I am new to the Onefinity but finally got up and running this evening. XYZ probing is working just as expected with the touch plate.
I often need to probe off a hole center using 4 points (X+/-, Y+/-) and can do this with ease in Mach3. Is it possible to do this in the Onefinity software somehow?
Have you tried MDI then setting home
Not yet. I have never written the gcode to probe directly, only via scripted languages but I guess there is a first time for everything.
i cut a lot of 2 sided pieces where it’s critical to get the alignment right when flipping the part. For me what works best is to have a job that cuts guide pins into the waste board based on the size of the piece (either at center line, 4 corners, or both). My starting point for this job is machine’s center point which i set using the MDI ( g0 x16.063 y16.063). Once the holes are drilled in the wasteboard, i run a second job to drill the same holes (only deeper) through the stock i’m going to use, using the same method. I then use dowels to secure the piece to the waste board.
When creating the project for the piece i want to cut, i set the x/y datum offset to the point where one of my dowels was drilled (although you could probably set it at center or elsewhere but i like to to visually see the bit centered over the dowel when starting). When i go to cut the project I simply use the MDI to move to that point, set X and Y as zero at that point, probe for Z and start my job. When i flip the piece the dowels ensure i’m lined up and straight. I don’t need to rehome X and Y…just Z as i change bits. if for whatever reason i do need to reset X and Y because i did another project in between or something, just use the guide holes and MDI to find your 0 and you’re all set to go.
Prior to this i was doing what i think you’re describing … trying to manually line up my X Y to the center of the dowels, or probing from the corner, etc…but found using MDI to set home and letting the machine mark all my reference points takes the guess work out and the human error (for which i am prone).
For most anything I will do two parts of I will create a jig, and your idea of essentially a pin-jig is a good one. Like you, even with flips I try to get my setup to never change X/Y and just pickup for a new Z on bit changes. Flips, round parts, or one-offs always make this a bit complicated.
Quick current example of the need for this: I use my plasma table to rough cut aluminum pulleys very quickly, then will use the Onefinity to simply clean the roughs into usable parts rather than attempt to auger out lots of material on a router spindle. The simplest way to program the CAM is to pick up off the center hole of the pulley; not a pin center, but literally inside a .75" circular hole. With Mach I would simply plunge my bit close to the center of the hole, let it jog north til touch, south til touch, divide distance by 2 to get center. Then do the same for east west. Of course this was scripted but I could do it manually just as easily.
On a manual mill I would use a jiggler to do the center pickup, but the largest collet I have for the Makita router is 1/4 which is not big enough for the old school center finders. I have some delrin jobs that are similar, and I tend to use aluminum tape to pick up the edges of interest which are usually interior walls of circles.
At any rate, it looks like the answer to my initial question is that while the Onefinity controller does provide for standard X/Y+Z probing off its plate it does not provide for custom probing outside the use of its touch plate and can’t currently automatically find a hole center.
I do not know gcode well at all yet, however I suspect the commands to travel X+ until probe continuity couldn’t be all that difficult?