I decided to upgrade my old ShapeOko 2 to a larger CNC, and I have been buying parts when I have the money, I started getting parts to do this upgrade years ago, but got distracted with other projects. I wanted the ability to cut a 4x8 foot sheet of plywood, but I just don't have the space for that, I do however have the space for a 5x5 foot CNC router, and I already have a nice table made just for that. I have a Bosch colt on my ShapeOko 2, unfortunately even with ear protection it's just far too loud, so I ordered a 1.5KW 220v 400Hz 24000rpm Air Cooled Spindle ER11 spindle. I need a good 65mm mount for my spindle, I have seen a few that don't look too good or that you have to drill your own holes for, I want something good but not over $60, any ideas? I now need a VFD, and to upgrade the ShapeOko 2 to handle the 6 pound spindle. I am thinking about a HUANYANG HY-Series 1.5KW, 220V VFD for my spindle, any other VFDs around that $140 price range that are better? Years ago I ordered 6 pieces of 1800mm MakerSlide from Inventables, back then it cost me around $300 with shipping, my thought was to have a ShapeOko 2 style "X carriage" on each side of the y-axis, I had even got the extra ShapeOko 2 "Motor Mount Plates" that would allow me to use extra v-wheels and support more weight, unfortunately over the years I cut one piece of the 1800mm MakerSlide up to make a 3D printer, so now I only have 5 pieces of 1800mm MakerSlide. I am thinking about OpenRail, and something like a 1500mm piece of V-Slot 40x40 Linear Rail for my X-axis, but I need to find out what spacers and bolts I will need for that, I did read that someone called "EliasPolitis" over at the inventables forum upgraded his X-Carve like this and used 3mm tall aluminum spacers for that, and that they "expanded the X-axis slots on the Y side plates", I also have the X-Carve X-Axis carriage and Y-Plates but never installed them. I have some 7-hole aluminum joining plates that I was going to use has "mid span supports" for the Y-axis rails, or I might use some aluminum extrusion under the MakerSlide. I want to upgrade the Z-Axis, I honestly never liked the ShapeOko 2 Z-Axis and it always seemed to give me problems, I am thinking something like the "C-Beam Linear Actuator Bundle" but that will likely be a later upgrade. Thanks for any tips or ideas!
For 1500mm of OpenRail, and V-Slot 40x40 Linear Rail I will need: (1) V-Slot 40x40 Linear Rail 1500mm (4) OpenRail Linear Rail 1500mm (120) M5 8mm low profile screws (120) M5 T-Nuts (4) M5 35mm button head socket cap screws --- I already have them (4) Eccentric Spacer 6mm --- I already have them I will also use a M5 drill and tap kit, and M5 25mm button head socket cap screws to mount the V-Slot 40x40 Linear Rail to the "Motor Mount Plate".
I decided to go with a 2.2KW 3HP VFD (KL-VFD22) 220VAC input, I found a good deal on a new one and the seller offers a one year warranty, I believe it's just a regular HUANYANG VFD sold by "Automation Technology Inc".
A 2.2kW spindle on a 1500mm 40x40 X rail is not going to lead any place good. I suggest abandoning the Shapeoko in its entirety and starting fresh. You might take a look at OpenBuilds LEAD CNC Machine 1515 (60" x 60") to get an idea where your design needs to be heading in order to get a system that reaches anywhere near the results you are trying to achieve.
Money is very tight for me, I am going to have to use what I already have parts wise, I like the idea of the C-Beam and the V-Slot Linear Rail but the cost would just be too much for me to replace everything, but I think you are correct that I need to make some changes because of that 6 pound spindle.
I was going to mention that cnc4newbies has an upgrade kit specifically for the Shapeoko.. but it's not cheap, around 1400+ USD. I would take a look at it, at least from the pictures, it might give you some ideas.
