Thanks for all the detail,
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Bar can you please do a quick write up walking through or explaining the steps to take in doing machine calibration after switching to triangular kinematics.
I set up my temporary frame and cut all my permanent frame pieces using quadrilateral kinematics on version 0.86 firmware and GC.
I followed the calibration step by step instructions within ground control for that.
Now I have assembled my permanent frame and bought and assembled a linkage kit from pillagethenburn. I also installed the newest version of GC and firmware at v0.96
My question is what do I need to do as far as the step by step calibration process now for triangular kinematics? Do I still need to enter the measurements for sled cg and all of the other sled specific geometry measurements? What about this automatic process converging to a solution like you mention in your post etcā¦
Thanks in advance
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once you change the kinematics, there should only be one value to set for the
sled, the added effective chain length from the linkage.
If you are seeing anythingelse, you arenāt in the triangular mode.
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What David said:
And that added length should be around 270mm depending on how you mount your chains in the clevis; if youāre getting a number thatās hugely different than that then something else is wrong.
Yes, I will make a step by step walk through.
The short version is that what you need to do is click Action -> Calibrate Machine Dimensions and follow the steps on screen. A lot of it will be a repeat of what you did last time. You could technically click skip for the steps to measure the distance between the motors and the vertical offset of the motors, but I havenāt tested the whole process with those steps skipped.
If you find any part of that process confusing, please, please let me know. Your feedback is SUPER helpful.
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I am on firmware and GC versions 0.96 for both.
I assembled a linkage kit from #pillageTHENburn and switched the mode to triangle kinematics.
I was nervous doing the auto mode where you let the chain measure it for you because I was nervous to tension the chain using the motors of fear something might break. I decided that it seemed more accurate to carefully tape a steel tape (not a regular tape measure) on center of one motor and measure to the center of the other motor and got 2881.3 mm center to center on the motors.
I did the calibrate chain lengths to let it feed out the chain. One thing I noticed on this step is that both motors are moved to start with a motor gear tooth pointed straight up 12:00 high. After I let it auto feed out the appropriate chain length the left motor tooth it ends up on is not pointing straight up. the right motor had a tooth with a chain link on it pointed straight up after auto feeding out the chain. This is very confusing why they would be different.
I carefully measured the height from the top of my 4āx8ā sheet of wood up to the motor centers and got 428.75 mm.
I entered my workspace dimensions as 4āx8ā height and width in mm for the standard plywood sheet size
I carefully measured the added effective chain length from the inside face of piece G2 of the linkage kit which has the cotter pin resting against it going through the hole in the last chain link to the center of the router bit and my measurements were 272 mm on the left link and 271 mm on the right link so I deem that close enough to the 269.7 that was recommended and I entered it as 271.5 mm to split the difference of the two measurements I made.
So after all of that when I tell the machine to return to center, itās centered left to right but itās .6 inches off above the center of the 4ā height direction of the sheet of plywood. It seems that the added effective chain length number changes the vertical center location as does the height from the top of the work piece to the motor center.
I am confused why this is so far off anyone have any ideas or experience similar problems?
Tomorrow I will try to get some pictures uploaded of my setup.
I was nervous doing the auto mode where you let the chain measure it for you
because I was nervous to tension the chain using the motors of fear something
might break.
It the machine bends or breaks from the tension of the calibration, itās going
to bend during normal operation. In fact the tension during claibration is only
about 1/2 to 1/3 what you can hit during normal operation.
I did the calibrate chain lengths to let it feed out the chain. One thing I
noticed on this step is that both motors are moved to start with a motor gear
tooth pointed straight up 12:00 high. After I let it auto feed out the
appropriate chain length the left motor tooth it ends up on is not pointing
straight up. the right motor had a tooth with a chain link on it pointed
straight up after auto feeding out the chain. This is very confusing why they
would be different.
this sounds like a problem, they should both move the same amount. This
indicates to me that you are probably loosing some steps on one motor.
