my (metal maslow) sled tilting forward/upward: As you can see on the video i can raise the bottom of the sled easily with my little finger tilting the whol sled forward/upward. This leads to really bad angles. Is there any other way to solve this than to make/buy a new sled?
Even with slow z-axis plunge rates this leads to really bad cuts.
(The chains are not parallel atm but i had someone holding them parallel and it doesnt make a noticeable difference)
I am using a stock metal maslow sled with stock metal maslow z-axis, heightend linkage system (3.5inch) and ridgid router. The frame angle is currently around 12.8 degree.
Is there a way to solve this problem without making a much larger base plate? Could the problem be solved with the bigger/newer version of the metal maslow plate? @MetalMaslow advised to raise the linkage to 3.5inch, which i did and I cant raise the linkage any further because it would collide with the z-axis.
You can lower the height of the chain-mount kit. That seems a bit high.
What is the angle of sled when you pull it away from the sheet with 2 fingers on the chain?
Is the top tilting forward allot?
The distance from workspace to the motors is currently 67cm/26.4 inches. Which is about the recommended distance for a 12" ft bar?! The angle is 11.5%. The worker who did made the frame unluckily got the angle wrong. I am prepared to change the frame to 15% if needed. But i dont think the angle is the source of the problem.
I am not sure if i understand the question. Do you want me to put 2 fingers on each chain close to the sled and the try to pull the sled up? Thats very hard as it tends to tilt the other way as seen in the video. After pulling up you want me to get the angle of the sled plate relative to ground?
The angle of the frame should not be that of an issue, given your heavy sled. I tested down to 8° and that’s where the problem started that the bit going into the sheet would lift the sled.
Going to 14 ft top beam could give you trouble at the top middle.
The sled should be balanced first. Something like No. 4
This is achieved with the height of the chain-mount.
Once you have that distance of chains to the sheet at the sled, you then move the motors to have the sprockets the same distance so the chain parallel to the sheet.
I did already raise the linkage kit to 3.5 inch, which @Metalmaslow advised me to do. I cant raise further because the z-axis will collide with the “pins” holding the linkage.
I would nee to make a custom linkage kit and adapt the sled for this. But i dont know if this is possible as the calibration expects the linkage kit beeing at an defined size?!
i originally had the stock mounts from metal-maslow and had problems with tilting to the “other side”. Like described here Metal Maslow tilts at the top
After this i contacted metalmaslow and he advised to raise to 3.5 inch, which i did.
I did just hold the sled up with my hands and the sled angle is close to 100% (99.9%). Measured with my android phone. What would be the optimal angle? Same as the working area?
your wasteboard looks almost vertical, needs to be 15 degrees or greater. You can get away with a slightly lower angle like 17 degrees because the umhw anti friction trim is 4x less friction than wood on wood.
Also center of gravity is closer to 3" not 3.5" If we accidently told you that sorry, but we’ve been saying 3" for over a year. (1.5" for makita router kit)
And as mentioned previously, if you do not like the metal sled you can always just cut out a wooden one and use the metal sled as a template to get the router in exact center.
no kit is perfect,and a little bit of trial and error and experimenting is needed to get them working. Insisting it has to work a certain way will only get you frustrated. Just look at all the clever solutions people have come up to make all the kits better.
90 degree is vertical, 99 is close to No. 4 on the illustration posted above from the maslow manual. The workspace angle is between 12-13% atm. See attached images.
So the difference between the “sled angle” and the workspace angle is 2-3%.
So one, possible solution would be to increase the workspace angle to 16 degree and cut down the linkage holders to around 3inch?! Or make a hole into the linkage holders and slice them into small pieces so i can adjust the height like in Geros posting above?
Next option would be to buy a makita router and have someone make an adapter for the clamp?
[quote=“Metalmaslow, post:10, topic:14579, full:true”]
Also center of gravity is closer to 3" not 3.5" If we accidently told you that sorry, but we’ve been saying 3" for over a year.[/quote]
I thought you said 3 1/2. Maybe i got that wrong.
If i order a Kit for router-type X i actually do expect it to work with router X (without much tinkering) as long as “everything else” is setup correctly. This why i buy a kit?
Besides that i did had custom parts made to adapt the sled. Keep in mind that i dont have access to amazon, limited access to ebay and sourcing “stuff” on the local, indonesian market is as difficult as it is very often expensive. A lot of tools and materials are not available here and ordering from outside the country is expensive and often takes 3 months. I just had to order bits in the US because i couldnt get them from chinese ebay shops. There is only one shop “on the next island” offering a very limited choice of bits.
I had an offer for laser cutting your new sled model (thx for plans btw) for 160000 IDR which equals USD 108.
Kind notice from a moderator and admin, that this is a User Forum and not a Seller Forum.
Until now, no community guidelines have been crossed and no posts have been flagged, so all is good.
Thank you for understanding.
I would be happy to see that we keep it that way and the community helps to achieving the results that are expected.
To all 3 sellers i would like to address that it should be mentioned in the top headline of the purchase, that this is not a Plug and Play device. It should be clearly stated that tinkering is required.
Kind regards, Gero
Edit: Perhaps it could be the low angle of the frame. You can fast find out by just tilting the spoil board to 15° for a test. Your feedback how that turns out is highly valuable for other Users.
But you don’t have it set up correctly, your center or gravity is too high and your frame angle is wrong.
You can always email us directly for help as well, it would probably be faster and result in less frustration. I think you have had this issue for over 1/2 years now.
No. The thousands of kits sold with the ridgid router’s z axis hack are so fatally flawed they can cause fires which is one of the main reasons we only sell kits with a dedicated z axis. The bungee cord never worked that well, the original 10’ spacing wasn’t the best original board overheated and died, etc… We were the first to try and address all these issues and try and improve the kits.
you can change angle to 17 degrees or more, make changes parallel, correct center of gravity, or use a lighter router or just use a wood sled like many people do.
The angle in my opening posting had been wrong, which i did correct. The current angle is 12-13 degree. I surely will test this but i dont think 2-3 degress it will be a big difference. I will try 16 degree as metalmaslow said it should work until 18". I will sureley report back here.
The highes i went with my hinged frame was 20° and then problem started, so we know 8 is to low and 20 to high. Your 12-13° should work well if the sled is balanced by adjusting the height of the chain-mounts. Hanging free the bottom of the sled should be either vertical, or the same 12-13° as the sheet.
What you have now seems to be that it is tilting the top more forward. To be solved by lowering the height of the chain-mount. 2 or 4 in the pic. The opinions are split in the Forum. But not tilted forward more then the angle of the frame. Chains set to be parallel to the worksheet after balancing the sled by adjusting the motor mounts. Just my thoughts.
I have to disagree with this. If you buy a kit you need to expect to tinker, even if you bought the kit for a particular known model. If you don’t want to tinker, what you need to buy is a finished CNC router, not a kit for a build-it-yourself router.
Now on a more constructive note, I think the problem you’re experiencing is entirely down to the mounts being too high, as others have already said. Once you have an adjustable system (eg slotted screws or multiple inserts like Metalmaslow showed) then you can really see & feel the difference of bringing the height up or down just a small amount. I found on my set up that 5mm either way (that’s about two and a half tenths of an inch less two thirds of a gnats hair in imperial I think) made it go bad. So the height adjustment is (I found anyway) quite critical to balancing.
Trim your spacers down a bit at a time until you find a nice balance. It’s possibly only a small adjustment to bring it right into line
