i am one of many who had a bit of a problem with the metal maslow kit because there are no instructions coming with the kit and, if i remember correctly, not even a part-list which could give one an idea what which part is for. I did even buy me a power relay for the router about 2 weeks before realizing the kit already contains one It also contains a vacuum adapter which quite some people did not realize, incl. me. If you own a Ridgid you may dont want to use this adapter because it raises the z-axis base and the router.
This thread is for sharing information about the metal-maslow kit to make live for all owners more easy and to talk about mods specific to this setup.
I start with an unpacking the metal maslow kit Video (which is not from me) and which is surprisingly hard to find. Please note that the metal maslow kits out there have some differences.
“There were a couple of settings that weren’t in the instructions. The biggest one was the calibration of the Z-axis; which when doing the test cuts cut through 3/4” plywood (8x what it should have done). The second setting was to turn on Aux1 (for the power relay for the router), which during a cut, turns on an outlet. I hooked it up to a power-strip and now the router and vacuum both turn on/off automatically."
A note for owners or buyers of the Ridgid router: You need to raise the linkage kit “somehow” because the Ridgid is “head heavy”. I will let more info follow within the next days.
the only one I am not sure about is the center of gravity.
the Z-axis number is right on target
I have the motors mounted to the 12 foot metal bar from Metal Maslow
Main Option Use the rubber bands to hold heatsinks see post below for picture.
Secondary option Use a small tie wrap to hold the heatsink on the shield (wrap around board) the adhesive does not hold very well and they will fall off. just DO NOT OVER TIGHTEN THE TIE WRAP*
The small holes on the sled for the chain point outward (away from router)
I made the machine one foot taller and also made the top motor mounting bar 12’ long per the websites suggestions using the metal bar sold by them. I built the standard frame with these adjustments.
I added a l Bracket to the beams due to the extra weight from the metal bar
Hopes this helps someone…
Things I question???
What are the 4 black rubber bands for? SEE NEXT POST
What are the 2 extra power cords for?
Whats the best way to connect the fan in the case to power? (nothing to plugin to) SEE NEXT POST
Why do I have to do a scavenger hunt to find all the answers?
The rubber bands are for holding the heatsink to the board (see picture), probably a better option then tie wraps because the amount of stress is more controlled.
I connected the fan to a 12V 200mA power adapter I had lying around. You can also connect the fan to the board but it will only deliver 5V I think. I was not sure which pins and the fan would not rotate at max speed.
So the best option is to get an external power supply.
Why we have to hunt for answers I don’t know, keeps us busy I suppose
the metal maslow kit has an relay included for auto-powering the spindle/router. See the unpacking video linked in first posting if you cant identify the relay.
The relay can be controlled by the TLE5206 motor control board sitting ontop of the arduino board (see board and pin layouts below)
To physically enable the relay you must connect your router/spindle to the relays plug and connect the “small cable” to the AUX1 port of motor controller (see image above).
If you are using the Webcontrol software you can enable router/spindle auto-on/off in the settings menu under “Spindle Automation”. Set the value to “relay_high”.
Groundcontrol doesnt seem to directly support “Spindle Automation”. A workaround seems to be to create a macro for on/off and add this to your g code. (I hope we will get more detailed information later)
The relay will be connected to the motor controller?! Maybe you can shorty explain how to correctly use the relay. I just did write instructions below. Please comment/correct as appropriate!
He was just saying that the relay can only handle 10 amps total. By plugging a power strip in, and having the router AND a shop vac attached, you may already be exceeding the amp limits (depending on size of shop vac). If you plug too much in you will burn up the relay, and potentially turn the router off in the middle of a job.
@Arnd Re: “Set the value to “relay_high”.”
Are you sure that’s correct? I just got my metalmaslow last week and am getting everything set up. When I ran the test program with “relay_high” it started running when I stopped the program but didn’t run at all during, or so it seemed. With it set to “relay_low” the calibration program goes to home, starts the router, and then moves towards the first cut. It turns off when the program completes or when you hit stop, as you’d expect.
Also, I measured the movement of the z-plate from it’s topmost while tweaking settings, and I found 25mm to be more accurate than 22 for the pitch. Is that not the right way to measure this? I am wondering how/why 22mm was chosen for the pitch (I’ve seen 8mm thrown around on this forum as well). If measuring the travel of the plate is the way to go for this I’ll break out my calipers for some proper measuring and tweaking soon.
Just something I came up with for raising the linkage to accommodate the Rigid router (using mostly only parts from the Metal Maslow kit). Interested in any thoughts, it works but it is torquing the metal frame a little more than I would like. This was just a test with what I had on hand and it balanced the sled perfectly, going to upgrade it to some bigger bolts and accurate aluminum spacers to see if I can stiffen it up. If not I may explore wrapping something around the back of the Z-axis tower and connecting each end to the risers to keep them upright.
Just received my kit yesterday, built the sled following the video mentioned by Arnd (I did just happen across it). Going to build the frame next.
A couple questions:
I had the same question on the two extra power cords, I wish one was to power the 12V or relay as I’m missing one, fortunately I have plenty of those.
I am missing one of the motor control cables, I have one 7’ and one 10’ each. Which one is missing? I sent a note to Metalmaslow, hoping to hear back soon.
Am I right in my assumption that the grounded plug with two wires (one with wire exposed) is for the Z axis zeroing touch? Assuming it is used by disconnecting the router, plugging in this cable (to ground which I checked) and clamping to the bit using the alligator clip
My frame will have 12 foot top, was planning to make overall height one foot more. Do I just need to add a foot to each side of the stand for the long board?
