back to zero

[jms]

Had a problem in middle of a job, had to hit pause.....but now how do I get the machine to go back to my XY zero?  ( lower left corner of board) so I can start over.

Joe

[activereality]

Was that 'job zero' set or saved? Either as a working zero or as a coordinate zero? If so, I would think you could just select that and be good.

[Bruce]

If the power did not get shut off and there wasn't any other lockups, the XY zero should still be there. Otherwize you would have home the machine first then go to the last XY zero that was set.

[jms]

I set zero in the begining at corner with g92 x0 y0 z0, then g90 g0 z.2......but what do I enter to get back there? when I hit go to zero button, it went wild on me. I am gcode illiterate, I have no idea how to eneter all these gcodes you guys talk about and at what point to enter them....I have watched videos but I am having a hard time grasping it.....

[Bruce]

You should be able to set your zero position by moving the end mill to the zero point and then hit reset for each axis or the G92 X0 Y0 Z0 should also work. Or you can type in G10 L20 P1 X0 Y0 Z0 in the terminal
to set the G54 zero (the default workspace coordinate). G90 sets absolute distance mode and doesn't have anything to do with setting the work zero. 

After running a homing cycle, rather jogging manually all the time to a position in the middle of your workspace volume. You can set a G28 or G30 pre-defined position to be your post-homing position, closer to where you'll be machining. To set these, you'll first need to jog your machine to where you would want it to move to after homing. Type G28.1 (or G30.1) to have Grbl store that position. So then after '$H' homing, you could just enter 'G28' (or 'G30') and it'll move there auto-magically. In general, It would be safer to move the XY axis to the center and leave the Z-axis up. This ensures that there isn't a chance the tool in the spindle will interfere and that it doesn't catch on anything. (Limit switches are required to run the homing sequence.)

Derek goes through the zeroing and coordinate system in this video.  You might have to watch it in smaller bits.  There is a lot to take in here.

[jms]

Thanks Bruce, think what I need to do is spend the day with machine, no bit in spindle, just watch tutorials, try some gcode such as g28, g 30, g54.....and see what happens and learn. I have yet to do that. Just so eager to make stuff that I haven't done that.

Joe

[Bruce]

That might be a good idea. Wrapping your head around all this new info about G-code, coordinate system, and homing does take some time just working with it.
Take your time and don't get frustrated. 👍

[jms]

Well I got at least 1.5 hrs today to play. Most of my questions got answered...what I was pleased to find out after setting g28 ( a spot clear enough to clamp down material) and setting g54 ( a spot near front left corner where I usually start) and turning off UGS and powerroute, that it remembers these settings. That saves time !!!!! But what I still don't know is ...let's say I have a big model I am doing that takes over 8 hrs, can I stop machine , shut down everything, and resume where I left off the next day ? and.....if I do have a problem and I need to emergency stop, can I correct it and resume where it left off.Obviously g54 will get me back to that corner, but is there a way to resume where it left off carving?   I see how pausing a job can be done in mach3, can the same be done in UGS by hitting pause, shutting everything down, next day start up cnc and ugs, go back a few lines of code and resume carving?

[Derek the Admin]

Unfortunately not.

[jms]

OK, then can I use mach 3 on the power route?  Or if mach 3 doesn't work with power route, is there a gcode sender that does what I am describing that does work with power route?

[James@fireaxe]

In UGS , on my CK, I have hit pause (when it is in a transition movement, not a cutting movement) turned off the Router, unplugged the power to the black box. Then put my computer with UGS still running to sleep mode. Come back the next day, powered up the computer (UGS still running, with USB still connected), powered up the black box, then the router and hit continue. Have done that several times with success.

[jms]

OK, good idea. Still wanna try bcnc, ugs is buggy......yesterday moving z up in .3 increments it just kept going up and hit alarm. Which is a pain, cause I can't shut off alarm , I have to shut everything down and move ball screw by hand to lower it, then restart everything. Sometimes during a cut it stutters or stops for a split second. But I am not sure how to install bcnc, need help.

[Bruce]

Hitting the pause button a couple time should clear the alarm. If that doesn't work try typing $X in the console.