I’m just starting my CNC journey with the Onefinity Apprentice. I’ve deliberately set my spoilboard size bigger than the machine operating window by the diameter of my surfacing bit (25.4mm)
So spoilboard is 444x444 mm vs machine 420x420 mm. In Vectric V Carve desktop my job size is 444x444 mm with my origin at bottom left.
I understand that my WCS is outside my MCS but my tool paths do not access this space.
I’ve homed the machine and set the work origin using the XYZ probe. If I move back to machine home the work coordinates are 12,12 as expected.
Why will the tool path not run when it’s all within the machine coordinate system. I’m simply drilling 4 corner holes to fix the spoilboard down.
I’m sure there’s a simple answer but I’m not seeing it!
The simple answer is that your zero point in Vectric is 22mm outside your cutting area, so when you set zero on the machine you are 22mm to the right and back of where you need to be for zero. You need to set your size at the 420x420 and for surfacing just tell the machine that your bit is 22mm smaller than it actually is. This way it will surface to the edge but it will still not get the corners. You have to shave them down manually. Hope this help explain it I do not use Vectric but I assume it is the same concept.
I like having mine a little larger just for more support to hold my T-track down closer to the edge when I am cutting larger pieces, but I have taken to using double stick tape for most larger projects anyway so probably no reason any longer. I need to replace my spoil board soon so I will probably just go with the actual cutting size now, but I need to move it forward since I upgraded from a router to a spindle. luckily, I have room on the table to do so.
The machine area is where the center of the spindle can reach. You need to keep the toolpath within the MCS, else you will get soft limit errors. The simplest way to do this is to define the material size the same as the machine size (420x420mm in your case). Now you can run tool paths within that area. When the spindle is traveling along any of the edges, the bit will be cutting its radius outside of that boundary.
In the illustrations below, the yellow box is your oversized spoiler board, and the green area is the machine area (also work/material area). In the illustration at the right, the bit is at 0,0 and can reach 12.7mm left and below. (Note that there is a small area the bit cannot reach. If you need to level this, use a chisel. )
I definitely agree with @TommyObar on the t-track. My closest track to the edge is 2” from both left and right. They only work on some projects the rest are spread evenly across the waste board about six inches apart, but I think when I redo the waste board I will eliminate about half of them as I don’t use most of them. After three years of using the machine, it might be time to rethink holding options. Knowing what I know now verse then. I will probably add T-nuts or inserts where I remove the T-track.
The sketch accurately describes what I’m trying to do, the bit that’s missing is my tool paths are all within the machine envelope. I’m simply trying to drill 4 x 6.35mm fixing holes in the corners of my spoilboard (444 x 444 mm). The hole centres are at 22,22 and mirrored vertically and horizontally. From a machine coordinate pov that’s 10,10 so well within its envelope.
The error I get when I run the tool path is attached,
Colin @ColinW It’s because your material size is larger than your cut area. You can not set a minus for your 0 position. Make the material size 420x420 and put your holes at 0,0 0,420 420,420 420,0 and see if you still get the error or if you get the desired result. You can air cut to test.
I think the reason you’re getting lost is because you are focusing on the spoiler board (SB) dimensions. Your (22,22) coordinate is based on the lower corner of the SB, which is outside the realm of the machine. You should forget about your SB and think only of the MCS as your work piece. Your toolpath coordinate should be (10,10) for the lower-left hole.
You based your design on the SB and set first hole at (22,22). If the machine ran, it would drill this at (22,22) of MCS, which would actually be (32,32) of your SB.
The error you’re getting is not from this hole at (22,22), but rather from the coordinates of the other holes. If you set lower-left coordinate at (22,22), I assume your lower-right coordinate is at (422,22), 22mm left of your SB width of 444. That 422 is outside the limit of the machine. The coordinates for your other holes are probably (22,422) and (422,422), also out of bounds.
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