Almost Always Find Zero & Work Position

I have had my fair share of issues since getting my Onefinity nearly two years ago, but I have found several fixes to keep me afloat. For this post, I want to talk about zero and reference points in the case of a malfunction, system reboot, unsaved data in VCarve (or others), etc…

Let’s start with finding zero:

You are in the middle of a carve, and out of nowhere, you lose power. If you are smarter than me, you made a small mark at zero with a 30-degree V-bit or something similar that you can return to for reference. If you’re like me and you skipped this step, you don’t know where zero is. Maybe you took a screenshot or photo of the control screen, but unless you home your machine before each project, this won’t always work due to machine variances.

In this instance, I find a reference point in my project, typically a sharp point/tip or a very small item where I can center a low-angle V-bit. I place my bit directly on that spot and zero X and Y. From here, I reference my project position in VCarve and hover over the exact location of my bit with my mouse. If the VCarve position is at X:4.7981 Y:2.3777, I move my bit to X:-4.798 Y:-2.378, and viola; you’re back at zero (within 1-9 ten thousandths). Repeat this from multiple points to get the most accurate results.

Let’s find our work position:

You have been working all day, moving things around in VCarve; you go to change a bit and come back to see your computer did a reboot while you were away. You open VCarve and realize you haven’t saved your progress since earlier that day. FML… The good news is you still have everything zeroed! Place your bit on a sharp point/tip or a very small object for reference from zero. Find this exact spot in VCarve and move your reference point in your project/vectors to this location. Do this with multiple spots for the best results.

Things to note:

  • I run 90% of my work in one file and move vectors from completed projects to a designated area and unfinished projects to another designated area.
  • This system isn’t perfect, but it has saved me countless hours of rework.
  • Make a small mark at zero that you can come back to for a quick reference.
  • Group your vectors when moving to a reference point.
  • If you batch your work, the same concepts apply.
  • You can turn your g-code into vectors (Google it) to ensure your tool path matches if needed.

Hopefully, this makes sense, and it helps someone as much as it has helped me.

If you do it differently, let me know, and don’t hesitate to reach out with questions.

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Since people searching might want more info, the good stuff starts with Aiph5u (an hilarious German who is very knowledgeable and massively helpful in these forums): Keeping zero position - #3 by Aiph5u

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