Tried Ground Control on my Lenovo laptop which I updated from Win7 to 10 early this year. Needless to say OpenGL is stuck at 1.1 for the built-in graphics card. Had to use a windows tool to fake the program into thinking it was higher, fortunately it works fine and I could test motors (swapping a cable to check all 3). Because of that and I would rather use a Raspberry PI, has anyone tried Web Control Wireless?
Almost forgot, one other question, has anyone used the metal plate that appears to be for the vacuum? One of the holes didn’t align on mine and I didn’t use it because of that and the video didn’t show it. Saw someone note that it may give too much Z height. Just thought I’d ask.
Not a question, I may just solder a connector to the 12 volt side of the motor control board to run the fan that came with the housing. It’s pretty easy to trace out.
webcontrol wireless: that is the only way I run it. It works great. I’ve even run it with the rpi as the AP. If you get stuck, reach out. Works great on a 3B.
the grounded plug with two wires (one with wire exposed) is for the Z axis zeroing touch? USING ALL CAPS FOR SO YOU CAN SEE MY COMMENTS EASILY, NOT YELLING. SORRY NO THAT IS FOR GROUDING THE ELECTRONICS IF YOU HAVE STATIC ELECTRIC ISSUES. THE Z AXIS ZERO IS A 1M LONG RED/YELLOW/BLACK CABLE WHICH YOU WILL NEED TO MAKE LONGER AND ATTACH AN ALIGATOR CLIP TO.
My frame will have 12 foot top, was planning to make overall height one foot more. Do I just need to add a foot to each side of the stand for the long board? YES GET A 2X8X12 BOARD WORKS FINE. A 2X6 WOULD PROBABALY WORK TOO.
Tried Ground Control on my Lenovo laptop which I updated from Win7 to 10 early this year. Needless to say OpenGL is stuck at 1.1 for the built-in graphics card. Had to use a windows tool to fake the program into thinking it was higher, fortunately it works fine and I could test motors (swapping a cable to check all 3). REALLY? WHAT PROGRAM TRICKS THE PC? YOU CAN USE WEBCONTROL ON A PC.
Almost forgot, one other question, has anyone used the metal plate that appears to be for the vacuum? One of the holes didn’t align on mine and I didn’t use it because of that and the video didn’t show it. Saw someone note that it may give too much Z height
THE BIG HOLES DO NOT NEED TO ALIGN ONLY THE SMALL HOLES. EVEN WITH THE VACUUM ATTACHMENT OVERALL CENTER OF GRAVITY SHOULD BE LOWER THAN A STOCK ORIGINAL MASLOW.
If Ground Control complains about OpenGL you might be able to fix using this guide. It shows it being set up for Java 64 bit but you can easily make it work for Groundcontrol.exe and it is a 32 bit app. the dll in the video you should use is: ig4icd32.dll It’s hard to see the second “i”. I missed it the first time.
So far I’ve only tested the motor control out so far and will likely set up with my PC when I build the frame. I’m definitely leaning to using a PI, will be reading up more.
(EDIT) I loaded Web Control onto a Pi Zero W I had lying around and it works great!
heres an update on my attempt to create a better solution for the raisers for the ridgid and a vacuum adapter. See attached images. I did order two iron cylinder with matching threads and will get them latest on saturday.
Then i found someone who did change the vacuum adapter available on thingiverse so it matches my new raiser setup. Will report back if the adapter is printed and installed.
Yes, i understood this some time later. I didnt plan to attach a vac there anyway.
I did connect my router to the relay and the relay had been hooked up correctly to the motor controler board. After this i did use this gcode for testing:
M3 (or M4) Switch on spindle / relay
G4 S5 Wait 5 seconds
M5 Switch off spindle / relay
I did tried all available settings in Webcontrol (relay_high, relay_low) but nothing works. Does anyone has the relay working with eiter webcontrol or groundcontrol?
could you please advise on the correct settings for
:: the relay
relay_high in the config and the connector needs to go to AUX1 on the motor board
:: linkage kit rotational radius setting
Is the metal maslow linkage a copy of dlang’s metal linkage kit or the original maslow kit? What is the correct rotational radius settings 150mm?!
I really would like to compile all settings for the metal-maslow kit which differ from the stock settings. Would be great if you could give us some help here.
When we collected most of the needed information i will create a wiki subsection for it and put all infor there. This should significantly lower your email/support requests,
Arnd, I installed minimal Raspian (with GUI) then used the 0.9331 beta image because it lets me shutdown PI from Actions screen.
Also, I found this thread on Metalmaslow that may answer some of the questions you had. I’ll have to look at Webconfig again but I think it had a Metalmaslow selection for sled size.
Haven’t gotten as far as you with setup operation yet. Hoping to get frame built this weekend.
Did you use the webcontrol raspberry image or install rasbian + webcontrol.
the answer is yes to each of those. I’ve tried the docker, the pyinstaller, and the pibakery install options. Currently I’m running development code, so none of them. It was a manual install. Both of my raspberry pis run straight development code. One has a maslow, one does not. If you are ok running an older version of raspian (jesse) then using the pibakery recipe install is pretty painless to set up and get going.
It also contains a vacuum adapter which quite some people did not realize, incl. me. If you own a Ridgid you may dont want to use this adapter because it raises the z-axis base and the router.
