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M2 ASSEMBLY GUIDE

BUILDING YOUR FRAME

This Section is how to build your frame for your M2. It is split into sseven main sections: Arduino DUE board setup, building 
the wasteboard, mounting the top beam, placing the material, attaching the motors, attaching the chains, and mounting your 
M2. 

Drew’s Note: 

We recommend reading this entire section before beginning.

This work is licensed under the creative commons Attribution 
NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license.  

Last Updated 11.09.2020

Version 1.14

Summary of Contents for M2

Page 1: ...SETTING UP YOUR M2 AUTOMATED CUTTING MACHINE KIT The complete beginner assembly guide by Last Updated 11 09 2020 v1 14...

Page 2: ...Parts Needed 4 SECTION 3 Assembling the M2 7 SECTION 4 Building the Frame 13 SECTION 5 Calibrating with Makerverse 23 SECTION 6 Appendix 42 This work is licensed under the creative commons Attribution...

Page 3: ...ts building the M2 building the frame or mounting it on an existing Maslow frame and calibration 3 Since this guide is aimed at beginners the calibration section also contains operation instructions T...

Page 4: ...p RT0701C 71mm with 3D printed adapter Yes Yes Ridgid 2hp R2202 91mm included in M2 Upgrade Kit Yes Yes Ridgid 2hp R22002 91mm included in M2 Upgrade Kit Yes Yes Tools needed for building your M2 and...

Page 5: ...ith shock absorption strip M Ring Carriage Roller Bearing Carriges 2 Z Axis Mount L Brackets 3 Z Axis Assembly Sled Router Clamp Roller Bearings 4 Chains 335cm 11 2 Dust Collection Elbow Spring Maker...

Page 6: ...crews Bag E E1 Motor gear 2 E2 Grub Screws 2 E3 Motor screws 8 E4 Motor washers 8 E5 3mm Allen wrench Bag F F1 Shoulder bolt 4 F2 Large washer 8 F3 Large locking nut 4 F4 5mm Allen wrench Bag G G1 Tin...

Page 7: ...xis Assembly finishing the M2 assembly and centering your router Drew s Note We recommend reading this entire section before beginning Check out this video on how to build the M2 ASSEMBLING YOUR M2 Th...

Page 8: ...iage and attach with F3 nut Use F4 Allen wrench on one end and 13mm combo wrench on the other to tighten 5 Peal off protective paper from acrylic dust cover 6 Attach both C1 brick mounts by inserting...

Page 9: ...nch 4 Line up small H4 Z axis gear on lead screw flush with gears on H3 tighten with 2 smaller H5 grub screws using smaller H10 Allen Wrench 5 Loop H8 belt around gears ensuring belt is level between...

Page 10: ...ches to the sled with T nuts They are marvels of engineering that are specially designed to turn sideways when being tightened This fastens parts to aluminum extrusions at different angles Sometimes y...

Page 11: ...ot extrusions on each side Slide extrusion legs onto rail feet until it threaded holes line up on the side 4B Insert longer Z2 bolts into holes on each side to secure Tighten using Z5 Allen Wrench 5B...

Page 12: ...plug in Z axis motor by pulling cord from bottom of waste board to keep it out of the way while cutting 6 Attach PVC dust collection elbow under Z axis motor M2 ASSEMBLY PART 4 CENTERING YOUR ROUTER A...

Page 13: ...p building the wasteboard mounting the top beam placing the material attaching the motors attaching the chains and mounting your M2 Drew s Note We recommend reading this entire section before beginnin...

Page 14: ...SHIELD Drew s Note The M2 s brain is an Arduino DUE microcontroller We recommend mounting the DUE to the wall behind your Wasteboard but it can be mounted in any safe location where it won t be stepp...

Page 15: ...is it needs to be modified Note the small power port You will have to plug in the power with the top of the case off or cut the hole larger We appologize for this mistake in the first run of the M2 an...

Page 16: ...e or design check out our M2 Resources page or the Owners group on Facebook for help 1 To build the wasteboard cut the 2 4 x4 x8 boards in half 2 Line all four boards up and measure up 1 from bottom U...

Page 17: ...s will help to flatten your wasteboard for smother cuts 65 3 4 up from floor a Find stud and attach first Stud Mount using 2pcs long wood screws in Bag D b Attach Stud Mount using 2 drywall anchors an...

Page 18: ...YOUR FRAME PART 3 BUILDING THE TOP BEAM BAG D 2 Attach stud mounts to 10 top beam with D1 screws Ensure that they are the same distance up from the bottom of your beam Pilot holes 0 5 from the bottom...

