New Machine setup issue

Hello! New to CNC and OneFinity. Yes another newbie with issues!

I have completed the 1st few steps up through securing the 4 y corners with 1 screw and wiring the unit. As I attempt to move the unit forward and back it appears the right side is often slightly leading the left side consequently binding the machine. Not on every move but often and it is more relevant with faster movement. It’s as if the two motors are not in sync. I have tried this back and forth movement with and without the mounting screws in the back right and left y rails. Thinking I did something wrong in the initial setup on the Y rail mounting. I get the same results either way. You can see the x rail does not always stay straight as it is moved.

I am looking for some guidance moving forward. Have I done something wrong in the initial steps setting up the y rails? Is there some way to check the motors settings to verify they are in sync? Possibly some other reason all together?
Any guidance would be appreciated. BTW I have a woodworker x-50

I painstakingly measured and squared the Y rails by Xing them with a tape measure.They we’re as accurate as possible with a tape measure, within a 1/32”. I encountered the same problem. I would pull X front to back, back to front, and they wouldn’t be equal when touching the front bases of the Y rails. Ultimately I had to loosen all X mounting bolts as I was never satisfied how they mated up initially with the Y rails. It took 2 times of doing this before every front to back was consistent on. Note: before tightening the X bolts I made sure by turning each Y screw by hand, that they were each equally seated against the front base. Once satisfied with the outcome I then powered the machine and using the joystick, then used a 30 degree V bit to scribe a 32 1/4” X 32 1/4” line into the tabletop to position the wasteboard. Again I Xed that and was dead on. My 2 cents is, the simple setup in theory is great but not foolproof. 2nd, there is enough tolerance in the bolt to hole ratio that can throw the whole machine off regardless of the machined contours in the bases.This goes for the Z axis as well. Don’t overthink it, meaning, for most of us carving wood, being within .002” square or tram, etc is not what this hobby machine is about. Use basic measurement skills, set it up as accurately as possible, enjoy! No disrespect to the community as there are a multitude of bright minds and knowledge, far superior to mine! My point is that I think many people are intimidated that if everything isn’t within .002”their doomed in their setup, because a large majority of the forum is using/pushing their machines well beyond the designers intended use. Your trying to make a $2500 hobby machine perform like a $20,000 commercial machine.Wood isn’t metal, it varies in thickness. Set it up as accurate as you can, CNC, enjoy!

4 Likes

Spot on. Considering how much wood will change in dimension because cutting released tension in the board and causes it to move or the effect humidity has on its dimensions - wood is a very imprecise medium to machine.

2 Likes

Hey Phil,

you could try this.

However even if you attached the feet with only one bolt per feet, be sure it’s attached firmly. If the machine’s feet move during operation, that will lead to problems.

Also Dave @pootaholic already pointed you to the popular thread on machine “squaring”. Not to be missed!

Welcome to the forum!

1 Like

My problem turned out to be a bad connector

2 Likes