Hello - I need some help from users of the Jointcam software. Can anyone please share with me their settings (clearly for use on the Onefinity and ones that work 
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Iām assuming that you need the configuration settings? Iāll shoot you my settings when I get home. Do you use spindle control through the controller or is your router/spindle under manual control? It makes a difference for the gcode presets in JointCam. Iāll probably just post screen shots for both in case other people end up needing the info.
Please keep in mind that Iām still new to JointCam myself and I havenāt exactly perfected the Gcode presets. I was working with the developer and I have the settings close enough to get it useful. I just canāt get one message to pop up. The error doesnāt really matter. Similar to the Onefinity setup, the Gcode is supposed to pop up a message that tells you to āInsert Tool Xā and then another that says āPress continue when the spindle is up to speedā. I can only get one message or the other to pop up but not both messages. I currently have it set so that just the āspindle up to speedā message pops up. I figure that inserting the tool is a no-brainer. So just in case you didnāt know, youāll have to insert a bit and zero it before you start your spindle/router 
Also, Iāll save you a bit of trouble that I had. Certain joints require zeroing in different locations. As an example, if youāre milling half blind dovetail pin/tail boards separately, youāll zero your tail board (vertical) on the back left of the work piece and the pin board (horizontal) gets zeroed on the front left of the work piece. The downloadable manual gives you all the specifics but I failed to read it before just jumping right in.
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That would be a great help.
I have a spindle
Rather than adding a pop-up, I planned to use a dwell (pause) of 10 seconds. It gives me time for the spindle to get up to speed or provide me with time to stop the process if I have not switched on the spindle or it needs a reset.
These are the settings for manual spindle control. The machine width is set to 27.5" because thatās the width of my vertical table. The tool change settings work. The initial tool change has the issue with the pop ups mentioned before.
These are the settings for controller controlled spindle. They work to the best of my knowledge but my spindle isnāt connected to the controller yet so I canāt confirm that the M3 command works to set the speed. Everything else seemed to work ok except for the same popup message issue with the initial tool change.
In my setup, the .ngc file output was not an option. The developer said to just type it in. I did and itās an option now. I used .ncc and .gcode extensions with success before the developer got back to me. I am now using the .ngc just because thatās what the VCarve post processor was kicking out for me (no other reason really). I havenāt done much with the software itself except experiment with some half blind dovetails. So far, the -.001 clearance works best for me. The rest is pretty intuitive. I cut pin and tail boards separately. I have run dovetail bit only and dovetail/roughing bit toolpaths.
If you figure out some other settings that work better and/or get your dwell time set up, please share them back on here so I get notified. I will move over to controller control sometime in the near future and would like to get feedback from you on what works. Thanks.
Brilliant - Iāll give it a go tomorrow (UK time)
Just run an āAirā cut and it works brilliant (with my imaginary cutter and pinboard). I will do some real cuts soon and feedback. BTW the messages are fine. 1F say to not include tool changes in one file but run out separate files for each tool, which is what I do - so maybe I have experienced your MSG issue and/or the issue is related to 1F not liking to do code initiated tool changes.
Thank you for the prompt response.
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Glad it works for you, at least for the air cut. Both messages popped up for the initial tool? The āInsert Tool [T]ā and āPress continue when the spindle is up to speedā?
Thanks for the feedback.
I didnāt get two messages. I didnāt get the āInsert Tool [T]ā. But I wasnāt planning on a tool change. 1F doesnāt work well with tool changes in the gcode.
To get second pop-up message for initial tool change add MO as in image. Is this what you meant?
Iāve made a Dovetail joint in some oak I had - happy days.
(for orientation, the piece in the picture is 50mm wide oak and 18 & 12mm thick.
I used an 8mm diameter, 8 deg two-flute, 1/4inch shank dovetail cutter
I did all my cutting on one side of the table - I didnāt have the stomach to set up two fences and try to get them straight, at least while I am practising - too many variables)
There was a fair bit of learning on my part.
(1) Need to rough out with a flat end-mill if possible. I cut come joints in a single pass, but my poor cutter struggled under strain and my clamping needed to be super tight (I ended up screwing one piece of timber to the table before cutting while I was practising
(2) I had to keep my feeds way down. There was a lot of vibration with the single-pass cuts, and I believe this was made worse because the vertical piece is a distance from the clamping. (50-70mm in my case). Starting with oak probably didnāt help either.
Itās a great join, but I need to think about whether routing with the CNC vs something like a Leigh dovetail jig is more or less efficient. When routing with a hand-held in a jig, you can feel your way into the cutting and adjust feed rates on the fly as necessary.
I will persevere and try a few more before I let the jury back in.
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Hey Andy,
this looks quite excellent! Thank you for showing this and the description!
PS: I think I will have a look at this software 
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Looks very nice Andy. Iāve only been using pine so far and the spindle can just power right through. I will also mess with the roughing passes at some point to save wear and tear on the dovetail bit.
I am just so happy to not have the same trial and error setting up my dovetail jig. It was always torture for me wasted a lot of material. I had a lesser expensive jig compared to yours though.
The software makes it easy but I need to make sure Iām being precise in my wood placement, zero, and work holding.
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Very true.
Doing roughing passes has its considerations as there is a bit change. If I was making a run of drawers, would I rough pass them all then dovetail them all (2 batches) or rough & dovetail them individually? The latter would be more feasible if I employed collars on the bits e.g. pwncnc bitsetter.
Depends on what fits the work surface. I always try to max out the work by a single bit as you lose time on bit changes
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Iāve done a few tests with roughing passes. It seems to work well. You just have to make sure your positioning method is spot on. It is definitely a time eater but it may be worth it if you canāt figure out good feeds and speeds to do a single bit through hardwood. Probably a good option if youāre doing unequal, wider dovetails too.
And yes, I ran roughing pass on all the tails and then the dovetail bit pass on all the tails. After the tails were all done, I did the same process for the pin boards.
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