Cutting foam sheets... with a needle!

[Headbang]

Alright.... looking at buying a prusa and they have two versions a mini and their standard one. What is the print size needed for the CNC's that are currently on the market at this time. I want to be sure that if I upgrade to a different MPCNC that I am covered. Also I do not mind investing in a 3d printer as I can use it to print out canopy's for our quadcopters as well as parts for our FT Planes.

Absolutely the standard sized. My prusa mk3 some times ends up printing things like the northern pike. The mini is just too small. That said, I wish I has a few mini's as well to increase production speed on projects with many little parts. I can not say anything negative about my prusa mk3!

 

[bigALUSMC]

Awesome!

 

[bigALUSMC]

If I were to go with the MPCNC build.... which size printed parts would I choose to use with this size conduit?

https://www.homedepot.com/p/1-in-x-10-ft-Electric-Metallic-Tube-EMT-Conduit-101568/100400409

 

[dkj4linux]

I wanted to start off by saying that I am in no way disappointed by what I recieved from LaserAxe. It is a great kit that assembled quickly and easily. I'm fairly sure if I loaded their software it would have worked fine, but to me it seemed easier to just put grbl 1.1 onto the controller and be done with it. It took a little bit of playing to figure out how to flash the new firmware, but it was pretty painless and I was able to run a test cut in Lightburn the next morning. It cut just fine. The LaserAxe control board has provisions for adding a z-axis, air assist, homing limit switches, and a few other things, so I'm very happy with that.

I bought this for a few reasons. I want a way to:
-play with CNC again for very little investment
-tinker with technology
-quickly layout/cut out DTFB planes
-cut out balsa kits
-cut stencils and vinyl
-maybe etch some decoration onto other projects.

I am a little disappointed that I can't get a nice through-cut on 1/16 ply and foamboard. Balsa, cardstock, black foamboard, and paper all cut beautifully.
I moved the laser closer to the work surface and refocused, but ply burns badly if I do enough passes to cut through and foamboard either burns/melts or doesn't cut past the paper, but this was mostly expected as well. I know that diode lasers don't behave well with foam board, so I had always intended to build a needle cutter I could swap in for the laser module.
Right now I'm researching what I'll need to construct a z-axis and a needle cutter. I don't have 3D-printing capabilities, so whatever I do will be old-school fabricating. It may make sense to buy a pre-made z-axis, but I did end up cutting the y axis down to fit my table better and still fit a full sheet of DTFB, so I already have the off-cuts I could use. I have some old stepper motors in my scrap electronics bin, but they're all 6-wire or more and I don't know enough about them yet to know if they'll be useful.

I noticed that everyone is using a brushless motor for their needle cutter. If I understand the pinouts correctly, my board will output a 12v PWM signal for the laser that I think I could run a brushed motor off of. Any reason this might not work? I'll be experimenting with it in the coming days since they've temporarily closed down the theater I work for.

Good job getting the LaserAxe machine running. You did exactly as I would have... loading Grbl onto the controller board and then using Lightburn to do your engraving. I misunderstood that you had managed that already... and thought you were still trying to make their restrictive "proprietary" software do something it probably wasn't designed to do.

About cutting materials with a diode laser...

As you've seen, white foamboard doesn't cut with a diode laser... but I should think 1/16" plywood would cut nicely with only a pass or two. I find most often that folks having trouble cutting thin wood/ply/cardboard/etc... are not getting BEST POSSIBLE FOCUS on/in the material. And it's crucial to do so IMHO.

Any time I change materials and/or its thickness, I use a simple focus script to find the Z height that gives best focus on the top of the material. I then set in that Z height and never change it. I then use another script to find the fastest feedrate that completely pierces (or cuts as deeply as possible) the material in a single pass. This post shows those steps in 3mm cardboard. The focus script generated the "gradient" band where best focus is determined... without a Z-axis this would have to be done manually but it is crucial that it be done. Using that Z-height, the cut-through script generated the ten lines at differing feedrates (1000 mm/min down to 100 mm/min) to find where the earliest complete cut-through occurs. Setting in that focus and feedrate then allowed me to cut the cardboard in one pass, cleanly and without charring.

