Hello everyone. This is my first post. I finally got my machine setup and was trying to surface the wasteboard. I am not sure if it is a setup problem; however, it throws a soft alarm on X. I was looking at where the cnc bit was and it’s about 1/2 inch in from the end of the left board. I removed the soft limit and now it is a lot closer; however, it is still off. x position is 0.3782. I used the xyz probe with a normal bit before starting this; however, either way, I keep hitting the hard limit. I can change it to a 1 1/2 inch surfacing bit; however, I am wondering if my xyz are off and will have problems finding zero xyz probe.
If you set zero with a small bit and then switch to a bigger surfacing bit, the machine can end up shifting the cut and run out of travel on X. The easy fix is to set your zero with the surfacing bit itself, using the center of that bit as your reference point. That way, the toolpath lines up and you won’t hit the limit. Also the z is what ever depth you start from in the material. I don’t usually use the probe for the spoiler board x,y or z axis. Oh don’t forget to turn on the spindle when zeroing the z axis.
The simplest way to surface your spoiler board is to define your material to the maximum size of your work area (48x32 for the Journeyman). Create a rectangle vector of the same size, then create 2 toolpaths. Depth of cut should be the same for both.
Pocket toolpath (raster). This will surface the area inside the vector.
Profile toolpath (‘On’ the vector). The bit center will be on the vector, so your cut will extend in/out the radius of your surfacing bit.
Home your machine and zero it out (X, Y) at that location. Set Z zero to surface of your spoiler board, then run both toolpaths.
Hi, thanks for the feedback everyone. I talked to a tech over the weekend and it looks like there’s about 3/4 of an inch the machine can’t reach on the left. I solved it by using a 1 1/2 inch surfacing bit. Also, since the gantry is in the way, there’s about a foot it can’t reach in the back. When I replace the wasteboard in the future, I’ll cut it about 1 foot shorter. The reason is that if I have a piece of wood that goes beyond the max depth it won’t sit level on the wasteboard. I have a Shapeoko and it does the same.