Page 19: ...steboard stud mounts on the top or screwed into the wasteboard Drew s Note Always clamp or screw the material you re cutting to the Wasteboard Stud Mounts so it doesn t move This work is licensed unde...

Page 20: ...wire into motor connection will only seat in one direction Ensure connection is secure and use one of the shorter blue wires 4 Repeat steps 1 3 on right side Drew s Note The X and Y motors move the M2...

Page 21: ...hten quick link with link nut facing away from beam Drew s Note We recommend a friend help connect the spring and each person wear safety goggles during stretching The chain can snap back causing dama...

Page 22: ...otor for the tension to hold but beware of the tension and snap When you have enough slack in the chain thread through the opposite Carriage Mount and attach with another A1 cotter pin Drew s Note We...

Page 23: ...al file CAM computer aided manufacturing software to create the Gcode program the M2 will follow and a machine control application to send the Gcode to the M2 Part 2 will explain how to make a cut in...

Page 24: ...file and cut tab in the dialog box to choose how deep the M2 will cut If your SVG is split into multiple parts or isolatable you can select different parts of your file to cut different depths This wo...

Page 25: ...ize to save it in the Gcode 5 Resize move Once your model is selected you can also resize it by dragging the small gray boxes around your file See section 8 for instructions on homing your file to 0 0...

Page 26: ...select your bit There are preset bits for the X carve but the best way to change it for the M2 is to scroll to the bottom of the tab and manually type in your bit size This work is licensed under the...

Page 27: ...th equal zero millimeters 0 0 You can arrange your file to start based on where you home your M2 Either select and move all the parts of your file or click the shape tab in the dialog box after select...

Page 28: ...them again we suggest naming the file with the bit size and thickness of the material Click untitled in the menu bar to change the name This work is licensed under the creative commons Attribution No...

Page 29: ...e your Gcode to cut click Machine Advanced to bring up the Gcode menu Then click Generate g code This work is licensed under the creative commons Attribution NonCommercial NoDerivatives 4 0 Internatio...

Page 30: ...pplication You can leave the other default setting alone until you become more comfortable with your M2 You finished exporting and are ready for the next stage This work is licensed under the creative...

Page 31: ...HINE CONTROL APPLICATION MAKERVERSE 1 DOWNLOAD You need a machine control application also known as a Gcode sender We suggest our Makerverse for your M2 and many other CNC machines It s based off the...

Page 32: ...the next time you login 5 CONNECT M2 Click Open Leave Connect automatically selected for Makerverse to connect to your M2 automatically the next time you use it This work is licensed under the creati...

Page 33: ...472 5 for Easel input 102 472 5 in the console and press enter These commands will only have to be entered once 7 UNLOCK Because the M2 is an omni directional CNC without endstops the Alarm is active...

Page 34: ...using the X X Y and Y jog commands on the right NOTE Home must be set before you attempt to jog If you try to jog before setting home the sled will continuiously move in the direction you clicked unt...

Page 35: ...e in your CAM software To set change the units to 1mm and click the Z until your bit is close to the surface of the material you want to cut TheN change your units to 0 2mm or smaller and move your bi...

Page 36: ...the distance from your Wasteboard must be entered into CNCjs Measure from the 8 o clock position on your left motor and the 4 o clock position on your right motor From the red circled portions in thi...

Page 37: ...Board for future use 11 MACHINE SETTINGS MEASURE WORKSPACE Before the M2 will work properly the workspace dimensions must be entered Measure the size of your workspace and press enter The standard 4x...

Page 38: ...for the next measurement Measure the exact distance and enter actual X value in the X Scaling The expected width is 300mm STEP B Now draw an x under the bit in the new position Measure the distance be...

Page 39: ...the Gcode you loaded You already set the dimensions and depths in Easel for the M2 so it s ready to start We recommend a one foot or one meter square as your first test cut for calibration set to cut...

Page 40: ...finish reading this section before beginning Drew d Note When your M2 is cutting for the first time be close to the power source to stop all opperation if something goes awry After your first test cut...

Page 41: ...example to use every part of your 4 x8 material you can set different work positions each time you cut with your M2 Then you could cut the same project out of different sections of your material To se...

Page 42: ...You must manually turn your router on and off In case of an error always turn off your router before you turn off your M2 Always remember to turn on your router before clicking Run in Makerverse and...

Page 43: ...bit can pull the M2 sled in different directions based on the depth bit and RPM Calibration Digital Issues If your M2 is not accurate or slanting check these calibration settings 1 Don t round measure...

Page 44: ...tps youtu be HsnEQgeWrmI Marketplace https makermade com marketplace Router Guide https makermade com m2 resources Weekly Beginner Training Link https makermade com resources YouTube Playlists https w...

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