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David is right, it shouldnāt break anything. Iāve tested the linkages to ~80+ pounds each with no breaking. There are some variables there like how much glue you used, what type, how you clamped them etc. etc. but I would say generally speaking the linkages should be stronger than any force the motors can supply. I even hung my entire body weight on a singe wooden clevis (that was NOT glued), thatās about 145 pounds.
That 269.7mm number was just an estimate based only on my files, in reality the laser kerf in the slots on G1 and G3 and a tiny design tweak I made early on will usually make it closer to 271-273mm so I think youāre right in the right place 
Even if that measurement was off by a couple mm I donāt see how that would give you .6" error vertically! The different length chains is a red flag Iād look into a little more.
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Any news on availability? Not nagging, just trying to figure out my schedule now that my machine has arrived.
Iām filling and shipping orders as fast as I can! (@DaveDurant Iāll PM you with details about your order specifically).
More generally speaking Iām sending out batches of orders a couple times a week and Iām filling them chronologically. There was a pretty big surge in orders when Bar mentioned the kit in his newletter and Iām still catching up on that pile.
Just to be transparent with my situation, I have a full time job and a young family so Iām doing my best to balance my time between family, work, sleep, and maslow kits 
Iām making kits every day and Iām sending them out as fast as I can make them!
If anyone would like a more specific idea of where their order is in the āchainā please feel free to message me (preferably message me through Etsy so that I have an order number with the message; Unless itās just a general question, in that case the forum is a great place). Iām willing to work with deadlines and schedules (within my means and within reason) so just let me know if you have a specific need (for instance one guy had a trade show and needed his kit by a certain date and I was able to make sure that happened, so Iāll do my best to work with you).
Iām sorry for anyone who has experienced a delay, I have already messaged everyone whoās kit is ālateā through etsy. Feel free to contact me with any questions!
-Logan
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Awesome - thanks for the update!
They say itās better to be busy than boredā¦
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the metal top pantograph kit is also available, Iāve shipped out 15 of the 20
sets Iāve had manufactured.
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I have a SVG, but I canāt upload it yetā¦ the funny oval is because my laser bed is 19.5" x 11.5" (GlowForge) I donāt have my Maslow setup yet, so let me know if this looks about right, and that I donāt have the router upside downā¦
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I bought the kit and am pleased with itā¦ Legit Etsy seller. I have a 40 watt CO2 laser, but the kit is well thought out and has all the bolts, washers, sleeves, etcā¦
The kit has a template for cutting the 4 holes, pretty logical, but I wanted to use my laser to cut the sled with the holes for the Rigid, the weights, to stock brackets, and this kit. As soon as I have upload rights Iāll share itā¦ the only trick is I have an engrave to recess the routers 3 bolts, and then the holes inside themā¦ make sure you donāt set both to cut or your router bolts will recess their way to pointlessnessā¦
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Iāve been wanting to get good Ridgid router mounting hole measurements for a while now, thank you for adding this! I plan to add router holes to the drill template and also make an entire sled template (basically like you did).
Perhaps thereās just a weird scale thing happening but for me the distance between the linkage mounting holes in your file is 6.7504" not 9"ā¦ I thought maybe the entire thing got scaled weird so I scaled it up so that the narrow sled dimension was 11.5" (based on the laser bed measurements you gave) and even then the distance between mounting points is only 7.24". Maybe Iām doing something wrong?
The router holes appear to be about 4.02 from center to center, does that sound about right? The also are not equidistant from the center of the router, I donāt know if thatās how that router is or notā¦
Thank you for working on this!
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I have a Ridgid, I measure the mounting screws right at 4" in an equilateral triangle centered on the bit. I just happen to be at that stage of making a sled for the linkage kit from you 
.
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Perfect! Iāll add those measurements to the drill template and work on making a sled template as well. Does the point of the equilateral triangle point toward dust collection or away?
It points toward the dust collection.
I finally got around to installing the linkage kit and making some cuts. It took me a bit to figure out where the advanced settings were, but once I found that and switched it to triangularā¦
itās working great! Everything is going as expected and so far the movement has been smooth and beautiful.
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I LOVE to hear that! Thank you for the update, itās good to hear that things are running smoothly for you! I hope you make some amazing things (take pictures when you do!)
-Logan
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