About needle cutting...

Since your machine doesn't have a Z-axis yet, you might take a look at Edward Chew's TimSav foam-cutting machine. While he does use 3d printed parts, they are all FLAT pieces... and a DXF or SVG can be fairly easily gotten from them that should allow them to be milled or laser-cut from another material. His machine also doesn't have a true Z-axis and he uses a servo-driven Z-lift mechanism to lift the cutter clear of the material when moving from one part to another... this scheme could also be used with your machine in lieu of a real Z-axis, if desired.

I'll stop here for now. There's tons more to say on these subjects and if there's anything you want me to explain further I'll be happy to help as best I can.

-- David

 

[dkj4linux]

If I were to go with the MPCNC build.... which size printed parts would I choose to use with this size conduit?

https://www.homedepot.com/p/1-in-x-10-ft-Electric-Metallic-Tube-EMT-Conduit-101568/100400409

Conduit, as normally used, is specified by its ID. Conduit, as used with MPCNC, is specified by its OD. 3/4" EMT is 23.5mm OD... therefore it is the 23.5mm printed parts are what you would need to print or purchase. The conduit you would need to purchase is this...

https://www.homedepot.com/p/3-4-in-x-10-ft-Electric-Metallic-Tube-EMT-Conduit-853429/100400406

 

[Tench745]

Good job getting the LaserAxe machine running. You did exactly as I would have... loading Grbl onto the controller board and then using Lightburn to do your engraving. I misunderstood that you had managed that already... and thought you were still trying to make their restrictive "proprietary" software do something it probably wasn't designed to do.

About cutting materials with a diode laser...

As you've seen, white foamboard doesn't cut with a diode laser... but I should think 1/16" plywood would cut nicely with only a pass or two. I find most often that folks having trouble cutting thin wood/ply/cardboard/etc... are not getting BEST POSSIBLE FOCUS on/in the material. And it's crucial to do so IMHO.

Any time I change materials and/or its thickness, I use a simple focus script to find the Z height that gives best focus on the top of the material. I then set in that Z height and never change it. I then use another script to find the fastest feedrate that completely pierces (or cuts as deeply as possible) the material in a single pass. This post shows those steps in 3mm cardboard. The focus script generated the "gradient" band where best focus is determined... without a Z-axis this would have to be done manually but it is crucial that it be done. Using that Z-height, the cut-through script generated the ten lines at differing feedrates (1000 mm/min down to 100 mm/min) to find where the earliest complete cut-through occurs. Setting in that focus and feedrate then allowed me to cut the cardboard in one pass, cleanly and without charring.

About needle cutting...

Since your machine doesn't have a Z-axis yet, you might take a look at Edward Chew's TimSav foam-cutting machine. While he does use 3d printed parts, they are all FLAT pieces... and a DXF or SVG can be fairly easily gotten from them that should allow them to be milled or laser-cut from another material. His machine also doesn't have a true Z-axis and he uses a servo-driven Z-lift mechanism to lift the cutter clear of the material when moving from one part to another... this scheme could also be used with your machine in lieu of a real Z-axis, if desired.

I'll stop here for now. There's tons more to say on these subjects and if there's anything you want me to explain further I'll be happy to help as best I can.

-- David

David, you assumed correctly. When I made my first post I was still in the process of researching and downloading the appropriate software etc. The following morning I got it all running correctly.
I like the idea of installing a true z-axis as that gives me the most accuracy, repeatability, and versatility in one machine. Between the wing in the garage, the airplanes on my other work table, and my wife's sewing hobby I really only have room for one machine. I looked hard at the TimSav but decided it didn't do enough for me to justify the purchase. I know someone, can't remember who, who won't buy a new tool unless they can think of 3 uses for it. I'm not quite that picky, but I definitely have that kind of mindset too.

