XTool Rotary Accessory

1

Does anyone know if the Xtool Rotary will work on the Shapeoko 5 Pro? I contacted Xtool and they said due to the fact they didn’t make the Shapeoko, they cannot answer me. I have a Jtech 14 watt laser and was just wanting to add a rotary. The Jtech Rotary looks cool, but the Xtool looks even better. Thanks in advance.

2

The C3D controllers cannot directly control an rotary stepper. What some have done is make wiring changes and use one of the Y motors wiring to control the rotary. There are some here on the forum that have done it. To get a true 4th axis you will have to go with a 3rd party controller. If your machine is out of warranty that is ok but if it is still in warranty you void your warranty.

If you do make one of the Y motors for the rotary make a wiring harness that would be able to be unplugged and plug your original connectors back together. It is not likely you will use a rotary axis all the time. You will need different CAD software at least and possibly a different CAM/gcode sender.

3

Theoretically. In the end it is just a stepper motor. Questions I would have are:

  1. how many steps per revolution is it?
  2. Does the 5 have extra stepper drivers and can the me actuated bug code?
  3. Which XTool rotary are you talking and how would you got about securing it and the workpiece to it?
  4. Why XTool specifically and not something made to handle the forces of cnc whic are much higher than a laser?
4

That’s a good idea. I think I will just make my own wiring harness for it. I will be using lightburn for the rotary.

6

So you are adding or have added a laser head to your CNC. The thing about rotary work, I have XTools first gen CO2 laser, is those tumblers get up to like 110mm in diameter. So if your rotary sits on your workplane and then your tumbler sits on top of that, you need like 5”+ of Z travel to be able to put the laser head at focal length from the tumbler.

If I saw myself doing a lot of rotary work I would purchase one of their D1 machines and buy the kit from Geeks at Large that corners it to a dedicated rotary machine.