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Post by markwisniowski on Feb 25, 2017 5:22:56 GMT
Thanks to everyone here on the forum, I finally have the machine built and up and running!
I have a few general CNC questions before I make my first cut:
1. I ran the $H command to dial in my homing switches and it seems like the machine thinks that the 0,0,0 point is BACK / RIGHT of the machine. Is this the ZERO point that everyone generally uses? Naturally I would like ZERO to be the FRONT/LEFT on the bed. I have been using Fusion 360 to design parts and my ZERO home stock origin is FRONT/TOP/LEFT of the part, can I assume that this is what the machine should be set to?
2. Silly question but... How deep into the router do you install your 1/8" end mill into? And when you do Tool Swaps, how do you know your new bit is installed into the router the same depth?
3. aforww - I noticed that you use wooden right angle guides FRONT/LEFT on your spoil board in your Electronics Upgrade video, I'm assuming you use that as a guide to place your stock at 0,0,0 is that correct?
4. Lastly, I'm still trying to grasp the concept of designing a part in Fusion360 and how the machine knows where the part lives on my 1/4" MDF spoil board on the bed.
Any workflow tips would be greatly appreciated!
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Post by aforww on Feb 25, 2017 19:05:05 GMT
1. That is what you will hear some refer to as "machine home". It gives the machine a known position to start from every time you start up the machine. Where you start a job from will sometimes be called work zero or WCS zero. This is where YOU define the zero to be for the job. This starts with your design. For example, in Fusion 360 when setting up your CAM, you select one of the dots on the model to be the reference point for where your machine will do all its work. As you can see, the lower left corner is where my zero is for this particular job so therefore when I set my work zero on the machine, it will be set at the lower left corner of my work piece. If I had chosen to select the center point in the design, then I would set the work zero at the center of the workpiece on the machine. Hopefully, that all makes sense lol. There are quite a few posts about homing in the forum. 2. The ring you find on some bits is called an indexing ring. It's there because that's how far you put it in. A bit without a ring, I usually go with at least 1/2" for the smaller bits and 3/4"minimum in the bigger bits. As far as tool changes, even with the indexing rings you should re-zero the Z axis every time you do a tool change. 3.You are absolutely correct. Those not only keep my piece square, they allow me to always put the piece in the exact same spot. 4. My answer to number 1. answered this one. When I'm done studying later, I'm going to post up a couple threads on homing as it relates to design and machine work. I'm also going to do one on feeds and speeds. These will be layman level explanations because I'm still trying to learn it all as well. I also don't really know gcode well. Some people do all their homing via gcode commands and I still don't know how to do that. I just use the "reset zero" buttons and "return to zero" buttons in UGS-P.
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Post by Derek the Admin on Feb 25, 2017 20:11:12 GMT
Aforww gave a great explanation. Thanks for that Alex.
These topics do take a little while to learn though, so please let us know what else we can do to help clear things up. Also, for reference, the "return to zero" button the the version of UGS that you'll get on the website is busted. Instead of that command it to zero with this "G90 G0 X0 Y0 Z0" Note that that will make a straight line to the WORK COORDINATE zero, so make sure you don't have a clamp in the way. It work fine in Universal G Code Platform, which you can google to find.
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Post by mrbigj on Feb 25, 2017 20:16:59 GMT
Congrats on getting the machine together! I, too, finished my machine today. Late last night I put the finishing touches on it, and this morning I ran through the homing process and performed my first cuts. Just made carved some basis shapes onto a large clipboard I have. I, too, was surprised at the direction the machine went for homing, and found that my X and Y homing switches were setup incorrectly. I disconnected them so I could test the spindle and carving lightly some small shapes into the clipboard. I will get them fixed today, once I get the machine mounted in it's final location. It was on my basement work bench for assembly.
I'm still learning Fusion 360, so my workflow currently is a little different than some. However, my test cuts today have so far proved that it works just fine.
1) "CAD" Design - I design in Google Sketchup or Easel. If I design in Sketchup, I export the STL to Easel. 2) "CAM" Tool Paths - I use Easel for setting my cutting rates and toolpaths. Really straight forward and easy to do. Export the gcode from Easel. 3) Gcode & Cutting - Universal GCode Sender - I am using the free software mentioned in the instructions currently. At some point, I will probably investigate Mach 3, but UGCS works just fine and I will use it until I feel I need something else.
It seems we are just about at the same point in this project. I started a thread, and will post my pictures, videos, ideas, and such in that thread. So feel free to comment post in there, perhaps we can collaborate and get up to speed quicker.
Congrats on the build.
J
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Post by aforww on Feb 25, 2017 20:17:47 GMT
I really need to learn, at least the basics of G-code. Glad you mentioned that being broken. I haven't use UGS in long while so I wasn't aware of that. IMO, everyone should be using platform. It's so much nicer lol. I need to upgrade mine to address some annoying jogging behavior but just haven't gotten around to it.