I have refocused my laser a number of times because I felt like it was under performing. I tried moving the work closer to the lens in an attempt to up the effective power, but there was little appreciable difference. It almost feels like the controller isn't driving the laser at full power, but I'm not sure exactly how to test that. I can plug the laser directly into 12v power, but that leaves the board unpowered, so I can't run a test cut at a known feed rate.

I think right now the most helpful things for me to know would be how to test/ set my laser correctly, and any recommendations or ideas for adding a compact z-axis. I really appreciate the effort you've put into this thread and educating those of us who have asked for help.

 

[dkj4linux]

David, you assumed correctly. When I made my first post I was still in the process of researching and downloading the appropriate software etc. The following morning I got it all running correctly.
I like the idea of installing a true z-axis as that gives me the most accuracy, repeatability, and versatility in one machine. Between the wing in the garage, the airplanes on my other work table, and my wife's sewing hobby I really only have room for one machine. I looked hard at the TimSav but decided it didn't do enough for me to justify the purchase. I know someone, can't remember who, who won't buy a new tool unless they can think of 3 uses for it. I'm not quite that picky, but I definitely have that kind of mindset too.

I have refocused my laser a number of times because I felt like it was under performing. I tried moving the work closer to the lens in an attempt to up the effective power, but there was little appreciable difference. It almost feels like the controller isn't driving the laser at full power, but I'm not sure exactly how to test that. I can plug the laser directly into 12v power, but that leaves the board unpowered, so I can't run a test cut at a known feed rate.

I think right now the most helpful things for me to know would be how to test/ set my laser correctly, and any recommendations or ideas for adding a compact z-axis. I really appreciate the effort you've put into this thread and educating those of us who have asked for help.

Thanks for the kind words.

WRT the laser's power... since you are running Grbl, you are specifying full power as 1000 (vs. 255)? You'll need to make sure that $30=1000 in the Grbl settings and the setting in Lightburn for max power (spindle speed?) must match up... both should be 1000. I suspect "technically" they could/should both be 1023 for 10-bit resolution (vs 255 for 8-bits)... but I guess 1000 is "close enough" and easier to remember for the masses?

I mentioned the TimSav only to suggest the needle cutter design (which I now recommend to folks) could be easily copied and laser-cut or milled... and the servo-driven Z-lift that could be useful on machines without a Z-axis. I understand you do eventually plan a Z-axis of some kind but don't have a non-3dprinted one to recommend off the top of my head.

 

[Tench745]

I ran a few more tests this morning I ran one with the $30=255 and then changed it to $30=1000, correcting the corresponding value in Lightburn. The results were essentially the same. I added a fan sitting on my table top to blow away smoke and got slightly cleaner cuts, but not much deeper. Attached are pictures of my last test. 100% power with the fan, finest focus I could get on the laser, with the material just over 1" from the lens. It took 6 passes at 150mm/min to get an almost through cut. The one square that is cut out was finished with an x-acto.

I realized while I was writing this that the piece I am testing on is actually 1/16" birch aircraft ply from my Junior Ace project, so it may be denser than hobby ply, and is definitely denser than lite-ply.

 

[dkj4linux]

I think that you really need to be focused further away than that... I usually use 55mm or so. Check out this post where I am setting up a 3.5 watt Banggood laser. Picture an hourglass-shaped beam... the closer the lens to the material, the more quickly the beam broadens on either side of focus... and probably explains the charring you've been seeing. Focusing to 55mm or so (2" to 2-1/2" is usually recommemded IIRC) gives a narrower beam and narrower kerf and results in cleaner cuts.

I'm away from my house right now and will be available to discuss further later...

