembered the “bottom of the hill” thing and moved down to 20 feet out. I found the cable, but no junction, which I kinda expected. So, I dug back toward the shop in two feet sections at a time connecting to the previous hole. Finding the junction was as expected. The seal was broken and water had gotten into the joint and grounded all the wire together.
I found the waterproof underground connectors and will be installing them tomorrow hopefully without any issues. Then its off to test everything before burying the wires again. The hardest part is the land around here is loaded with rocks and to dig is rock central. Lets hope this fixes my issue and I dont mess up any of the three connectors.
You are correct Will. I updated Carbide Create and now that line is gone. I realized I was behind in many of my updates to Carbide Create Pro. I was still running build 756 and this last update took me all the way up to 768. Thank you.
I finally got the electrical wiring issue done at my shop. Was one of the most frustrating things to deal with. After digging a trench and finding the failed junction, I had to find connectors that would make the proper connection and to waterproof them as well. I had a wire that was short because of a bit of melting of the wires in open areas.
I had to put a jumper wire in one of the lines because it was too short, which meant that I would have two sealed connectors on this line. I couldn’t do anything else unless I was willing to dig up the complete wire and replace it with a continuous wire from panel to panel. Didn’t have the money for that much wire and didn’t have the machinery to do all of the heavy digging. So, I opted to make the connections with weatherproof sheathing. Problem was finding the connectors and the number of them that I needed.
After making all of the connections and heat shrinking the tubes on, I thought I was good to go and when I removed the board under the wires that I used to stay out of the mud, the shortest wire yanked out of the connector. I knew I was probably screwed at this point. It was late Saturday and many of the stores are closed on Sunday here. I also knew that none of the stores around had anymore connectors because I bought what they had.
I ended up buying a shrink tube for a bigger connector and was worried it wouldn’t shrink down to size around the wire I needed sealed. Finally, something came together. Sunday, the connector worked, the tube shrunk like it was supposed to do and everything was finally sealed. Tested everything to make sure that there was going to be no trouble and then buried the wires.
Yay! The shop is back up and running. Just took longer then I expected, and gave me more trouble then expected as well.
