TinyG Shapeoko Setup

This page provides and example setup for a reasonably well tuned 3 axis or 4 axis Shapeoko with 375mm slides. Depending on your mechanics you may need to change values, but this should offer a reasonable starting point. Please see the TinyG Tuning Page for some details about tuning up the machine.

The general settings are listed below. For dual Y axis setups use the general setting, but also see Dual Y Motor settings

Settings use the following format by way of example:

$jd=0.01
$xvm=16000

All settings are in mm, so be sure you are in mm mode. If in doubt enter G21 at the command line.

For details of the settings see the TinyG Configuration Page

System Settings

setting | value | description |notes
---------|---------|---------|-------
$ja | 2000000 | JUNCTION_ACCELERATION | 2 million - centripetal acceleration around corners
$st | 1 | SWITCH_TYPE | 0=normally open, 1=normally closed. Use NC for better noise immunity 

Motor Settings

###Motor 1 setting | value | description |notes ---------|---------|---------|------- $1ma | 0 | MOTOR_MAP | map motor 1 to X axis (0=X, 1=Y, 2=Z, 3=A, 4=B, 5=C) $1sa | 1.8 | STEP_ANGLE | set 1.8 degrees for 200 step motors, 0.9 for 400 step motors $1tr | 36.54 | TRAVEL_PER_REV | Amount X moves in 1 motor revolution. Your setup may be slightly different. $1mi | 8 | MICROSTEPS | Supported values are 1, 2, 4 and 8 $1po | 0 | POLARITY | Depends on how you wired your motors $1pm | 0 | POWER_MODE | 0 leaves steppers on if anything moves. Good for belt machines like Shapeoko

###Motor 2 setting | value | description |notes ---------|---------|---------|------- $2ma | 1 | MOTOR_MAP | map motor 2 to Y axis (0=X, 1=Y, 2=Z, 3=A, 4=B, 5=C) $2sa | 1.8 | STEP_ANGLE | set 1.8 degrees for 200 step motors, 0.9 for 400 step motors $2tr | 36.54 | TRAVEL_PER_REV | Amount Y moves in 1 revolution $2mi | 8 | MICROSTEPS | Supported values are 1, 2, 4 and 8 $2po | 0 | POLARITY | Depends on how you wired your motors $2pm | 0 | POWER_MODE | 0 leaves steppers on if anything moves

###Motor 3 setting | value | description |notes ---------|---------|---------|------- $3ma | 2 | MOTOR_MAP | map motor 3 to Z axis (0=X, 1=Y, 2=Z, 3=A, 4=B, 5=C) $3sa | 1.8 | STEP_ANGLE | set 1.8 degrees for 200 step motors, 0.9 for 400 step motors $3tr | 1.25 | TRAVEL_PER_REV | Amount Z moves in 1 revolution $3mi | 4 | MICROSTEPS | Supported values are 1, 2, 4 and 8 $3po | 0 | POLARITY | Depends on how you wired your motors $3pm | 0 | POWER_MODE | 0 leaves steppers on if anything moves

###Motor 4 setting | value | description |notes ---------|---------|---------|------- $4ma | 1 | MOTOR_MAP | map motor 4 to second Y axis (0=X, 1=Y, 2=Z, 3=A, 4=B, 5=C) $4sa | 1.8 | STEP_ANGLE | set 1.8 degrees for 200 step motors, 0.9 for 400 step motors $4tr | 36.54 | TRAVEL_PER_REV | Amount Y moves in 1 motor revolution $4mi | 8 | MICROSTEPS | Supported values are 1, 2, 4 and 8 $4po | 1 | POLARITY | Reverse from Motor 2 so it doesn't fight motor 2's Y. $4pm | 0 | POWER_MODE | 0 leaves steppers on if anything moves

Note on polarity. X should move right for positive moves. Y should move away from the front of the table for positive moves. Z should move up for positive moves. Reverse polarity of the axis if this is not true.

Dual gantry setups: Map motor 4 to the Y axis and set everything else up the same. Set polarity so the motors are not fighting each other.

