Shapeoko2

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General

Owner/Loaner: LVL1 Serial Number: Make/Model: Inventables Shapeoko2 Arrival Date: 8/22/2014 Usability: Yes Contact: Where: Wood Shop

About

Note: The Shapeoko is out of commission temporarily for refurbishing and repairs. Check this page for progress.

Note: At the end of 2014 the Shapeoko company merged with Carbide 3D [1]. Also, the Shapeoko 2 model has been discontinued. Many of the links used in creating this page have moved or disappeared. We are working to get this page updated, but you may still find some outdated info.

The Shapeoko 2 [2] is a light weight belt driven 3 axis CNC capable of routing wood, foam, plastic, soft nonferrous metals, and circuit boards. Possible projects are shown, but not limited, to some samples here [3]. As of now the main tool used to cut is a manual set multispeed generic dremel.

Electronics:

-Arduino Uno

-GRBL gShield

-24V, 2A Power Supply

-58 oz-in stepper motors, 12V

Safety

Due to the high speeds of the dremel and the possibility of high lateral forces on the cutting bits WEAR SAFETY GOGGLES AT ALL TIMES when the spindle is on. Make sure persons in the area are aware of this failure mechanism and they also wear goggles. Do not risk your eyes.

• Note: The limit switches installed still have noise spikes which trigger when running. I found that out when working on it with the other Daniel. To get around this (until we have some noise reduction done) simply turn off hard and soft limit switches, turn off the homing procedure, and manually set the home location by typing G92 X0, Y0, Z0 into the serial send box. -Daniel

How to Use

Basic procedure:

• Create your pattern in .svg format.
  • Inkscape is a good choice for this and it is free.
• Convert your pattern to G-code
  • Shapeoko recommends MakerCAM
    • Note: some tutorials also use MakerCAM to create the .svg file, but we have found control in Inkscape to be much better.
• Use Universal-G-Code-Sender to connect and control the Shapeoko 2
  • This is already loaded on the computer connected to the Shapeoko (as of May 2016) but can be downloaded to other computers from |https://github.com/winder/Universal-G-Code-Sender#downloads
  • This is a Java program and will work on Windows, OS X and Linux

Using Universal-G-Code-Sender:

• Open the Universal-G-Code-Sender
  • On the desktop PC labeled for the Shapeoko:
    • Open Command Prompt
    • type 'cd Desktop' (without the quotes) Enter
    • type 'java -jar -Xmx256m UniversalGcodeSender-all32.jar' (without the quotes) Enter
• Select the correct serial port for your USB connection to the Shapeoko
  • On the desktop PC labeled for the Shapeoko try com3
• Set baud rate to 115200
  • Current version of the Shapeoko firmware is 0.9g as of 11/25/14, earlier versions of the firmware use baud rate of 9600
• "Open" the connection to connect to the Shapeoko
• Position and zero the cutter (Note: you need to know where the zero point is located for YOUR project)
  • Click on the Manual Control tab (Note: the Homing Cycle feature is currently disabled)
    • Use the X+, X-, Y+, Y-, Z+, and Z- buttons, then press the Reset Coordinates button
• Load the G-code for your project
  • Click on the File Mode button
    • Browse to and load your file
• Verify the file
  • Some versions of Universal-G-Code-Sender have a Visualize button for this
  • You might also try this online viewer or download and install this viewer or try one of these others
    • Note: Gcode files are simple text files. Some of these viewers require you to have a .gcode extension on your file so you may need to rename it or make a copy of it
• Turn on the spindle and set the speed
  • Note: spindle speed is NOT software controlled on this machine
• Send the G-code to the Shapeoko

Tutorials:

• If this is your first time using the Shapeoko, follow the instructions from Shapeoko to familiarize yourself with the controls and source files
  • |http://shapeoko.github.io/Docs/helloworld.html
  • |http://shapeoko.github.io/Docs/firstjob.html

Build Group

Shapeoko CNC build

Possible Future Upgrades

A few upgrades that could make our Shapeoko 2 better are:

-Quiet cut spindle[4] Done!

-Threaded inserts[5]

-Vacuum attachment[6]