Thanks for your reply, Zach.
I’m back in my shop this morning and am checking a few things. From what you said, my belt tension should be OK.
When I experienced the problem last Friday, I took my gantry off the assembly, removed the pulleys and checked for slippage. I didn’t see any signs of slippage, but I ground some flats onto the motor shafts to help ensure no slippage. (Yeah, I know - I should have read more deeply in the instructions to start with). After doing all of that, I started my job again and still got slippage that sounded like belts jumping. I had other things to do, so I decided the best thing was to let this issue slide and go mow my lawn!
Over the weekend, I read more about motor current and how that can lead to a loss of steps. I’ve been checking that aspect this morning. Based on what I read, I raised the voltage read on the X and Y trimmer pots to 2V from the approximately 1.3V they were set originally. This is based on information I read in the Shapeoko Wiki and forum. I have NEMA 23 motors on my X and Y axes; NEMA 17 on Z. Does the adjustment to increase motor current sound right to you?
Has anyone modified the size of their Shapeoko 2 to a custom size other than then 500mm or 1000mm size? I have the 500mm Shapeoko 2 and am going to be lengthening the X axis when I upgrade it to the X-Carve and would love to hear what other peoples experiences are. My custom made work station ( Shapeoko Stand | Inventables ) has about 6 inches of space that isn’t being used so I plan on making my X-Carve fill up the entire top.
I built my S2 to fit the size bench I wanted. My gantry is Y and is 660mm; X is 1500mm.
Hi folks. I’ve just completed my Shapeoko 2 build and before I apply power I need to ask about a possible problem it may have. After assembly when I push or pull on the gantry (y axis), there is a lot of resistance, like when stepper coils are shorted. Is this normal?
Thanks,
Larry
All 3 axis on mine move freely before power is applied. You may need to adjust the eccentric nuts to loosen them a bit.
Hi @LarryKruzan
From watching the instruction videos I can see that when the stepper motors’ wires are crossed in a certain way, they basically become generators and will cause a lot of resistance. In addition to @AllenMassey’s advice about checking your eccentric nuts on the V-wheels, I would add that you probably want to double check your wiring as well.
Bill what did you use to cut your makerslide to the custom length?
Thanks guys. I discovered that I had crossed “both” legs at the terminal block where the two steppers are joined. Now everything moves freely in all directions when it’s unpowered. Now I just need to get some software running and the OS loaded. 
What software are you planning to use?
Glad we could help catch it before you started having real problems. Hope your first few projects get off to a good start.
I’ve been playing with easel on the shapeoko 2 and I’m running Mach 3 on my other CNC mill I built. I really like the simplicity of the Easel compared to Mach 3. I’d entertain any suggestions for something better that will run on the grbl system.
Mike, I used my band saw with a non-ferrous metal blade to cut the makerslide.
Bill, I used my radial arm saw with a carbide blade with a lot of teeth, perfect! Rick Spencer
I have up-sized my Shapeoko 2 to 1mX1m. The X axis is very un stiff, with the Makerslide twisting enough to allow the bit to move up and down at least 1/16 inch when the gantry is in the middle of the axis. Have people had success fastening the two pieces of Makerslide together to increase rigidity? if so what have they done, if not what can be done to improve this?
I built my S2 to have a 1500mm long axis, in my case it’s my X axis; gantry is Y. To firm up the long axis, I cut some 2" wide, 1/8" thick aluminum stock to 3.75" long. I drilled holes to match the makerslide and used L-brackets to anchor to my table. With two of these on each side of my long axis, it is very firm. See photos below:
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I increased the size of my S2 to a cutting size of 5’ x 8’ - I used (2) 1800mm for X-axis and 1800 and half of a 1800mm butted together for the Y-axis. they are mound to my table with L brackets drilled through the makerslide
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@DustinNull cool! Can you please post a picture or video?
Attached are some pics, I am a sign and graphics ccompany and I have a need to cut PVC, Aluminum Composites (dibond, polymetal), acrylics, HDU so I felt this could work and it does, it’s still a build in progress, I think it always will, but it runs smooth and goes the distance oon the Y and X very nicely. I am using Nema 23 the higher ounce that you sell with the recomened power supply from Inventables as well.
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I still need to upgrade the Z-axis and controller so I can use Mach. I also need a dust shoe BAD…as that is my main problem, My Bosch Colt creates some amazing chips but clogs the hell out of the rails and wheels which cases missed steps then every cut is off. It is amazing the chip size and how far it throws when using quality bits and proper feeds and speeds…lol
I bought a new Shapeoko 2 just prior to the X-Carve release. Awesome looking machine. I assembled the hardware quickly but was stalled with another project for a while. Now I am back and have an idea for placing the hold downs on the waste board. I was thinking about having S2 drill all of the holes for the parts for the waste board upgrade. Before I go and make a mess, has anybody ever tried drilling the Waste Board with S2?
