Shapeoko 5 Pro CNC Router: Is it Worth it?

hello everyone and once again welcome to matech today we're going to have a look at the shoko 5 Pro I've had this machine now for a few months and I thought I'd give you an overview of what I like about it just before we get into this if you could quickly go ahead and hit that subscribe button it really does a lot to help the channel grow now for reference I had the shoko 3 XL before this this machine is the shoko 5 Pro XL and there's defitely a lot of changes between the two models so the first thing we're going to look at is this control box this thing is considerably larger than the control box I had for the shoko 3XL it also has larger connectors which are all front-facing which makes them all easy to access the control box also has extra ports for your spindle and also an axillary and accessory Port which I'm not too sure what they're for but I'll assume they're for some feature add-ons there is also an onoff switch right at the bottom of the control box the controller Amash Shoku 3 did suffer from static issues causing it to disconnect and I'm happy to say that I've had zero issues with this control box disconnecting so far the next new component we're going to look at is this Power pendant the lit button here gives you the ability to pause your machine while the emergency stop button is just that and gives you the ability to quickly stop your machine now let's get into the main reason I upgraded to the Shoku 5 and that is what they're calling their heavy duty motion system the Shoku 3 I had used a belt system and the problem with these belts is they weren't particularly accurate although the belts are fine for doing larger woodworking projects they just didn't have the tolerances needed for doing finer small projects in comparison the Shoku 5 pro has a system of rails and ball screws which is not only supposed to make the CNC more accurate but also make it more rigid for cutting heavier materials now I haven't tested this machine on any Metals but I can tell you on Hardwoods and on plastic Composites I am now getting consistent accurate results on all the axises the only noticeable drawback I've seen from the system is that it's noticeably louder than the old belt system another feature that comes stock with the Shoku 5 is the bit Setter the bit Setter lets you keep your zero AIS after you do a bit change now initially I thought this thing was going to be a bit of a gimmick but after having used it for a while I'm finding it to be a huge Time Saver on my projects that use multiple bits now another great feature of the shoko 5 is the size this CNC has gotten a noticeable size upgrade from the version 3 it does come in three different sizes the smallest being a 2X 2T working area the one I have here is a 2X 4T working area and the largest being a 4x4 foot working area I'm actually finding that the 2x4 ft working area is perfect for me as my previous 3XL was getting a little small for larger woodworking projects like Signs just to be clear you can actually fit a 4T sheet in here and clamp it down so that makes it really nice for working with sheet Goods like plywood and mdfs another major upgrade from my previous machine is the workholding on the CNC the five uses what's known as a hybrid table with these t- slots while on my old machine you simply just screwed everything down to the MDF work surface I found this hybrid table to be a big timesaver for mounting your work there's also a huge Variety in the different types of clamps and clamping systems sys you could use on these t- slots for example you can use your traditional step block clamps you can then quickly change out to these compression style clamps which are excellent if you need to do any sort of surfacing on a project there's also a whole variety of other clamping setups you can buy from the carbine 3D website I also just noticed that they started offering the 3D printable files for a lot of their clamps and other accessories on their website for free so if you have a 3D printer that could be an excellent option for you let's now move on to the next new feature which is this LED strip that sits under the Gantry this does a great job of lighting up whatever you're working on it actually works well enough that I can actually turn off my shop lights and just let the machine itself light up the work area the last thing we're going to look at is dust collection the five comes with this sweepy dust boot which seems to do a pretty decent job of getting more most of the wood chips the bottom plate of the sweepe attaches on and off using magnets which makes it really easy for when you need to change out your bits it also comes with this secondary plate which doesn't have bristles on it this allows you to see what the bit is cutting While most of the Dust is still being extracted this is Handy for when you're working with small bits on detailed projects that's it for this video I hope you guys enjoyed it I'm going to leave you off with a Time lap Maps I did of a 3D toppo map on a cedar round if you enjoyed this video please give it a like and remember to subscribe to the channel and hit that notification Bell and if you have any questions on this machine please make sure to leave them in the comments below thanks [Music] everyone [Music] [Music] w [Music] [Music] [Music]

Channel: MakeTech

Views: 14,968

Keywords: cnc router, shapeoko, desktop cnc, Shapeoko 5 Pro, shapeoko 5, CNC Machine, cnc woodworking, Shapeoko 5 Pro Review, Shapeoko review, shapeoko 4, shapeoko 3, shapeoko pro, Shapeoko Upgrades, CNC Wood Router, Shapeoko 5 Pro Unboxing, shapeoko 5 pro vs onefinity, onefinity, onefinity cnc, shapeoko 5 pro in action, shapeoko 5 pro dust collection, shapeoko 5 pro bitsetter, carbide 3d, onefinity elite vs shapeoko 5 pro, shapeoko 5 pro vs hdmi, shapeoko 5 pro setup

Id: mmnngeg5AIY

Length: 7min 16sec (436 seconds)

Published: Thu Nov 09 2023