I recently bought the limit switches for my Longmill MK2 and I noticed that there is two spots for the Y axis. I also received 4 limit switches.
Did I just receive an extra switch?
What is the extra port for another Y axis switch for?
Thanks!
I think so!
The extra places to mount switches are there if you want ‘home’ to be in a different corner. At least that’s my guess as I have a MK1 and there aren’t any holes for mounting on the MK1. The sensors came with printed plastic mounts that can be used on either end of the X and Y axes. I use the front left but I’ve heard of setups using the back right. For back right you would need to change the X and Y mounting positions compared to front left.
Thanks for the response!
On my SLB there is a Y1 and Y2 port for limit switches. Should have mentioned that.
Hey Daryl,
For what I know, it will be a future option to be able to auto square a machine using 4 lim switches. I believe there is a beta capable of doing this, but it’s a use at your own risk one. (Talked about by Chris in this topic)
I can imagine that the introduction of that function might be close and that sienci is already shipping its switch sets including the 4th one. For now, the slb manual onnthe switches is still only hinting towards the feature but warns not to use the 2nd yaxis limit switch port yet.
Found here:
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That’s exactly what I was thinking as I read my e-mail of Daryl’s response! I didn’t have any info on it though. As usual your on top of things!
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That’s great news! Bummed that I must have just missed the window to get 4 switches, but auto-squaring is a very valuable feature. It’s so easy to turn the screws on one side or the other and throw yourself out of square after going to the trouble of doing it.
Yeah, well, I’m only imagining things here. I see an egg and baking powder and immagine an apple pie. It might aswell be that Daryl lucked out and got the only extra in the history of sienci limit switch sets.
But, something is coocking, I can smell it!
On squaring, I still slam my x-axis into a wall and call it good enough.
Yeah, that’s what I planned to do but I envisioned adding a movable flip stop to the Y t-track to slam into so I’m millimeter perfect on the squaring. I didn’t want to assume that maxing out the Y on both sides was square (maybe it is… should probably check that).
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Yeah you can run it all the way back, run the squaring test and then shim one side if needed so you can square it easily if it gets out of wack. Like if you leave a tool laying around and one side hits it. Not that I’ve ever had that happen! 
Rereading your post I’m thinking that’s what you had in mind with the flip stop.
Like if you leave a tool laying around and one side hits it. Not that I’ve ever had that happen!
Note that there is a huge difference between open loop and closed loop equipment. You do not want to run a closed loop motor into anything. I had a right angle sander sitting on my Altmill that was just a tad too tall to fit under the gantry. Yes, the gantry stopped but not before forcing the sander into the cutting board I was surfacing. This was not a sharp edge being pushed into wood but rather a round-ish piece of metal being forced 1/4" into a cutting board surface. Surprised the heck out of me!
The Altmill needs to be respected !
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