Here are the images. The lower sled is the “center” setting. The other image is where it sits when calibrated.
I am sorry you are having all these problems.
I too am having trouble withe the calibration I bout mine in January and it is still making 3 inch circles at are out of round by around 1/10 for an Inch.
I walked away 2-3 three months and am thinking about replacing it.
I will try again before I dump the project.
Marty
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I wouldn’t expect that. It’s possible that due to some sort of permissions issue Ground Control is unable to save your settings resulting in closing and re-opening GC to reset everything to the default settings. Can you try to edit one of the settings and then close and re-open the program to see if the setting is saved properly?
If it seems like GC is the issue it might be worth giving Web Control a go
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Metras3 - I feel your pain! I’m continually surprised by new things that are not in the original instructions and that have been attributed to our “not following instructions.” For instance, a z-axis problem was because Rigid routers need bungee cord assistance - not in the instructions. I discovered the grabber screws used to mount the left motor were loosened and let the angle of the left motor mount slip. Fixed that - and used better screws. It didn’t fix the problem like I hoped, though - as the images I posted earlier demonstrate. I discovered that some of the Ground Control error messages were from connecting to different USB ports on my computer - persnickety port plugins were not in the instructions.
I just discovered that the z-axis motor that attaches to the drill bit depth housing had 1 screw loose (there are two and the other was super tight). We just tightened both screws as tightly as fingers could do immediately after reporting the problem that started this thread and the Maslow has performed zero cuts since we tightened it - how did it get so loose? It’s tight now so we’ll see if that helps…
bar - I changed my error limit settings a few times and it remembers that.
So - I had a “successful” test cut that was interrupted three times by telling me my USB connection was lost. Neither the computer, nor the cord have been moved. I told it to start over and on the third time, it made it all the way through. However, because it took so many passes, the tabs were compromised and the piece has a gouge in it. Everything else … looks good and square. HOWEVER, I’m getting the same “USB has lost its connection” error (the rest of the internet is fine so I cannot imagine why this would be an issue even if Arduino tries to communicate to something online) and that’s going to ultimately waste a lot of time, etc. Any guesses on what’s causing that? After this next cut, I’ll close out ground control to see if that helps … but I’m not stopping mid cut.
Thank you, everyone, for trying to help - I’d be bald from pulling my hair out if I didn’t have you guys to help me troubleshoot!
@metras3 & @Flaming_WoodWorks … I think, something might still not be right with your setup …
@Flaming_WoodWorks When I see the your pictures and as we use the RIGID respectively AEG router ourselves, did you close the clamp of the router shoe? is it maybe to tight?
Did you clean the inside of the router shoe?
Did the router move up/down with removed flexible cord and open clamp?
We had sometimes issues with the up/down and fixed flexible cord … we cleaned the router shoe with WD40 and made shure the flexible cord is absolutely centered, as outherwise the router might be push down wrong … in that case we have heard the motor, but with no movement …
Believe me, once you overcome the first steps and your Maslow is proper calibrated your will love it!
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Thanks - I had a similar thought - I loosened the bungee on the router and that seemed to help so I’m experimenting with that possibility. I’m glad to know about WD-40 as a lubricant for the shoe - I’ve wondered what might be best (it still seems to be moving fine that way so I haven’t applied any yet). Also, I noticed that if one of the screws on the Z-axis is too tight, it can’t raise or lower the router bit. However, if it is too loose, you have the same problem. I’m experimenting with that. It seems once I solve one problem, another one starts coming.
This time, it’s the USB cable thing. Good grief. I’ve been fussing with this machine for several weeks now and I finally get it running and then it stops mid-cut to give me a critical error message that makes me have to start from scratch. Yes, everything is tightly plugged in … oh well.
Do I remember correct, that you are using a MacBook Pro? Is it a 2011/12 Modell? As such, there had been issues with the USB of the Mac’s … I used a 2012 as well … now running Raspberry PI with Webcontrol and are happy! 
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I’m running a 2016 Macbook Pro.
