Weird error with Z axis minimum and project display preview

Original/PRO Series (Buildbotics) (Gen 1)
1

Hello all.

Haven’t used my machine in a while but I am not doing anything different than what I have been doing in the past. I tried to put a small job on the machine this morning and after homing the machine, probing my X-Y-Z with the touch probe, I loaded my job and started the carve. Within seconds of the carve starting, I get an error message about the Z axis being less than the minimum soft limits. I have looked at other posts on here about the limits but none have helped so far. One I did come across is : Toolpath Warning: Over/Under (BB Buildbotics), Soft Alarm (Masso), Or Toolpath Warning Exceeded (Redline) - FAQ / Over / Under / Soft Alarm/Toolpath Exceeded - Onefinity CNC Forum.

I suppose my question is why do any project I load now show like the material is way past the cutting area of the machine?

I have checked and re-checked my project setup in V-Carve Pro and Z zero position is set to Material surface and the XY datum is bottom left. I am asking the machine to cut through the 3/4 material on profile toolpaths (but that is nothing I haven’t done before)

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I have rebooted the machine multiple times without success.

I am at a loss. Any help would be appreciated.

2

Which controller and FW are you using?
Are you using/setting any work offsets in your CAD?

3

Using the Buildbotics controller with FW 1.0.9 (which I have always used and have done this sort of carve with before) :slight_smile: And I am not setting any offsets or anything.

Even thought I have done these profile cur using a 1/8 inch end mill that is 1.5 inches long, I am going to try a longer bit (if I have one) or try to extend the bit a little out of the chuck to see it that makes a difference.

I will post back the results of my testing in a little while.

4

Ok, a few more things I noticed.

  1. after the machine generates the error while carving, I click OK and the machine keeps carving for about 30 seconds and then stops.
  2. I have to hit the Stop button to be able to jog the machine.
  3. After I stop the job, the router starts (using the IOT relay) and I can move the bit and when I am done, the status is still showing Jogging.
  4. I have to Stop the job again to turn off the router.
  5. The file dropdown is greyed out. I can only Start the job again. When I do, the router moves to the far right location where it normally goes to do the Z probe for new bits. I am using the Bit setter macro V2 from Bit setter macro v2.0 - Original/PRO Series (Buildbotics) (Gen 1) - Onefinity CNC Forum
  6. I have to Emergency stop the machine to be able to regain control.
    1. this unhomes the machine
  7. When I try to home the machine again, the Z axis homes properly, the X axis slightly moves (even though it is about 10 inches for the left rail) and then proceeds to homing the Y axis. I have to hit the Home button again and this time around, the hoing sequence works.
  8. I even tried using a longer bit in the machine but no changes.
5

Try updating to the final 1.6.6 firmware for your original Buildbotics machine first.

6

If I update, will this remove the custom coding for the Program Start, Tool Change, etc? So, do I need to backup these config first? Also, since I never had any problems with this FW, I would prefer to keep using it but I will try 1.6.6. I suppose I can always re-flash back to 1.0.9 if needed?

I just find it really weird that everything was working fine and all of a sudden I get these problems. Nothing has changed in my config, although I did notice that my probe settings were completely off. By like 2 mm of the Z axis and by 5-6 on the X and Y.

No one other than me uses this machine and I didn’t change the settings so I am wondering if there might be other settings that are wrong for some reason.

Also, I am curious about the changing from imperial to metric when the job starts. All the settings are set to imperial on the machine and VCarve Pro.