# Breaking belts - Tension causes sled to tip during calibration **URL:** \ **Category:** Uncategorized\ **Created:** [March 5, 2026, 3:42am UTC](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/t/breaking-belts-tension-causes-sled-to-tip-during-calibration/25586 "2026-03-05T03:42:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![PaulHBateman](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/forums.maslowcnc.com/paulhbateman/32/28147_2.png) [@PaulHBateman](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/u/PaulHBateman)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2026, 3:42am UTC](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/t/breaking-belts-tension-causes-sled-to-tip-during-calibration/25586/1 "2026-03-05T03:42:22Z")
I have snapped 2 belts when extending past 2 feet in any direction from the where the Maslow settles after extend the belts anchor them and then apply tension. I can see the tension building during calibration when the sled tips up and then settles. I am using a horizontal frame per the plans on the website. I am at 1.17 ---
**Author:** ![dlang](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/forums.maslowcnc.com/dlang/32/859_2.png) [@dlang](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/u/dlang)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2026, 5:01am UTC](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/t/breaking-belts-tension-causes-sled-to-tip-during-calibration/25586/2 "2026-03-05T05:01:21Z")
Paul Bateman wrote: > I have snapped 2 belts when extending past 2 feet in any direction from the > where the Maslow settles after extend the belts anchor them and then apply > tension. I can see the tension building during calibration when the sled tips > up and then settles. I am using a horizontal frame per the plans on the > website. I am at 1.17 what is the max current limit you have set? David Lang ---
**Author:** ![PaulHBateman](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/forums.maslowcnc.com/paulhbateman/32/28147_2.png) [@PaulHBateman](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/u/PaulHBateman)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2026, 3:06pm UTC](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/t/breaking-belts-tension-causes-sled-to-tip-during-calibration/25586/3 "2026-03-05T15:06:47Z")
2440 x 1220. I busted another belt during calibration and will have to order more before I can get up and running. ---
**Author:** ![bar](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/forums.maslowcnc.com/bar/32/10_2.png) [@bar](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/u/bar)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2026, 12:39am UTC](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/t/breaking-belts-tension-causes-sled-to-tip-during-calibration/25586/4 "2026-03-06T00:39:43Z")
How does the process of locating the anchors go? The thing that comes to mind is that the machine has an inaccurate understanding of where the anchors are. ---
**Author:** ![steve70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@steve70](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/u/steve70)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2026, 2:58pm UTC](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/t/breaking-belts-tension-causes-sled-to-tip-during-calibration/25586/5 "2026-03-06T14:58:18Z")
I broke a belt when my anchors were too far apart. I tried a 10’ x 14’ frame. The belt broke at the end of its travel. I went back to an 8’ x 10’ frame with no problems. ---
**Author:** ![PaulHBateman](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/forums.maslowcnc.com/paulhbateman/32/28147_2.png) [@PaulHBateman](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/u/PaulHBateman)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2026, 3:16pm UTC](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/t/breaking-belts-tension-causes-sled-to-tip-during-calibration/25586/6 "2026-03-06T15:16:30Z")
I am using an 8x10 frame as per the web page. During calibration the sled rocks (tips up and then settles) when under stress. It has become nerve racking watching it during calibration. The spoil board is 1” thick. It looks like the arms higher up are raising it off the spoil board. ---
**Author:** ![dlang](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/forums.maslowcnc.com/dlang/32/859_2.png) [@dlang](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/u/dlang)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2026, 4:36pm UTC](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/t/breaking-belts-tension-causes-sled-to-tip-during-calibration/25586/7 "2026-03-06T16:36:19Z")
Paul Bateman wrote: > I am using an 8x10 frame as per the web page. During calibration the sled > rocks (tips up and then settles) when under stress. It has become nerve > racking watching it during calibration. The spoil board is 1” thick. It looks > like the arms higher up are raising it off the spoil board. is the router all the way down when you are doing the calibration? how high is the current limit? you want to set it as low as possible and still have it retract well. We’ve found that if you can operate at or below 900 you tend to get better results (it sometimes takes sanding the spools to get it to work reliably at that current limit) David Lang ---
**Author:** ![PaulHBateman](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/forums.maslowcnc.com/paulhbateman/32/28147_2.png) [@PaulHBateman](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/u/PaulHBateman)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2026, 7:27pm UTC](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/t/breaking-belts-tension-causes-sled-to-tip-during-calibration/25586/8 "2026-03-06T19:27:09Z")
I have worked on building a Maslow 4.1 for close to a year. Replaced the controller board, replaced an arm motor and this will be my 3rd belt.. The replacement belt doesn’t come in until next Wednesday and the spring mounted horse I am trying to build is supposed to be ready for my Granddaughters birthday on the 22nd of the month. Therefore I am out of time. So you can all call me crazy but I am going old school and most likely unorthodox.. I am going to cut templates of the pieces out of chip board with a cricut vinyl cutter and stack them to an 1/4 inch. Then I will use template bushings and templates with my handheld plunge router to cut the shapes. Wish me luck ---
**Author:** ![PaulHBateman](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/forums.maslowcnc.com/paulhbateman/32/28147_2.png) [@PaulHBateman](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/u/PaulHBateman)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2026, 7:05pm UTC](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/t/breaking-belts-tension-causes-sled-to-tip-during-calibration/25586/9 "2026-03-07T19:05:32Z")
Thank you. Last time I ran calibration the router was all the way up. I thought about that after breaking the belt. Another thing I may be doing that causes stress is I have a 1” (actual 1”) spoilboard and cutting 2” x 12” which is 1 1/2” thick for a total thickness of 63.5 mm ---
