This is not the most In-depth review but it is something to show it in use. I will have a more in-depth review once I have used it for some more serious jobs.
Thanks Stephen, does the extra height of the z axis mechanism, especially with the high mounted stepper and its weight contribute to the âswayâ you are describing?
Looked at the specs for that one, it says has 6â travel, but when I asked vendor he couldnât say how that translated into actual working height on the Shapeoko 3. Did you see an increase from the stock 3â travel and if so did you get 6â
Youâre limited by the space between the baseboard and the underside of the plate. That said, if you took out the bottom of the SO3, you would be able to reach further.
You still have additional travel above the X axis rail, that would accommodate the length of the bit. The trouble I have now is when Im working on. 3â block, you only have room for a 1.5â bit, unless you move the router up in the mounting clamps. Then you have to move it back down when you switch back to thinner material. Having that additional travel helps.
Thanks for the reply, sounds like this will help my application.
No, I think it is mainly just the lack of bolting on in how the Z axis is attached. I removed the Z axis and tested it and sure enough that X plate has significant sway without those aluminum rails attached to it.
Yes, you can get additional travel but you would need to use UGS or bCNC to configure the extra Z travel as Carbide Motion ignores any changes you make to Z travel. I wish it didnât because at the moment I still use Carbide Motion because it is just overall easier to use. Maybe we could get a feature request @WillAdams ?
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I agree with the feature request of being able to manually enter the working envelope of the machine. There are other reasons beyond extended Z, like finding center of the machine, etc⌠I like my current CM4 workflow, but I have a CNC4Newbie slider sitting on my bench, part of the reason I havenât installed it is because of the lack of CM4 support.
Hadnât thought about how removing the original Z rails would affect stiffness, this is good to know. Great observation!
Thanks,
Dan
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No problem and I will be definitely putting this thing to the test today. It is cutting up some .5" thick acrylic blocks now and I will be cutting some .04" aluminum sheet after it is done. I will have more definitive answers on how well it works/doesnt work later today.
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