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@wcs39204 - I too struggle with the COG on the Metalmaslow sled with the Ridgid router. A really good engineer I used to work with said “you sometimes have to stand on your head and whiz in your boot to get somethings to work.” This felt a bit like that!

Three changes were helpful:

  1. Changed the slope of the default frame. I started with the @MakerMadeCNC jumpstart bundle and built my frame to their nicely detailed instructions. The known problems with the standard Z-Axis arrangement led me to the @Metalmaslow sled purchase. Somewhere on the Metalmaslow website or in the monstrous Metal Maslow thread I remember reading reducing the slope of the frame to 10 degrees. Rather than rebuild my frame from scratch, I removed the spoil board, added a 2x4 along the frame where top of the spoil board used to be, then reattached the spoil board. As a side note, this mod decreases the distance between the chains and the spoil board. Here’s a pic of the frame mod:

    IMG_5220
    IMG_5220.jpg2212×3599 1.58 MB

  2. Somewhere in the readings mentioned in 1), I found a note that said raise the Ridgid router as high as possible in the clamp and I originally had the router engaged as far as possible in the clamp. Raising the router in the clamp causes the COG to be a bit lower when the bit is engaged in the material. I do still see the sled tip back when the router is raised to its safe traversal distance. Pic showing about 1/4" of router protruding below clamp:

    IMG_5222
    IMG_5222.JPG3024×4032 2.05 MB

  3. When installing a router bit, I typically bottom out the bit and then lift it slightly before tightening the collet. To balance the extra distance between the router and material as result of 2) along with the previously noted interference between my large gantry plate and the linkage spacers, the bit is now about 1/4" from bottoming out in the collet.

It’s not perfect in this state, but it is workable. I still think my long-term sled solution is a Meticulous Z-Axis based on aspects of my current backlog of projects. However, I needed to get some holiday projects out ASAP for the WAF of my newly diagnosed CNC Router OCD and the Metalmaslow has quickly gotten several projects completed!