I feel like I’m chasing my tail. This cut (since the last post), I’m not getting the error BUT the Maslow isn’t making any cuts. When it gets time for the z-axis to engage and plunge, it does nothing. I’ve adjusted the bungee cords to be practically non-functional. I’ve adjusted the screws to be tight/not-tight so it can move but remain functional. I used WD-40 on the router shoe. Sometimes the Z-axis will manually adjust using Ground Control, sometimes it will not adjust that way.
I’ll be qualified to be a forum administrator by the time I can reliably use this thing! haha - ugh
What now?
TO BE CLEAR, I’m tightening the hex screw on the right and leaving the one on the less snug but not tight or slightly loose. See picture below.
IMG_1363.HEIC (1.6 MB)
can’t see the picture, dear
All those set screws need to be really, really tight. They hold the coupler to the shafts. If by tightening them somehow it results in the z-axis not being able to move, then you’ve definitely have an issue somewhere. By any chance as you raise and lower the router, does the head of the router strike the blue bracket? On my kit, and when using the linkage arms, the bracket ended up just being a hair too close to the router and the router head would just catch on that lip of the bracket and pop out of the arm (i.e., router stopped going up and down but the lead screw would still turn). I had to adjust the location of the zaxis bracket to avoid hitting it. This was with an original kit and add-on linkage arms, so I don’t know if this had been addressed by the people that sold you your kit.
I’ve looked at a picture of their precut sled and it does not look like it includes mounting holes for the router’s zaxis. Look really close to the movement of the z axis and see if the bulge of the router head hits the bracket.
Good to know - I was wondering about that yesterday when I was messing tightening screws. I’ll see what I can do to mount it differently or separate it from the router better.
I’ve checked the USB cables multiple times - they are solid and tight. I’ve made certain I always use the same USB port so that is not the problem.
I heard rumor that there is an offline version of ground control but I haven’t found it yet. Frankly, I don’t know if such a version would come up with its own set of problems. Everything else seems to be working … the machine just stops mid cut and I have to get the z-axis reset to zero or else when I start it up again, it makes deep cuts moving to the wrong place. However, when I do this, it SOMETIMES cuts super shallow cuts after that and then moves deeper like it’s supposed to but it SOMETIMES won’t move the z-axis any deeper after that so I have to start from scratch on a 30 minute cut.
Ideas?
I think you might be confusing some things. Having an stable internet connection has no bearing on the USB issue, they are two totally separate things. Ground Control in itself already ‘offline’ in that it doesn’t need or use an internet connection. The USB connection is strictly a connection between the computer running Ground Control and the arduino that controls the motors. If you can shorten up the USB cable (i.e., move the computer closer to the arduino) and reroute how that cable goes, you might be able to minimize the problem.
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I responded to this earlier but email blocked it so I apologize for the delay. I read in a different thread that wifi might be the issue and that I should try an offline version of ground control - just bad info I guess.
We’re using the USB cord that came with the Arduino when we bought the machine - why would a shorter one help? the computer is already immediately to the right of the working board. I’ll try rerouting the cable - it wasn’t giving this error before, however, and I haven’t changed the setup.
thanks.
The cord which is included is quite long which means it picks up more RF interference in an electrically noisy environment. A shorter one can help prevent that from happening.
Having this issue with mine as well. Encountered it when I first tried setting up the Arduino, but today trying to get calibration dialed in it cut out multiple times over the course of the day. I originally thought it was the micro USB port, but the connection is tight, and tried several cables with same result. After inspecting the board and USB connection I discovered that the top board was coming unplugged from the bottom board at the top right corner under the y motor input, just enough to lose connection and when I pushed it back in it would reconnect, work for a while then disconnected again. It became obvious after the 3rd disconnect today it wasn’t going to stay on its own. Tomorrow I’m going to add a couple holes on top and bottom of the case, and firmly zip-tie the top board more securely to the bottom board and hopefully will resolve this issue. I’ll update how this works out, and any other suggestions or ideas would be helpful.