 

[Springer]

I wanted to start off by saying that I am in no way disappointed by what I recieved from LaserAxe. It is a great kit that assembled quickly and easily. I'm fairly sure if I loaded their software it would have worked fine, but to me it seemed easier to just put grbl 1.1 onto the controller and be done with it. It took a little bit of playing to figure out how to flash the new firmware, but it was pretty painless and I was able to run a test cut in Lightburn the next morning. It cut just fine. The LaserAxe control board has provisions for adding a z-axis, air assist, homing limit switches, and a few other things, so I'm very happy with that.

I bought this for a few reasons. I want a way to:
-play with CNC again for very little investment
-tinker with technology
-quickly layout/cut out DTFB planes
-cut out balsa kits
-cut stencils and vinyl
-maybe etch some decoration onto other projects.

I am a little disappointed that I can't get a nice through-cut on 1/16 ply and foamboard. Balsa, cardstock, black foamboard, and paper all cut beautifully.
I moved the laser closer to the work surface and refocused, but ply burns badly if I do enough passes to cut through and foamboard either burns/melts or doesn't cut past the paper, but this was mostly expected as well. I know that diode lasers don't behave well with foam board, so I had always intended to build a needle cutter I could swap in for the laser module.
Right now I'm researching what I'll need to construct a z-axis and a needle cutter. I don't have 3D-printing capabilities, so whatever I do will be old-school fabricating. It may make sense to buy a pre-made z-axis, but I did end up cutting the y axis down to fit my table better and still fit a full sheet of DTFB, so I already have the off-cuts I could use. I have some old stepper motors in my scrap electronics bin, but they're all 6-wire or more and I don't know enough about them yet to know if they'll be useful.

I noticed that everyone is using a brushless motor for their needle cutter. If I understand the pinouts correctly, my board will output a 12v PWM signal for the laser that I think I could run a brushed motor off of. Any reason this might not work? I'll be experimenting with it in the coming days since they've temporarily closed down the theater I work for.

I use an emax 2812 motor on my needle cutter with a 10 amp ESC to control speeds. I power it through the laser output, just using the + and - wires. So far it has worked fine, currents (running at 9800rpm while cutting) are at or under an amp, so I don't think I am straining the eleksmaker mana 3 axis board. I don't think the pwm signal on the laser output acts as a rehostat, though, so you won't get what you want. There is a motor output on my board, but I don't know if it is variable speed. If it is, that would be the output to use for a brushed motor, I would think. Fun to tinker, though, let us know what works!

 

[Springer]

I ran a few more tests this morning I ran one with the $30=255 and then changed it to $30=1000, correcting the corresponding value in Lightburn. The results were essentially the same. I added a fan sitting on my table top to blow away smoke and got slightly cleaner cuts, but not much deeper. Attached are pictures of my last test. 100% power with the fan, finest focus I could get on the laser, with the material just over 1" from the lens. It took 6 passes at 150mm/min to get an almost through cut. The one square that is cut out was finished with an x-acto.

I realized while I was writing this that the piece I am testing on is actually 1/16" birch aircraft ply from my Junior Ace project, so it may be denser than hobby ply, and is definitely denser than lite-ply.

View attachment 162195 View attachment 162196

Plus1 on David's focus script with Z axis unit! I use it every time I switch my machine from needle to laser or burn a different thickness. I purchased the original metal Z axis from banggood and adapted it to my machine. They now sell a plastic version that should be a lot lighter. Before the powered Z and scripts I never knew if it was focused or not, and focusing the tiny ring was a pain. Now it is much easier to get the finest line. Now I see he has another script to determine optimum speed. Gonna have to try that as well! Always more to learn from the masters! My only experience with cutting ply had a lot of burning, but that was before using the focus script, I need to test that again.

 

[dkj4linux]

Plus1 on David's focus script with Z axis unit! I use it every time I switch my machine from needle to laser or burn a different thickness. I purchased the original metal Z axis from banggood and adapted it to my machine. They now sell a plastic version that should be a lot lighter. Before the powered Z and scripts I never knew if it was focused or not, and focusing the tiny ring was a pain. Now it is much easier to get the finest line. Now I see he has another script to determine optimum speed. Gonna have to try that as well! Always more to learn from the masters! My only experience with cutting ply had a lot of burning, but that was before using the focus script, I need to test that again.

