SO2 and X-Carve co-existing

1

I have a pretty much stock 500m2 SO2 (only mod is acme Z-axis). When the X-Carve was released I got the upgrade to 1000m2, as well as the NEMA23, 24VDC spindle and power supply upgrades. This means that aside from some hardware (pulleys, bearing, v-wheels) and motion controller, I have essentially two machines. What I’d like to do is set up the 1000m2 for (relatively) low-tolerance and higher-speed work in soft materials (plywood and template work) and the 500m2 set up for work in higher-tolerance and harder material work (aluminum milling, precision engraving).

My question is, how should I allocate the resources I have and balance that against what I would need to buy? In addition to the pulleys and v-wheels, I think I’ll get a DWP611 and the X-Controller. The 611 to go on the 1000m2 machine, so I could put the 24VDC spindle on the SO2. In that setup, where would you recommend the gShield controller, and where would you put the X-Controller. Is it even worth getting the X-Controller? Thanks for your thoughts!

2

Can’t speak to the balance of your question, but one thing which you should definitely do is get some aluminum extrusion to use as a bed on the small machine.

Specifically 2 lengths of: http://us.misumi-ec.com/vona2/result/?Keyword=HFSQN4-15250-500 will perfectly fit a 500mm machine as shown in: Shapeoko CNC Router, Rigid, Accurate, Reliable, and Affordable

3

Thanks @WillAdams, I had been pondering a extrusion bed, but had been looking for the 1000m2, which was prohibitively expensive. This looks like a nice solve.