I keep reading about this, but I didn’t have to shave mine. Weird
1 Like
I haven’t hooked mine up yet (waiting for collet reducer) but it SEEMS as though if it’s rotated just right it would clear it. I guess I won’t know for sure until it’s actually done. Good to know you didn’t have to.
Mine is not shaved down, you can turn it to an angle where it does not hit.
1 Like
Did you order the NO normally open or NC normally closed version?
Thanks for any guidance!
@ErikJenkins awesome! Was yours between the sticker opposite the serial # sticker and the on/off switch? That’s where mine seems to clear.
The serial number sticker is facing the front…towards the right…I’ll take a picture and post sometime this evening.
@ChadForrester. Here you go.
This is just to show how I’ve got the speed sensor, power and LED wires routed. I painted my dewalt just for the heck of it. 
Here is an overall view of the sensor placement inside the DWP6111. I removed the speed control circuit rather than modify it. It is pretty straightforward, and I tool plenty of pictures in case I want to put it back together. I did have to add the blue insulated splice. The black and red wires are coming from the LED circuit. As far as I can tell, this is just two white LEDs in series. I’m running them with 9V DC from my main control box via a switch and a 150 ohm resistor.
Here is a more detailed view of the sensor placement. I painted one half of the DWP611 spindle with white-out as per the Super PID instructions.
Here is my main control box. I’ve got more switches than necessary, but I like to have lots of switches. Most of the switches are self explanatory, except the open-close. This allows you to switch off the closed-loop speed control for trouble shooting. Not really needed, as a switch, but again I like lots of switches.
Here is a view inside the control box. It is a little messy, but seems pretty solid. I hacksawed a piece of aluminum for the heatsink and added a ribbed heatsink I had in my junk box. I’ve got the 24V power supply supplying the grbl shield, the fan, and two adjustable DC-DC buck converters that I got off of amazon. One of them is supplying 5V to run the low voltage electronics of the Super PID, and the other is supplying 9V for the LEDs. Running all the DC electronics from the 24VDC supply assures that they all share a common ground, and that the grounds are connected in a a branching pattern so as to avoid loops. The PWM output of grbl shield is connected to the SuperPID so that the speed can be controlled via software. The only problem I’ve run into is that the lowest PWM output is interpreted by the SuperPID as 5000 rpm, rather than off. I’ve got a solution to that in the works.
Here is a closer view of the SuperPID wiring, showing the two DC-DC buck converters hot-glued to the side of the enclosure.
Hope that all helps. I highly recommend the Super PID. It is costly, but seems very well made. Also having true RPM feedback via the sensor provides better speed control at lower speeds than the current sensor based methods used by the built-in speed controllers.
4 Likes
@ErikJenkins @AlanDavis Hooked up the Dewalt 611 today and did not need to sand or shave. It just clears the top plate by about the thickness of a sheet of paper and I don’t foresee any issues. As you can see, it’s all the way up to where the limit switch is activated. The Dewalt 611 is rotated to where the on/off switch and the warning sticker are facing the plate.
What setting on the Dewalt speed dial are you using, say for plywood or pine?
1 Like
Looks good…just about the same orientation as mine.
For pine, I am using mine at setting 5 with a 1/8" or 1/4" bit. I adjust the feedrates based on how much material I am removing…usually between 50-100 ipm…I prefer shallower cuts and faster feedrates, but you will have to play to see what works best for you.
1 Like
Thanks for the settings, I’ll give those a try. I did have to bump up my POTS a quarter turn for the Z axis. Something I probably had to do anyway. But afterwards the test run went perfectly.
Now I’m really interested in this 12VDC input that @AlanDavis is talking about to auto turn on/off the Dewalt 611.
Alan, can you upload a parts list/links to buy the 12VDC input and housing unit you have? Any other parts necessary? I would love to add this to my xcarve!
The box I used from my work inventory, not possible to find it. But solid state relay, you have two options. First you can purchase from Inventables, it is good price and good one. The second option is This;
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00WV7GMA2?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00
I have already received this, but didn’t have chance to try yet.
Does anyone with the 611 adjust the speed control when cutting wood? I have been leaving it near the 4 setting for pretty much everything with the exception of increasing the speed to 6 if I am using a 1/16 or 1/32 cutter.
Are there any other variables (type of wood, type of bit) I should be taking into consideration for speed adjustments?
UPDATE:
I did the chip load calculations and it turns out setting 4 (21,000 rpm) is way to fast for most cuts with 1/4 inch bits (or smaller) with the feedrates we can achieve (i.e.under 150 inches per minute).
CNC Speed Calculator.xlsx (14.6 KB)
The chip loads can be modified for the Depth of cut like this:
DEPTH OF CUT: 1 x D Use recommended chip load
2 x D Reduce chip load by 25%
3 x D Reduce chip load by 50%
I can add those adjustments to the spreadsheet, but does anyone ever use a DOC of the cutter diameter (I cannot even imagine using a DOC of twice the cutter diameter)
1 Like
To answer in reverse order, you should be taking the hardness of the wood, your feed rate, and the bit you’re using.
Also, someone’s going to mention the G-Code Wizard/Calculator, so it might as well be me:
That said, I’m a “4” man as well. I basically just adjust it by ear, and mostly I’m cutting plywood or MDF, which are fairly forgiving.
1 Like
Yah, I just adjust as it goes and see how it’s cutting…been working well so far.
Depending on what I’m cutting, on foams and plastics I go down to 1 or 2 or I melt the product. For soft woods 4 and hard woods like red oak I bump it all the way up. You can listen to it cutting and adjust on the fly
Yah, I was cutting some wenge this weekend, I had that thing cranked all the way up!
Hey I installed my dewalt 611 the same way. No clearence issues. But now I can’t get the z axis to move… U mentioned u bumped up the speeds. How would I do that.? I have the normal motors for the 1000mm x carve and everything else moves great but when I try and move the z axis it can’t do it. Even by hand when it’s un plugged I can move it but it takes all my strength. Any help? Thanks in advance.
-Matt DiResta.
Yes, I noticed my z axis got a little tighter, similar to you where it was difficult turning it by hand. I adjusted the z axis pot about a 1/4 turn and it corrected the motor power. However turning the z axis by hand is still difficult so I use my up and down controls in Easel for most z axis changes now.
Here’s how to adjust the pots:
The biggest change was on the lower half of the acme rod where it had difficulty. The upper half wasn’t as bad.
I’m hoping inventables follows through with producing the z axis knob because I still find it necessary to turn by hand.
I’ve had the 611 for some time now and did the knob through the mount mod for pushing in the spindle lock, but I can’t force myself to sand down the case to clear the Z axis mount. I bought my 611 from Lowe’s with an extended warranty and this is part of the reason for not sanding. Will sanding void the extended warranty? Also Pike_Lake looking at your pictures - where is your lock button in relation to the mount? below or did you modify to be able to push it in?
Some people found easy way to do it… Router doesn’t have to stay 3 o’clock or 9 o’clock. If your cable looking to the right side, just twist your router counter clock wise until you clear the mount.