Axis Settings

X Axis

setting | value | description |notes
---------|---------|---------|-------
$xam | 0 | AXIS_MODE | 1=standard mode
$xvm | 16000 | VELOCITY_MAX | Your machine might go faster or slower than this. Test it and adjust current pots
$xfr | 16000 | FEEDRATE_MAX | Typcially set the same as velocity. May be set slower but not faster.
$xtm | 300 | TRAVEL_MAX | Max travel before crash
$xjm | 5000000000 | JERK_MAX | That's 5 billion. Count the zeros to be sure
$xjd | 0.01 | JUNCTION_DEVIATION | in mm - smaller is faster cornering
$xsn | 0 | SWITCH_MODE_MIN | Switch mode for minimum travel switch. 0 is disabled
$xsx | 0 | SWITCH_MODE_MAX | Switch mode for maximum travel switch. 0 is disabled
$xsv | 3000 | SEARCH_VELOCITY | Homing speed to drive onto switch
$xlv | 100 | LATCH_VELOCITY | Speed to back off homing switch
$xlb | 20 | LATCH_BACKOFF | Max distance to back off switch during latch phase
$xzb | 5 | ZERO_BACKOFF | Distance to back off switch before setting axis zero position
$xjh | 10000000000 | JERK_HOMING | Jerk to use during homing operations. Typically bigger than JERK_MAX

Y Axis

setting | value | description |notes
---------|---------|---------|-------
$yam | 0 | AXIS_MODE | 1=standard mode
$yvm | 16000 | VELOCITY_MAX | Your machine might go faster or slower than this
$yfr | 16000 | FEEDRATE_MAX | Typcially set the same as velocity. May be set slower but not faster.
$ytm | 220 | TRAVEL_MAX | Max travel before crash
$yjm | 5000000000 | JERK_MAX | That's 5 billion. Count the zeros to be sure
$yjd | 0.01 | JUNCTION_DEVIATION | in mm - smaller is faster cornering
$ysn | 0 | SWITCH_MODE_MIN | Switch mode for minimum travel switch. 0 is disabled
$ysx | 0 | SWITCH_MODE_MAX | Switch mode for maximum travel switch. 0 is disabled
$ysv | 3000 | SEARCH_VELOCITY | Homing speed to drive onto switch
$ylv | 100 | LATCH_VELOCITY | Speed to back off homing switch
$ylb | 20 | LATCH_BACKOFF | Max distance to back off switch during latch phase
$yzb | 5 | ZERO_BACKOFF | Distance to back off switch before setting axis zero position
$yjh | 10000000000 | JERK_HOMING | Jerk to use during homing operations

Z Axis

setting | value | description |notes
---------|---------|---------|-------
$zam | 0 | AXIS_MODE | 1=standard mode
$zvm | 800 | VELOCITY_MAX | Heavily dependent on how clean you can get the Z axis setup. Might go faster.
$zfr | 800 | FEEDRATE_MAX | Typically set the same as velocity. May be set slower but not faster.
$ztm | 100 | TRAVEL_MAX | Max travel before crash
$zjm | 50000000 | JERK_MAX | That's 50 million. Count the zeros to be sure
$zjd | 0.01 | JUNCTION_DEVIATION | in mm - smaller is faster cornering
$zsn | 0 | SWITCH_MODE_MIN | Switch mode for minimum travel switch. 0 is disabled
$zsx | 0 | SWITCH_MODE_MAX | Switch mode for maximum travel switch. 0 is disabled
$zsv | 3000 | SEARCH_VELOCITY | Homing speed to drive onto switch
$zlv | 100 | LATCH_VELOCITY | Speed to back off homing switch
$zlb | 20 | LATCH_BACKOFF | Max distance to back off switch during latch phase
$zzb | 5 | ZERO_BACKOFF | Distance to back off switch before setting axis zero position
$zjh | 100000000 | JERK_HOMING | 100 million. Jerk to use during homing operations

A, B and C Axes

Usually you are not using these, so just set some reasonable values like below. All distances are in degrees.

setting | value | description |notes
---------|---------|---------|-------
$aam | 0 | AXIS_MODE | 1=standard mode
$avm | 60000 | VELOCITY_MAX | 
$afr | 60000 | FEEDRATE_MAX | 
$atm | -1 | TRAVEL_MAX | -1=infinite
$ajm | 24000000000 | JERK_MAX | 24 billion
$ajd | 0.1 | JUNCTION_DEVIATION |
$ara | 1 | RADIUS |
$asn | 0 | SWITCH_MODE_MIN | Switch mode for minimum travel switch. 0 is disabled
$asx | 0 | SWITCH_MODE_MAX | Switch mode for maximum travel switch. 0 is disabled
$asv | 6000 | SEARCH_VELOCITY | Homing speed to drive onto switch
$alv | 1000 | LATCH_VELOCITY | Speed to back off homing switch
$alb | 5 | LATCH_BACKOFF | Max distance to back off switch during latch phase
$azb | 2 | ZERO_BACKOFF | Distance to back off switch before setting axis zero position
$ajh | 2400000000 | JERK_HOMING | Jerk to use during homing operations

Dual Y Motor Settings