**Author:** ![dlang](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/forums.maslowcnc.com/dlang/32/859_2.png) [@dlang](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/u/dlang)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2026, 7:18pm UTC](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/t/breaking-belts-tension-causes-sled-to-tip-during-calibration/25586/10 "2026-03-07T19:18:41Z")
Paul Bateman wrote: > Another thing I may be doing that causes stress is I have a 1” (actual 1”) > spoilboard and cutting 2” x 12” which is 1 1/2” thick for a total thickness of > 63.5 mm the default Z offsets assume that the anchors are at the level of the spoilboard, if they are lower than the spoilboard, enter a postitive spoilboard thickness value (settings → config) and also set your workpiece thickness. David Lang ---
**Author:** ![PaulHBateman](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/forums.maslowcnc.com/paulhbateman/32/28147_2.png) [@PaulHBateman](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/u/PaulHBateman)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2026, 3:59pm UTC](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/t/breaking-belts-tension-causes-sled-to-tip-during-calibration/25586/11 "2026-03-09T15:59:53Z")
Thank you. The pins are level with the top surface of the spoil board. Should the spoil board setting be 0(zero)? ---
**Author:** ![PaulHBateman](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/forums.maslowcnc.com/paulhbateman/32/28147_2.png) [@PaulHBateman](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/u/PaulHBateman)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2026, 10:08pm UTC](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/t/breaking-belts-tension-causes-sled-to-tip-during-calibration/25586/12 "2026-03-11T22:08:54Z")
I replaced the belt today, lowered the Z-axis all the way down and ran a successful calibration. There is one arm motor that will not retract at a setting less than 1100 so that is where it will stay My plan is to cut tomorrow. I expect to report nothing but success. ---
**Author:** ![steve70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@steve70](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/u/steve70)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2026, 11:46am UTC](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/t/breaking-belts-tension-causes-sled-to-tip-during-calibration/25586/13 "2026-03-13T11:46:07Z")
After calibration, one of my belts wouldn’t retract either. When I set up for my cut after a machine shutdown.(I had left the belt extended through the shutdown). After turning on the machine again, it did retract and extend and I was able to get it to run a G Code program. I have noticed a repeated issue. The bottom left belt was the one that refused to retract after calibration, when cutting a circle on the left side of the table the machine will sometimes stop at the 90 degree mark where the tension shifts from the top left belt to the bottom left belt. Could be an encoder problem with the bottom left belt or maybe switching from horizontal to vertical will fix it. ---
**Author:** ![dlang](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/forums.maslowcnc.com/dlang/32/859_2.png) [@dlang](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/u/dlang)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2026, 12:49pm UTC](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/t/breaking-belts-tension-causes-sled-to-tip-during-calibration/25586/14 "2026-03-13T12:49:04Z")
Stephen Roberts wrote: > After calibration, one of my belts wouldn’t retract either. When I set up for > my cut after a machine shutdown.(I had left the belt extended through the > shutdown). After turning on the machine again, it did retract and extend and > I was able to get it to run a G Code program. I have noticed a repeated > issue. The bottom left belt was the one that refused to retract after > calibration, when cutting a circle on the left side of the table the machine > will sometimes stop at the 90 degree mark where the tension shifts from the > top left belt to the bottom left belt. Could be an encoder problem with the > bottom left belt or maybe switching from horizontal to vertical will fix it. more likely something in that arm is a problem (spool too tight, setscrew loose, gear on motor grinding the plastic, etc) you should take it apart to see what’s causing it to not move easily and fix it. David Lang ---
**Author:** ![steve70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@steve70](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/u/steve70)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2026, 7:42am UTC](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/t/breaking-belts-tension-causes-sled-to-tip-during-calibration/25586/15 "2026-03-14T07:42:44Z")
After reading the posts, I came to that same conclusion. I hoped I could avoid the shutdown and nurse it along, but experience has shown that an ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure. Thanks, David for reminding me. I will bite the bullet and rebuild the arm. Is anyone using dry silicone to lube the belts? ---
**Author:** ![PaulHBateman](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/forums.maslowcnc.com/paulhbateman/32/28147_2.png) [@PaulHBateman](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/u/PaulHBateman)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2026, 4:01pm UTC](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/t/breaking-belts-tension-causes-sled-to-tip-during-calibration/25586/16 "2026-03-14T16:01:16Z")
I don’t know if you saw my last post but after replacing the belt another arm stopped retracting. When I took it all apart a day later I found the belt guard rubbing against the teeth of the belt spool. I suspect this may have been the problem child all along. By the time it got to this point, the tip of the guard was literally wedge between 2 teeth. I did not notice any loose screws(3) that hold the guard down. ---
**Author:** ![steve70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@steve70](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/u/steve70)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2026, 8:24am UTC](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/t/breaking-belts-tension-causes-sled-to-tip-during-calibration/25586/17 "2026-03-15T08:24:50Z")
Do you have Maslow 4.0 or Maslow 4.1. Mine is Maslow 4.0 and I have been avoiding the upgrade, hoping to figure things out before I replace the arms. Steve