Hello, I am needing some help. I load my g-code and begin the carve. I am cutting out a circle, cutting all the way through. My material is .221 and my cut depth is .221. When the carve is done, it has only cut about .102. I have looked at my g-code in note and the z axes depth is set to .221 but it did not do it.
I am trying to find out what I am doing wrong or if maybe my machine is messing up. I have the bit set to 1/8 inch bit and I use the probe block. Can someone point me in the right direction? Thanks
Check that your material thickness is set correctly in your programming software. For example, If your programming software thinks 1/2” plywood is loaded, but you actually have 5/8 plywood on the bed, the cut won’t go all the way through.
Next:
When you set Z0, make sure you aren’t accidentally setting it above the material. Your material might not be sitting flat on the table, or the cutter might not be sticking out as much as the controller “thinks” it is.
Next:
It’s possible when you run the program, the cutter is sliding up into the collet. This can be identifies be taking a close look the z height of the cuts, and you’ll see evidence that the z height is changing during the cut.
I had a similar problem until I calibrated the Z axis, via the Masso wizard on the F1 page for Z. When I cut my first project that had a facing/flattening toolpath where the Z dimension was critical, I discovered it was off by .5 mm, but the previously calibrated X and Y generated nearly perfect results in that same cut piece; 50 x 20 x 19.46 (should have been 20). The wizard takes you through a short process of asking you to tell it how far the axis really moved (digital calipers are best here, as you measure the travel from starting point to ending point) in a given move.
To verify that your z-axis is set correctly, jog the machine so the bit is just off your material. Lower the bit until the control indicates zero height. Verify that this is correct. Assuming it is, lower the bit further until you reach the depth of 0.221 and verify that this is what you expect. If it is not, then your control settings for the z-axis are not correct. This is likely where your problem is.
hello and thanks for all the replies. I thought I had updated this but it appears I have not. I ended up taking the bit all the way down till it stopped and noticed the bit did not go down far enough to cut all the way threw my material. I was using a short 1/8 bit and just slid the collet up on the bit some. That fixed the problem, my only question now is why did it not tell me that my depth was not reachable, I guess? Maybe the machine cannot tell that I don’t know. thanks again for you all’s replies greatly appreciated.
I noticed Masso does not pre-screen the program for any soft home conflicts. That would be a nice feature.
It seems to look ahead maybe 50 lines of code or so. It will trip a soft alarm well before the action is requested- which makes it a little more difficult to diagnose.