Inches, so the difference here is about .03” at the worst I guess.
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That is significant, particularly over such a small distance. I am guessing the MCS DRO for Z axis reads normal - as programmed - throughout the duration of the carve(?).
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Honestly I didn’t pay much attention to the DROs during the program, but I would guess they did.
Maybe I’ll run it again tomorrow and pay closer attention. That would have been a good idea too…
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I would be very surprised to see the DRO readings off, more likely a mechanical issue, or steps sent not received - still odd to see a gradual rise pattern.
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I restored the config they linked which had the same settings I had before basically. Looks like yours are prior to that. You should be able to update your resolution and get 600ipm (on x and y).
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Yeah I don’t have my machine connected to the internet so I’m running older settings but when I initially got the machine the factory settings were so bad that the steppers would growl because of the step distance
I’d rather have smooth motion over speed.
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Mines not connected either, I just updated the settings when that bulletin came out. The speed increase isn’t the only thing, going from 400 to 2,000 steps per revolution should make it much smoother than what you have now regardless of speed.
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Ran it again for a while yesterday while checking the DROs. Z axis didn’t change during the program outside of a few intermittent deviations of a few thousandths, which I assume is normal? But mostly kept to what it was supposed to be at -0.0002 at the top of the flat section. The machine coordinates also stayed mostly the same at -3.0860.
However, after doing a shutdown and resume, while the z axis DRO stayed the same the machine coordinates for Z changed to around -3.0846 after the restart. Not sure what this means..
Before restart:
After restart
So I was in the process of flattening my spoilboard when I got interrupted for a couple of hours
Rather than turn it off, I just turned off the spindle and paused the program.
While I didn’t notice any height changes, when I resumed I noticed the Z drive cooling fins were hot to touch. The other steppers just warm.
I wonder if its a heat issue you are experiencing? Maybe check the stepper temperature after a long cut ?
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Doesn’t seem like it. Ran it for 2 hours today, at hour 1 it was reading 94.6F, and hour 2 it was 83.4. Never even got to 100 at any point that I saw.
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I would have never assumed this before but after watching a video on Youtube last night of some bit stress testing is it possible the bit is moving in the collet? Would probably happen if you are doing heavy carving with a down cut that might be a tiny undersized.
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Seems very unlikely. The bit is tight in there and I’m taking off something like .01mm per pass (1% stepover on a 1mm upcut tapered ballnose.) Same exact effect whether aggressive or super light cuts.
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If the machine coordinates are different I believe those are set based on the machine location during the homing process. Maybe you have varying homing locations but I hope it wouldn’t be that significant. On the extreme side if that’s the case it’s a sensor issue or masso issue receiving the signal from the sensor. On the not so extreme side maybe you have dust in the sensors path or possibly sunlight I saw can impact it’s ability to pickup the optical break.
I resolved this by leaving Masso powered on overnight. Just stop the job, raise up the z a bit and turn off the router. The next day, I just start the router and resume carving. Absolutely perfect alignment.
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Are you using an upcut mill and is it only happening on the end?
Could the bit be lifting the material up?
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I had problems with XYZ zero’s changing over a few hour job.
I bought 1/4” copper ground strap from amazon using wire terminals I grounded the spindle to Z and ran it to every component (X and Y rails, controller, metal board on the Masso, all to power ground. Also, grounded the wire that runs in the exhaust hose.
Now it is stable as a rock. No drifting.
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I have only one homing location. The problem is not the machine coordinates, that’s a symptom. Once it homes it’s in exactly the right place. The problem is that it loses that place in reality over the course of a carve.
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It’s in absolutely perfect alignment for me after it homes after a shutdown. The problem is that it gradually loses that alignment over time as a program runs, but only in the z axis.
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I am using upcut in this situation. The material is not lifting up though, I actually shattered the last example piece trying to get it off the spoilboard it was stuck down so completely. Apparently expanded PVC holds blue tape like 10x better than MDF.
Also, it doesn’t happen only on the end, it happens consistently in whatever direction it’s going. If you look at the dial indicator video, you can see it’s constantly losing z height over the course of the carve.
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