This is what I decided on doing. Basically the wood frame around the center 4x8’ sheet is pocket hole screwed into the center piece, and then that frame is bolted into the structure. Over this, one more layer of wood will be screwed into place around the perimeter to hold the “to be cut” board into place. The initial setup was kind of a pain, but this should make it relatively simple to change out the center board after it gets worn out down the road and there is no exposed hardware on the cut surface.
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Frame now completed, just need to add some counter weight on the back side of the frame supports. It’s stead as is, but doesn’t take as much upward force as I would like to tilt it forward on the front casters. Broke out my parts last night and started planning out the chain slack-side tensioning based on this video. I’m assuming this is a user on here but I’m not sure of their username, but it seems like a really smart way to handle the slack side tension issues. I hope to implement the z-axis mod described by @rwales as well and test that out.
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@mhnudi
Very nice.
Yes that is a nice design and he is a user, don’t remember the name but keep searching for slack management and you will be sure to find his posts on it. 
Good call. Found it in one of the big threads about slack management. @OtandAT is the one that came up with this.
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I’m glad this thread is still in the “No Judgement” category because I have a question that’s probably really simple. I have been reading through the threads where the Aux ports on the motor shield are used to control router power and dust collection with code added to the g-code along with solid state relays or IoT power controllers. This seems to typically be done by soldering wires to the respective location on the motor shield. The motor shield in my kit is one of the newer ones and has a 12v port for a fan, but doesn’t appear to have the “Aux” connection points like the older motor shields or some of the other types of newer ones. My question is, am I still able to use the Aux signal with this shield through a different connection point? I know this question is probably super basic but I don’t know very much about electronics, but I’m trying to learn. Thanks for any input
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This looks like a TLE shield.
There are versions with the aux pin brought up.
maslowcommunitygarden.org/TLE5206-PowerControl-Boards
Edit: As a “don’t do at home workaround” you could bent copper wire to access the arduino aux ports from under the shield an bring them out for a relay board.
Kind regards, Gero
Edit 2: The “do not do it” would look like this before the shield is pressed on all the way in.
This is a ‘dupont crimp pin’ bent at 90°
Used in prototyping several times and it works, should however not to be considered a final solution.
Thank you for the photos and explanation. Also wanted to add that East Bay Source got back to me and it looks like in their latest kits, the shield has the Aux ports on it. I think I got the gist of it to test out:
From your perspective would the only permanent solution be to replace the shield with one that has the Aux ports for soldering a connection?
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Having all ‘unused ports/pins’ of the arduino as sockets for whatever you think you need to plug in, would be a beta-testers dream. If you can get a board with sockets for the AUX and have the budget, go for it.
Spindle speed control via g-code is only 1 of the things i can think of people want to connect.
I hope you are aware that the Maslow is not a machine you leave alone.
We had fire and near fire reports as results of leaving a power-tool on chains cutting ‘wood’ alone.
A few splints blocking the vacuum and sawdust building up around a metal spinning at (router) ~ 8000-10000 rpm is enough. Currently the software will not notice.
After 2 years and 2 months i insist on turning on and off myself and stay with the machine until it’s done.
(Yes, i do go to get a beer {do not operate tools under influence of toxins!}, approx 1:37 min max, and have the luxury of a bathroom attached to the workshop to carry them away.)
1 more reason to get the ports up.
I think is was discussed somewhere in the forum about a temperature device directed at the bit to ‘sense’ if heat builds up and turn all off. If this is developed, i’ll go for a relay.
Kind regards, Gero
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I appreciate you saying that. I had no intention of leaving it alone, but was rather just hoping to pursue some of the automation aspects that others have done.
Is there anything fundamentally wrong with just doing this? Then the ports on the arduino would be readily available.
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WOW! 
Edit:
Other that you doubled the chance of corrosion on connections (rare and easy fixed) there is no reason not to do it. Hands free on every unused pin.
How did you have the cables ready? Do you have a purchase link?
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that’s a lot neater than the wiring I put together last week for another CNC
machine.
David Lang
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I figured if it works, the extra space taken up wouldn’t be a huge deal in the grand scheme of things.
A while back I had wanted to try an arduino project but I never really got around to doing it, so I had some supplies laying around. These were the cables I bought.
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this might not be the best idea, those digital signals can be overpowered by interference, and the longer the connection, the more likely it is to act as an antenna and pick up interference that might corrupt the signal. It would be better to replace the maslow’s pins with pass through or “stackable” headers.
Something like this (would give you a bunch of extra headers though):
Or if you don’t want to desolder and replace your maslow shield’s pins, you could get one of these and put it in between your arduino mega and your shield:
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Thanks for this input, what you’re saying makes sense. This would definitely be a better solution. It seems like using the prototype shield would be the easiest route for me, thanks a lot for sharing
@mhnudi for the length you have there you will be fine. Just keep it away from AC wires; 1-2’ minimum.
The interference problem already manifests itself with unshielded usb cables and people’s router/vacuum motors. Those brushed AC motors generate a lot of interference.
I’m not saying it will definitely be an issue for everyone, but depending on how worn your brushes are, it could potentially start a fire. Having an 8 inch unshielded cable transferring logic level data will pick up stray signals that may cause corruption of the datastream, and with the computer controlling something that has been shown to cause fires if left in one place too long, it probably isn’t something anyone should risk when there are other safer alternatives.
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I think for a $7 fix, it makes the most sense to just do it the right way on this one and minimize the potential for interference issues
Figured I would follow up on this and show what I actually ended up doing to have access to AUX ports 1-4 (mega ports 40, 41, 42, and 43). I got in one of the prototype shields, however the problem was that it didn’t have all of the ports required for the motor shield (the IOREF pin was missing).
For the TLE5206, this pin fits in here:
What I ended up doing was removing an unused section of the pin receivers on the mega and soldering wires directly to the leads:
Then I added shrink wrap tubing around each of them and installed the shield:
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@mhnudi
Excellent. I have the same board and have an IoT relay that I haven’t hooked up yet. I’ll be following in your footsteps!
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