16 Sep Maslow Frame Build and Sled Setup
We began with the Jumpstart kit that included the pre-made sled and router bit…it is truly impressive the community that exists around the MakerMade Maslow, upright CNC machine and the information that was available was extremely helpful.
The construction of the frame only takes a basic amount of build experience if you are running with the standard-type frame. Of course, it is always good to read the directions completely through. We decided to go with a slightly different build from the standard and got distracted by the fact a wee bit. Once we got back to the overall instruction set (here is a link to the Setting Up Your Maslow CNC – Assembly Guide PDF – this is from 2019, so if you can, you should probably use whatever is the most current incarnation of this), things went a bit better. One of the big things we missed was:
- The need for all four screws in the motor brackets.
- We ended up switching out the “wood” screws supplied with the kit and replacing them with #12, 1″ stainless steel pan-head sheet metal screws – wanted to have the body of the screw be the same approximate width of the slot so that there wasn’t any play when the screw was pulled down tight. We went with the sheet metal screws because we couldn’t find the length/# in the wood screws. The stainless is a bit softer, but so far it has worked fine.
…when we were performing the first calibration (only two screws per bracket), the motors were so strong that it pulled them in when setting the overall distance between them. Luckily there was no damage to the chain.
We have done the first project off the machine, but we still have yet to do the final calibration. That will be happening soon since we just got out next run of supplies in the shop. The first project was a shingle to hang for the shop and it actually went pretty good…only minor problems.
Computer/Software
We are using a basic Mac laptop (2012) with Catalina OS and the uploading and installation of the software was pretty straight-forward. We have been noticing slight hiccups with the “laptop and the software” and will occasionally need to re-boot the system. We aren’t sure if the complete re-boot is necessary, but until more information is gathered and there is more experience with the system/setup, we will do this to try and minimize any problems and potential waste from system glitches…wood isn’t all that expensive, but really don’t want to waste if it is avoidable.