Old ShapeOko 2 user

It’s actually someone on the Shapeoko forums that told me I should come here instead, since I have a Shapeoko 2, not 3.

For the instructions, I have them saved locally on my laptop, so they’re easy to find. It’s also good to know for the NEMA17 motors, thanks.
I’ll have to see if I still have the braided sleeving. I originally only had set up the machine quickly just to test if the connections were good but then for health reasons I stopped working on it. I never tidied it up.

Thanks for the link for PCB milling, also. But PCB software are a nightmare for me. The simplest I found is Pad2Pad, but it can’t export to Gerber unless I buy the PCBs from them. FreePCB is nice because you can take pre-made footprints (whatever those are) of electronic parts and add them to the board, but I can’t place them exactly where I want, they’re always stuck on some type of predefined grid that I can’t get rid of.

As I said earlier, I’m good with understanding electronics, writing schematics, and soldering! But I can’t find an easy-to-use, free PCB software that can allow free placement of standard electronic parts, that also allows export to Gerber and Excellon files. If anyone has suggestions for such a software, I’d really appreciate it!

You might see if you can get screen grabs of your Pad2Pad designs and then use some other program like inkscape to create vector output by tracing the image. You might have to fiddle with the scaling a little, but it might be worth trying.

Harry, that’s a wonderful idea and I think it might have worked.
The following post is the SVG I got from doing a screen copy of Pad2Pad, then saving it as PNG, importing this in InkScape and saving it as a SVG file.
Now I’m playing around with it on Easel but it looks weird…

drawing2

Well, I wasn’t expecting the SVG to show up this small… It seems to be placed on a 8.5"x11" page that I cannot remove. I’ll have to find how to save the SVG with only the PCB on it.

Edit: Found it.

It isn’t the copper swarf you need to worry about - it is the fiberglass dust! Seriously, a painter’s mask will not save you from it. It also requires carbide bits and will wear them.

If you can stand to use phenolic PCBs and can find a source, I’d suggest at least starting with them.

Our makerspace, OlyMEGA, was given a Shapeoko 2 back when they were giving one away to a makerspace in every state. As expected, everyone was excited to assemble the kit, but lost interest when it got to aligning and getting it actually working.

So I found it sitting on a table, covered in stuff. I found most of the bolts were loose. I took it home to make a torsion box base for it, tighten and align everything. I swear, that is all I was going to do…

A year later, it has the torsion box base. Which sits in a box with the electronics and power supplies, with a pullout tray for a laptop. Cable chains everywhere. Upgraded Z axis, upgraded motor with speed control. Dust cover. Someone else said they were going to install a dust capture system, but that hasn’t happened and it has been another year.

I don’t know if you can see this: https://www.facebook.com/pg/olymega1/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1033826970037988

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For dust control, spread a layer of mineral oil on the board before carving. It doesn’t need to be dripping off, just thick enough so it pools together. It’ll tend to follow the bit around somewhat, too. The thicker the oil the better. I’m pretty sure I’m using stuff that was labeled for A/C repair.

Thank you Steven and Brian for your suggestions.

I tried connecting with Easel, but setting up the machine doesn’t work. It says “plug the USB and start your machine”, so I do, but it doesn’t do anything. Actually, the gShield LEDs start flashing and I can hear the NEMA motors do a silent “thud”, at a pace of about once every 3 seconds.

I unplugged everything, then re-plugged and tried with Universal g-code sender. It worked! I see I have grbl 0.9a installed, though. I thought I updated it to another version back in 2014 ??? So I’m wondering… EDIT I successfully updated to 0.9g, UGS shows this version now. I noticed that there are also versions 0.9i and 0.9j but I’m not sure if I should go there…

For use with Easel, is there a minimum grbl version to have? Any suggestions on this?

I have been using the stable version 1.0.9 without problems.

https://winder.github.io/ugs_website/download/

Thank you Martin, my UGS installation is fine. I was talking about the grbl version.

Well, Easel now recognizes my ShapeOko 2, so I drew a line in Easel and without placing any material or spindle, I sent the code to the machine, and it worked!

Next step: securing a bit of plywood on the machine, maybe go buy a Dewalt 660 (seems to be a popular one) and get things rolling for a real test.

Updates coming soon.

Oops…sorry. My grbl board is whatever came in the Xcontroller last year. out of sight and out of mind…

Well… bought a DeWalt 660, very nice tool. Awesome, powerful.
But it doesn’t fit on the standard ShapeOko 2 Z-Axis :disappointed:
Oh well, back to the weak Jobmate rotary tool…

Maybe it fits on the S2 -> XCarve upgrade kit? If anyone can point me to where I can get/buy this kit, I’d really appreciate it…

Ok so I found the original spindle that came with the machine, I think it’s an “Altocraft” .
Set up the following test in Easel :
http://easel.inventables.com/projects/FmrV9jThg2ucXV-OF2_TCA

But when I run it, just the letter M is over 7 inches wide… even though I set the test for a 4" x 2" section…
So I stopped the carving as soon as I saw that.
Also, the MDF is level, and so is the machine (I’m fairly sure)… but the spindle doesn’t go through all the way…

Again, any help would be appreciated.

https://www.inventables.com/categories/machine-upgrades/x-carve-upgrades

Yes I saw this one, but isn’t it to upgrade a X-Carve machine? I have a ShapeOko 2…

You need to buy the wide makerslide and the new carriage.

contact customer service for the complete list of upgrades as that page isn’t working when you click on it. There were two stages. Shapeoko2 to Xcarve and Xcarve V1 to X carve with current specs.

Unfortunately, this carriage says that it cannot hold NEMA17 motors, only NEMA23.
I have NEMA17 motors, but I guess I could buy a 23 for the X-axis. Will the gShield controler I have be enough to feed this motor?

I read a post talking about all the items to buy for the initial XCarve upgrade… that with the wide MakerSlide and the NEMA23 motor, I’m already up to 228$…

I really can’t answer those questions as I just added what the lists called for and opted for the x controller. I blew out my shapeoko2 electronics with a short so I figured the extra investment in the controller was probably a better investment for me. I really prefer plug and play, which it was after a simple assembly of the components. I also went with the aftermarket z axis and I’m about to put on the risers and stiffeners I bought during the winter. I have a lot invested, but for me my hobby is my only vice. The Shapeoko2 was in mothballs for a few years before the upgrades and now it’s getting some use again.