Hello all! Have a X-50 woodworker that I’ve built a vacuum table for. I’m about to install it but have one item of concern:
With the buildbotics firmware (1.4.1) is it possible to set a z-value that the machine should NOT pass. Not Z 0 on the top of the material, but a Z 0 for the spoil/vacuum board. This should be in addition to the top of the material. I’ve searched and can’t find anything, though I’m sure it’s more that i’m not sure what I should be asking (which the above probably proves, hehe).
The bottom line is I want to try and insure that my vacuum board never gets cut, if possible. It’d be more traumatic than swapping out throwaway pieces of MDF.
Thanks for any help if what I’m saying makes any sense.
Following this in case their is a better way (on Masso myself). I’ve been setting up my through-cuts on a separate job, with the Z0 on the machine bed instead of material surface. Also look into using tile gasket if you haven’t already - in addition to adding another sacrificial layer, it will concentrate the vacuum and add some lateral friction.
it is not possible to set a fixed minimum Z height, with no CNC machine, because it depends on the length of the bit, and where you probe Z. But if you always set your workpieze zero coordinate to the bottom of your virtual 3D model, you always probe workpiece zero from the machine bed, which would be the vacuum bed here (flip XÝZ touch plate over in this case, see XYZ touch plate installation & instruction video). In this case the bit end will not go lower than the vacuum plate.
For the protocol: Changed topic title and category accordingly (instead of “Do not pass Z value”, simply “Probe Z from bottom of workpiece”. Category: Topic applies to all types fo CNC machines.)
Not on controller but possibly in your CAD program. When I am trying to ensure I don’t hit whatever is below the stock, I set the minimum height in F
360 for 0.005” above bottom of tool paths that go to Z0 (as well as what Aiph5u said about zeroing z at waste board.)
Edit: since I often use blue tape and superglue fixture, I zeros on top of 2 pieces of blue tape on the waste board next to the stock…not the actual waste board.