If you’re trying to make due with what you’ve got I would just use the makerslide you already have. Build a base platform out of wood and mount a piece of rail both sides to the side face near the top as your Y-axes. Then build your X-axis gantry up from there out of two of the remaining pieces. Next ditch the idea of a 2.2kW spindle. These have no place in hobby grade systems and your system will neither support it nor will it ever be capable of getting full capacity out of it. If you need quiet go with a .8kW spindle which is far more appropriate to a lightweight system. Plenty of users here have them and are fully happy with them.
I would build a "solid" gantry for a 2.2kW spindle- 6ft is a LONG gap to bridge. Two C-Beams, two 2040s between them, maybe two 4040s inside. Drilled, tapped, joining-plated, the works. Columns go directly under, not to the outside. Basically like an Avid. My total gantry span (with a 2.2kW spindle) is hollow and only about 1300mm, but I have a full-height aluminum C-channel on the back and two 1x3x1/8" steel tubes. AND 20mm linear rail. Like, it's overbuilt for a reason, but I wouldn't wanna strip a whole lot off of it and still expect meaningful performance: M4: 1510SS Heavy Mk.I Rick is correct, though; unless you build the rest of the system equally heavy- neither Shapeoko nor LEAD1515 will cut it- you're gonna be barely squeaking 10-20% of the performance out of the spindle that it's capable of, and there's a good chance that it may end up damaging something that can't take the power because the frame isn't built for the loads it can generate. No problems using an oversized VFD, though, you just have to change some of the current limiting parameters, but I wouldn't bother getting a heavy spindle unless you have money to throw at making the machine capable of both using it and withstanding it.
If you want to go up in power but keep the lightweight spindle.. you can try Kress/AMB spindles from Midwest Circuitry. They are not cheap, but also not expensive either depending on the model, and they have proper spindle bearings. Here is the list, I have the 1.4kW digital control one, but they have a cheaper 0.8W manual control one for $330. It is light compared to many of the spindles out there, perfect for hobby machines, although you will need to make a 43mm mount for it, or by the one from Denmark which I did. Spindle Select Guide | AMB Spindle | Midwest Circuit Technology
LOL! Except, and very relevant to this thread, he didn't just drop the V8... He also BEEFED UP the frame, etc - to be able to handle the extra power - same for the 2.2kw spindle, if the frame cannot resist the forces, you need to address that by providing a machine solid enough for the 2.2kw to be usable.
I was able to get very cheap 1500x1500 WorkBee, I will then "beef it up" later has needed, I also ordered two of the thin black 65mm spindle mounts to hold the spindle a bit better, but this also allows me to use a much lighter Makita RT0700 router if the spindle causes me problems. Now I just need to figure out the electronics, I have an old cnc6040 control box that I had got cheap years ago that can control 4 stepper motors, but I had to do some repairs on it, it has some very poorly made TB6600 stepper drivers, and I had to make some safety changes, it has a printer port connector and I have used it in the past with Mach3, I am not a big fan of Mach3 has I always had trouble setting it up, I also had used it with LinuxCNC but that was also a bit hard to get working, but that was almost 10 years ago, I have the grblShield in a nice large box made up for the Shapeoko 2, and I might remove the grblShield and connect the Arduino to four dm542 stepper drivers using a screw shield, I dislike any CNC controller that has non-removable stepper drivers. I am very likely going to sell the Shapeoko 2 to get back some of the money I spent.
See https://docs.openbuilds.com/blackbox - does not get easier Use OpenBuilds CONTROL with your BlackBox (see above) (; again, does not get easier See docs:software:openbuilds-control [OpenBuilds Documentation]
LinuxCNC is, I suspect, slightly easier to use these days than a decade ago. More wizards, more docs, more discussion, etc. But it's wildly overkill for this machine. BlackBox is the easiest way to go, but fails your "no integrated drivers" test. I have the same test- fixability, spare parts and sheer understanding are important- and always recommend Uno + terminal shield + DM542s.
