Project Shapeoko HD

[Jacobey]

I've been following this thread for a few months now, really like the way it turned out and the progress you made

I know this was asked a while ago, but are you thinking of releasing the drawings or DXF's of the parts? I have a model partially worked up in Solidworks and wanted to compare to what you're doing here. I've spent numerous hours in the last 2-3 years researching and designing a router to build for myself that in the end usually I change my mind because it's either too spendy or don't feel it would do what I want it too do. I need motivation that it will work, and seeing what you are doing with it, I don't see that being a problem

I have access to a laser to cut all the plates so was looking at doing about the same as what you've done with the SD and stick with a 800w spindle, but changing the size to 4x2 working area

[LouisV]

I've been following this thread for a few months now, really like the way it turned out and the progress you made

I know this was asked a while ago, but are you thinking of releasing the drawings or DXF's of the parts? I have a model partially worked up in Solidworks and wanted to compare to what you're doing here. I've spent numerous hours in the last 2-3 years researching and designing a router to build for myself that in the end usually I change my mind because it's either too spendy or don't feel it would do what I want it too do. I need motivation that it will work, and seeing what you are doing with it, I don't see that being a problem

I have access to a laser to cut all the plates so was looking at doing about the same as what you've done with the SD and stick with a 800w spindle, but changing the size to 4x2 working area

We'll be releasing the DXF files once all the parts are finalized. Everything is still tentative at the moment, we're constantly doing minor tweaks to the design. We'll probably end up releasing those files after we submit our final plate designs to the manufacturer.

[Plotter]

I have been following this for a while...

I must say your machine look really HD.
I came across this, on the openbuilds forum - http://openbuilds.com/threads/strong-ox.914/
Rack and gear for a drive system.

Since I am nowhere near a position to have an opinion - what are the pro and cons of a rack system vs a belt system?
Will a rack not be a more HD option? Have you consider something like that? Price is the other side of the coin I suppose.

[samc99us]

Rack doesn't move, stretch or flex (effectively). Downside is lower torque-if you dig deep, you should really be using a belt drive vs. direct drive with rack and pinion. The solution, in the case of F117's, is to move to larger stepper motors (570 oz-in beasts for the x-axis, for example). Personally, I'm convinced belts are a better solution as long as the tensioning system is better than the Shapeoko 2 one. I'm not really sure what the Routakit HD or Shapeoko 3 are doing in that regard.

[LouisV]

I have been following this for a while...

I must say your machine look really HD.
I came across this, on the openbuilds forum - http://openbuilds.com/threads/strong-ox.914/
Rack and gear for a drive system.

Since I am nowhere near a position to have an opinion - what are the pro and cons of a rack system vs a belt system?
Will a rack not be a more HD option? Have you consider something like that? Price is the other side of the coin I suppose.

Pretty much what samc99us said. Cost is also another factor. I personally prefer belts but a rack and pinion system if done right can be a great setup.

[LouisV]

Hey everyone, been super busy but I have a small update. The Routakit SD lives and is going through a bunch of test runs right now. So far it's living up to expectations, some minor design tweaks to the spindle mounting plate and end plates are in order but overall everything is good.









And here's our quick and dirty enclosure for our electronics. Nothing special but it's doing the job for now. We'll be designing a better enclosure while the Kickstarter campaign is running. Speaking of Kickstarter it looks like it won't be until the first week of April sometime but rest assured we're working our tails off to try to get everything done in time.



And here's a quick video of the Routakit running G-code for the first time. Settings were set at 400 IPM for rapids and acceleration at 6 inches/s^2. Though we can push it faster.

Warning, you may need to turn the volume down, the first part of it is really loud.

[samc99us]

Hey Louis,

What is the z-axis travel on the Routakit SD and HD? Any thoughts on making these available separately? I ask as the strong OX and other open source builds rely on pre-manufactured z-axis solutions, and their really aren't many out there.

Also, mind sharing some details on the belt tensioning system you are using? It is a fair bit different from the stock from what I can make out in the photos....

Keep up the great work!

Best,
Sam

[LouisV]

Hey Louis,

What is the z-axis travel on the Routakit SD and HD? Any thoughts on making these available separately? I ask as the strong OX and other open source builds rely on pre-manufactured z-axis solutions, and their really aren't many out there.

Also, mind sharing some details on the belt tensioning system you are using? It is a fair bit different from the stock from what I can make out in the photos....

Keep up the great work!

Best,
Sam

Effective Z travel for the SD is 4 inches and 6 inches for the HD. The SD has about 4 inches of clearance from the bottom of the carriage assembly to the top of the work bed (assuming it's 3/4" thick). The HD has about 5-3/4" of clearance, it used to be 6 inches but I optimized it to ensure the tip of any end mill (including small 1/16th ones) can touch the work bed.

The belt tensioning system is still a work in progress, but it's better than before. To give you an idea it's somewhat similar to the Xcarve, though the photos don't show our newest developments. We think it's probably one of the better ways of tensioning the belts without having to strain and pop a blood vessel when dealing with thicker and wider belts like that of the SD and HD.

Edit: I forgot to answer your other question. We may make the z-axis/x-carriage assemblies available separately at our store, but as of now in order to keep things streamlined and focused on our end we will only be offering mechanical and full kits for the time being. Though if anyone on the forums PMs me asking for just a partial kit we can try to work something out.

[Scatterplot]

I can't wait to see the Kickstarter- fingers crossed that it's this week (being the first of April starting Wednesday )

It's also hilarious that you mentioned Kickstarter still has an approval process for new campaigns. With all the free energy garbage and just plain scam projects, I honestly thought that they had dropped the approval requirement for new projects!

[Atonwa]

Received a care package from Louis today and have to say I'm blown away. Working in the engineering industry I see a lot of people say they can design electronic systems and machines. The quality of the electronics are so well done I can't wait to see the actual machine.

The main enclosure is bent 12 ga steel with a perfect powder coat job on it. Quality industrial switches with an engraved faceplate on the front and rear. The Nema 34 motors are shockingly big compared to a Nema 17 and having proxes for the axis will be great. The interface box for the switches even has a probe connector ready to go.

Water bottle placed in the picture for a sense of scale.