All,

This post shows the procedure I use to test for feeds/speeds to cut through a "new" material... 3mm cardboard in this case. I use two scripts... the first is the focus script (to find absolute best focus) and the second to find the fastest speed -- at full power and best focus -- I can go and still cut completely through the material.

The focus script does the following... starting at current location and all moves *relative* (G91), turn on the laser full power, move 50mm in X, turn off laser, move 1mm in Y, move 2mm in Z, and move 50mm back in X. Do that 10 times and the "gradient" looking band of 10 lines is created and the laser is now 20mm higher than where it was at the start of the script. Count lines back from the last line to the thinnest/finest/best-focused line and multiply by 2mm... and then lower Z back down by that exact amount. You're now at ABSOLUTE BEST FOCUS on the top of the material.

G91

M106 S255
G1 X50 F750
M107
G1 Y1 F6000
G1 Z2 F200
G0 X-50 F6000

M106 S255
G1 X50 F750
M107
G1 Y1 F6000
G1 Z2 F200
G0 X-50 F6000

M106 S255
G1 X50 F750
M107
G1 Y1 F6000
G1 Z2 F200
G0 X-50 F6000

M106 S255
G1 X50 F750
M107
G1 Y1 F6000
G1 Z2 F200
G0 X-50 F6000

M106 S255
G1 X50 F750
M107
G1 Y1 F6000
G1 Z2 F200
G0 X-50 F6000

M106 S255
G1 X50 F750
M107
G1 Y1 F6000
G1 Z2 F200
G0 X-50 F6000

M106 S255
G1 X50 F750
M107
G1 Y1 F6000
G1 Z2 F200
G0 X-50 F6000

M106 S255
G1 X50 F750
M107
G1 Y1 F6000
G1 Z2 F200
G0 X-50 F6000

M106 S255
G1 X50 F750
M107
G1 Y1 F6000
G1 Z2 F200
G0 X-50 F6000

M106 S255
G1 X50 F750
M107
G1 Y1 F6000
G1 Z2 F200
G0 X-50 F6000

G90

The second script is derived from the focus script and simply creates a series of 10 lines -- all at BEST FOCUS (constant Z) -- 4mm apart in Y, at progressively slower feedrates (1000mm/min down to 100mm/min). At script end, flip the work piece over to see which line (if any) is the earliest to completely pierce the material. Use the feedrate that gave the earliest complete through-cut for cleanest/fastest cuts for that material and thickness.

; full power, variable speed, constant z
G91

M106 S255   ; full power
G1 X50 F1000 ; set speed
M107
G1 Y4 F6000
;G1 Z2 F200
G0 X-50 F6000

M106 S255
G1 X50 F900
M107
G1 Y4 F6000
;G1 Z2 F200
G0 X-50 F6000

M106 S255
G1 X50 F800
M107
G1 Y4 F6000
;G1 Z2 F200
G0 X-50 F6000

M106 S255
G1 X50 F700
M107
G1 Y4 F6000
;G1 Z2 F200
G0 X-50 F6000

M106 S255
G1 X50 F600
M107
G1 Y4 F6000
;G1 Z2 F200
G0 X-50 F6000

M106 S255
G1 X50 F500
M107
G1 Y4 F6000
;G1 Z2 F200
G0 X-50 F6000

M106 S255
G1 X50 F400
M107
G1 Y4 F6000
;G1 Z2 F200
G0 X-50 F6000

M106 S255
G1 X50 F300
M107
G1 Y4 F6000
;G1 Z2 F200
G0 X-50 F6000

M106 S255
G1 X50 F200
M107
G1 Y4 F6000
;G1 Z2 F200
G0 X-50 F6000

M106 S255
G1 X50 F100
M107
G1 Y4 F6000
;G1 Z2 F200
G0 X-50 F6000

G90

These particular scripts are for Marlin-based machines but can readily be edited/adapted for Grbl-based machines as well. They are handy enough I assign them to "permanent" Macro positions in my sender/control program so that I can quickly run them any time I need to... any time I change material and/or material thickness.

