Hello everyone. I’m new to the Maslow and this forum. I just built the frame and just finished the temporary sled. When I went to hang the temporary sled, I noticed it isn’t lying flat onto the board. I read the FAQs and it mentioned the chain tightness. I was wondering if anyone else ever had this issue and what they did to fix it. Also, when I put the chains onto the sled, I didn’t know how tight it should be. I just tried to line it up in the middle of the board.
Thanks for any help that you can provide.
Can you adjust the ring height above the sled? That will correct for what you see. Try to make the ring high enough that the chains are parallel to the workarea sheet of plywood.
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So unscrew the ring and make it as high as it will go onto the temp sled? In your opinion, do you think I’ll have the same problem once it makes the final sled? What are your thoughts on my angle? I really appreciate your help.
-Jason
I think ideally you want the sled to hang at the same angle as your frame. To test this, manually lift the sled off the frame slightly by holding onto the chains. You only need to pull it off the frame about an inch. Sled and frame should be parallel. The ring closer to the base pulls the top of the sled off the frame. The ring in the highest position will tilt the top towards the frame.
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You guys are great. I was seriously worried that I would need to take the frame apart. I’ll give it a shot tomorrow night (EST) and let you guys know how it does. I appreciate your help.
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Out of curiosity, what do you think about the frame angle? Does it look OK?
It might be a little close to vertical. The symptom would be that lowering the z-axis while the bit is spinning would lift the sled off the surface instead of just cutting into the wood. Bit sharpness, material hardness, other variables come into play as well. Try it and see - this is art as much as science…
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Ok. Thanks. I’ll let you guys know tomorrow how it goes.
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you want the ring mounted at a height so that when you hold the sled in midair
by the chains, it hangs stright or slightly forward.
that’s not ‘as high as it will go’ but it’s also not as low as you currently
have it.
it will be different for the final sled as it will balance differently
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Since no one explicitly said it, when we refer to “high” in this thread, we’re talking about distance off the work piece surface (the z-axis direction), not in the “up” direction (towards the ceiling).
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Whoa! Thanks for telling me that, I was about to unscrew it from the wood and move it up. So you’re saying making the ring higher (towards me) not moving the ring higher on the board?
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Yes, the center of the ring should always be the same center of the bit. There are large slots in the ring brackets for adjusting the ring higher or lower with respect to the “z” direction (farther away from your sled surface).
Yikes, funny how something that can seem so easy to understand can be interpreted so differently. Thanks for clarifying @jwolter.
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Ok here is an update. I moved the z axis up (closer to me). I noticed the sled will stay against the wood when idle and moving, but as soon as the z axis starts to dig in, the bottom of the temporary sled will start to lift. The causes the holes in the final sled not to go all the way through and as the sled lifts, it’ll make an oval cut. I also noticed the holes in my final sled attempt to not go all the way through. I stopped it once I noticed the oval cuts. I have added pictures to show where I put the ring height. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks again everyone!
Also, I’m using a 1/2” 3 flute compression bit. Lastly, sorry about the lighting. I have bug lights on in my shed.
Your sled lifting when the z-axis is trying to plunge is usually due to not enough frame angle (between 10-15° is typical) or not enough weight (around 25lbs). I used my phone with a level app to dial in about 15°.
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compression bits are really not intended for plunging into material, they are
made to cut the edge of material (with the center of the cutter at the center of
the material
the bit in the picture is not a compression bit (some of the other pictures may
be of the compression bit, but not the one in the screenshot)
Can you recommend a good bit then please?
Since I already built the frame, do I need to rebuild it or is there another fix? I don’t know the exact angle it’s built to now. It appears to be the same as everyone else’s.
You might be able to add a little something to lengthen the front legs a bit, tipping the frame back.
They have free phone apps that can measure the angle. Electronic angle guages are under $15. Maslow store has the bits that I use.
Edit: From the above pictures your project board looks closer to 5 degrees and your motors 2 or 3. When I was testing at 5 degrees my sled came off of the surface too. 10 - 15 was optimal for me with a 30# sled