Hello
I have had my machine for 5 years, and rarely do I have issues. Over the past week I am carving out circles, and for whatever reason they do not seem to be true or are off a little. Honestly, I have not done much maintenance on my machine,
Looks like multiple resin pours. You sure you homed to the exact same spot each time?
I guess that’s another question all together. The home should have been the same every time because I didn’t shit off the machine after I poured and let set up. Can the home change on its own?
It shouldn’t. You sure you placed the workpiece in the exact same position each time? I’m wondering if it’s making circles but they aren’t concentric because something slightly shifted. I’ve had something very similar happen. It looks like the large red circle may be a tiny bit higher than the outer blue band.
Yes, I have the spot pretty much locked in. I also had issues on a run of 4 cribbage boards today 2 out of 4 were perfect, 2 lopsided. Kind of weird.
I would start by doing a full service of the lead screws. You could be losing a few steps as the cut is happening. Also how aggressive were you with the cutting. I made a mistake with a 1/2" flat endmill bit and set it cutting at almost 200 ipm at a depth of over 3/4" and being an up cut bit it pulled the bit out of the spindle a bit and I lost a few steps on the Y axis.
If it was al the time then I would say you need to make an adjustment to the steps per inch in the settings. One thing you an try is to check the zero position after a cut. If you cut off the section that you zero’d off of you can mount a block and manually move the 1F to a mark or one of the edges and write the numbers down before then after a wonky cut. It’s not perfect but it could help to understand if you are losing steps.
We’d recommend checking the ball screw couplers as well as a good cleaning!
One thing I always do in a precision cut where the piece has to be removed and replaced on the machine, such as if paint or epoxy is to be applied. Using a 1/4 inch bit, I drill a hole at a known position in the waste portion of the project after homing the machine. When I replace the project for further milling, I drop the same bit in the hole and set the machine coordinates on the console to the known position. This eliminates the possibility of errors in the homing position due to dirt or other inaccuracies, or errors in re-positioning the piece.
Now that is a brilliant idea. I really appreciate that.
