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.
I have been an electronics technician, field engineer, systems support engineer and certified systems administrator. So I have an extensive background in electronics and electrical problems. There is thing called the critical need sensor. The more critical the need the more likely for an outage.
I recently bought a crimping tool from Amazon. For most of my career I used those cheap sheet metal crimpers. This ratcheting tool is way beyond those cheap crimping pliers. Even though I had been doing this work for so long I watched a video on youtube that taught me something about crimping connectors. You never know what you dont know. Even though your work is done it might be helpful for others or use in the future.
In my case for the connectors that I used, there were no crimped connections. The wire is 6 gauge power in wire from the main breaker box to the secondary breaker box. The house has the main power wires coming from the power pole. Then my power comes off of a 100 double pull breaker. Then the wire runs back outside and underground all the way back 150 yards to my shop.
The type of connectors I had to use were #8-2 gauge screw type connectors with weatherproof shrink tube with sealer. The tube is slid down the wire, then the connector is attached with the wires going inside and the big heavy screw tightened to secure. then the tube is placed with the connector right in the middle and I had to use my gas torch to heat the tube down to size from center to end, then repeat on other side. The tube closes around the wire as sealer is pushed down all the way out the end of the tube. This sealer completely seals the wire throughout the tube.
Then when the wires are laid back flat, the dirt can be put back on top of it all to close up the trench. I wish I could have used just these smaller crimping connectors, but that wasn’t an option here. Each connector cost $15 each and I ended up needing 5 connectors. Then that one screwed up because it pulled out of the screw under tension and ruined the connection and seal. The last connector cost me $25 as well. I also bought weatherproof stretch tape for inside the tubes and some weatherproof sealant to help with what was available.
As a total on cost for the connectors, tapes, sealers, and gas back and forth running around all over looking for the connectors, I spent a total of $250. It was worth it to get these wires fixed, connected, and sealed. I don’t want to have to dig this back up and do any of it again. Like I said before, I would have preferred to run a single line wire all the way thru to the breakers, but that would have cost me a few thousand dollars to do. Not in my budget at this time. Maybe in the future if the connectors I used prove to be faulty, which I hope isn’t the case.
To make money one must spend money. I have spent a bunch on tooling for my machine as well. This wiring issue is just a step on fixing things correctly.
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.
