Would it be a good idea to possibly screw the platform to the frame or build a rest while in rest mode? The idea is that leaving the router weight putting stress on the motors and attachment points will cause damage or torque the setup. What ate your ideas on this. I thought about taking it of but would you have to calibrate every time.
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Hi there, in theory you could let it hang. The gears ratio should prevent the motors from turning and the chains should not stretch.
I donāt trust theory that much and always rested the router on a chair. Another option is to put a screw with a rope somewhere up and hang it.
You do not need to calibrate if you take the sled off. GroundControl stores the last position (if ended normally)
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I keep the chains over the gears, remove cotter pins releasing the sled. I have 2 screws in my waste board at the top, the cotter pins hold the chains between cuts. I keep the sled on my work bench. I put it all back when Iām ready to cut. Takes about 2 minutes. This keeps the router from hanging outward.
Thank you
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I hang my sled from my top beam when the machine isnāt in use. I drilled a clearance hole for a piece of 1/4"-20 threaded rod and hang it on a similar hole in the sled.
It probably doesnāt matter, but it makes it very easy to load and unload the machine with the sled out of the way. Also means that the sled isnāt protruding out in front of the machine, so Iām not tripping over it while Iām trying to walk by.
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That is along the lines of what I was thinking about. I was thinking of pulling up enough to relieve the tension and just drop a screw into the frame to hold it.
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You could also have a cradle located on the skirt where the sled parks itself after cutting. The cartesian coordinate for that spot could be 1/4" lower than the actual cradle, slacking the chains.
Now that I think about it, the cradle could be on the lower crossbar and just consist of a couple of blocks that would positively locate the sled.
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I hang my sled above the workarea, high enough to be out of the way for putting material on the work surface and to leave the chains slack and easy to attach/detach. On a standard sized frame, the āAdvanced/ManualChainCalibrationā chain position hooks up to it there. When I was using an 11ā foot top beam, I would use āReturn to Centerā after āAdvanced/ManualChainCalibrationā to feed the chains out for attaching to the sled.
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I love the idea of a parking spot with tension released.
You could easily add a short piece of custom g-code from your library that parks the sled after every job. You might even be able to make a macro for itā¦
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I would hang the sled rather than park it, because if itās above the workpiece,
hung from the top beam, the chains are out of the way for loading material into
the machine.
Thatās actually why my original thought was to park it off to the side on the skirt so you could pull the panel out the other direction.
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