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Post by mrbigj on Feb 25, 2017 20:19:42 GMT
I really need to learn, at least the basics of G-code. Glad you mentioned that being broken. I haven't use UGS in long while so I wasn't aware of that. IMO, everyone should be using platform. It's so much nicer lol. I need to upgrade mine to address some annoying jogging behavior but just haven't gotten around to it. What is "platform" and where can I find it? I just did a quick Google search, didn't see anything referencing machining software... J
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Post by aforww on Feb 25, 2017 20:36:05 GMT
I really need to learn, at least the basics of G-code. Glad you mentioned that being broken. I haven't use UGS in long while so I wasn't aware of that. IMO, everyone should be using platform. It's so much nicer lol. I need to upgrade mine to address some annoying jogging behavior but just haven't gotten around to it. What is "platform" and where can I find it? I just did a quick Google search, didn't see anything referencing machining software... J Platform is the new universal G-code sender. I started using it a month or two ago and haven't looked back. It does offer more options for layouts, and function so it has a bit of a learning curve. Well more a familiarization curve, but it's well worth it. winder.github.io/ugs_website/guide/platform/
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Post by mrbigj on Feb 25, 2017 20:39:17 GMT
What is "platform" and where can I find it? I just did a quick Google search, didn't see anything referencing machining software... J Platform is the new universal G-code sender. I started using it a month or two ago and haven't looked back. It does offer more options for layouts, and function so it has a bit of a learning curve. Well more a familiarization curve, but it's well worth it. winder.github.io/ugs_website/guide/platform/Awesome, thanks for the link. I'm going to download it and check it out! J
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Post by aforww on Feb 25, 2017 20:51:46 GMT
Platform is the new universal G-code sender. I started using it a month or two ago and haven't looked back. It does offer more options for layouts, and function so it has a bit of a learning curve. Well more a familiarization curve, but it's well worth it. winder.github.io/ugs_website/guide/platform/Awesome, thanks for the link. I'm going to download it and check it out! J Anytime man. You'll find that I am real big on sharing knowledge around here. It's how learned and it's what makes it a great place. I do everything I can to give back.
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Post by mrbigj on Feb 25, 2017 20:54:04 GMT
Awesome, thanks for the link. I'm going to download it and check it out! J Anytime man. You'll find that I am real big on sharing knowledge around here. It's how learned and it's what makes it a great place. I do everything I can to give back. At some point, I hope to be one who has some knowledge to share, LOL... Right now, I'm just trying to keep from breaking my machine. I'll get there. Rome wasn't built in a day, so they say. Just finishing building the machine apparently doesn't make me an expert on CNC, who knew? J
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Post by aforww on Feb 25, 2017 20:55:56 GMT
Anytime man. You'll find that I am real big on sharing knowledge around here. It's how learned and it's what makes it a great place. I do everything I can to give back. At some point, I hope to be one who has some knowledge to share, LOL... Right now, I'm just trying to keep from breaking my machine. I'll get there. Rome wasn't built in a day, so they say. Just finishing building the machine apparently doesn't make me an expert on CNC, who knew? J You'll be surprised how quickly you pick it up.
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Post by markwisniowski on Feb 25, 2017 21:00:22 GMT
It seems we are just about at the same point in this project. I started a thread, and will post my pictures, videos, ideas, and such in that thread. So feel free to comment post in there, perhaps we can collaborate and get up to speed quicker. Congrats on the build. J Will do, thank you!
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Post by markwisniowski on Feb 25, 2017 21:08:14 GMT
Awesome, that makes total sense! One thing I'm still missing... what is the process of knowing where that X,Y and Z zero is on the spoil board. You mentioned you have your wooden guides setup FRONT/LEFT on the bed but how did you even know where to place them in the beginning? Just taking a guess here while things are starting to make sense...do I manually control the Spindle movement to the work piece that is placed on the spoil board, lower down the Z until the bit touches where i place my WCS zero in Fusion360?
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Post by aforww on Feb 25, 2017 21:37:01 GMT
That is exactly right. You manually jog the machine to where ever you want your work zero to be. Lower Z ( you can use a piece of paper and lower Z until the cutter just catches the paper as you pull it out.)
If you look at my spoil board, you will see a grid of lines spaced at 10mm. I made those lines with a vbit and manually jogged and cut a very shallow grid. It shows me the outermost limits of the machine and it also serves as a reference that is exactly in line with the X/Y of the spindle. I did the grid first, then set the pieces of wood lined up with the lines but offset a couple mm to make sure I didn't hit the limit of travel if I had to machine right along the edge. You can go a step further, and use the mill to make sure the blocks are a true 90 to the X and Y by throwing a cutter in, firing up the router than manually jogging and planing off the face.
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Post by markwisniowski on Feb 25, 2017 21:57:04 GMT
That is exactly right. You manually jog the machine to where ever you want your work zero to be. Lower Z ( you can use a piece of paper and lower Z until the cutter just catches the paper as you pull it out.) If you look at my spoil board, you will see a grid of lines spaced at 10mm. I made those lines with a vbit and manually jogged and cut a very shallow grid. It shows me the outermost limits of the machine and it also serves as a reference that is exactly in line with the X/Y of the spindle. I did the grid first, then set the pieces of wood lined up with the lines but offset a couple mm to make sure I didn't hit the limit of travel if I had to machine right along the edge. You can go a step further, and use the mill to make sure the blocks are a true 90 to the X and Y by throwing a cutter in, firing up the router than manually jogging and planing off the face. Oh man it just happened...EVERYTHING now makes sense!!! Thanks!!
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