-- David

 

[bigALUSMC]

Prusa quality is generally top-notch and, with the Mini, you're looking at a new design that runs about 1/2 the price but doesn't yet have the glowing resume and proven track record of the standard machines. The reviews I've seen indicate it has promise but will probably need some tweaks by the Prusa folks to get it on par with the standard machines. I have/had both MK2S and MK3S "standard" machines and have been thrilled with their reliability and ease of use... but they are a bit pricey. I have no regrets buying them, as I use them a lot, and they've been nothing short of a joy to use. I got a lot of good use from my first printers -- not Prusa -- but they were far more "fiddly" and quite often a real pain to use... and they really made me appreciate my first Prusa.

That said, there are some pretty impressive budget machines out there which are gaining a real following. The Creality Ender3, from what I've read and heard, seems to be the current "king of the hill" and provides best performance for the price. It's all aluminum, has a large build volume, has a large community following and great support because of it's popularity, has tons of upgrades that can be applied if/when you need them, and costs only about 25% of what the Prusa runs.

To be honest, if I was in the market for a new 3d printer, and couldn't/wouldn't spend the $$$ for the Prusa MK3S kit... the Ender3 is the one I would be seriously looking at. I personally don't think you could go too wrong with a ~$200 machine that seems so popular and holds so much promise. It's not perfect by any stretch but It seems a far better machine than those I started with... and for a whole lot less $$$. What's not to like about that?

-- David

Well with filament and printer.... just a little over 200 bucks. Hoping to be able to get going on this. For these parts what filament is best?

 

[dkj4linux]

Well with filament and printer.... just a little over 200 bucks. Hoping to be able to get going on this. For these parts what filament is best?

I'm assuming you are going to take the plunge with the Ender3? I use PLA for all my work... and it is the recommended filament for the MPCNC. It is easiest to work with and dimensionally more stable than most of the other filaments... very important when it comes to mating with standard hardware.

 

[bigALUSMC]

Yes... we went with the Ender3. I most likely will go with the ERC for now to get the hang of this cnc stuff. Thank you again for all your insight. Hopefully I will not be pulling my hair out lol. I will be pawning off the 3d creation to my son who is 9yo and see if he can get the hang of it. Thinking of introducing him to tinker cad or something to that nature. Any recomendations for a 9yo in way of intro into 3d design?

 

[Headbang]

Yes... we went with the Ender3. I most likely will go with the ERC for now to get the hang of this cnc stuff. Thank you again for all your insight. Hopefully I will not be pulling my hair out lol. I will be pawning off the 3d creation to my son who is 9yo and see if he can get the hang of it. Thinking of introducing him to tinker cad or something to that nature. Any recomendations for a 9yo in way of intro into 3d design?

Last I checked 9yr olds picked up stuff quicker then us. Get him started right with something like fusion360 (free to hobbiest). Lots of videos and resources out there for learning. Of course you have lots of options, and there is no wrong choice really. Blender, tinkercad, fusion360, maya, 3d studio max are just a few options. Get him going on something that is feature rich and useful for later life. I learned blender and 3d studio max about 25yrs ago. Over the last 25yrs it is crazy how often I have used blender, from modeling for 3d printing, making skins for video games, making 3d models for games, making graphics for web sites, you name it. I am in the IT industry, but not in the graphics or gaming industry, my work has no reason to learn these tools. Things I do for fun use them all the time.

 

[bigALUSMC]

Awesome.... Yea we mostly do quads and ft planes for now.... so I need him to adjust the canopies on their mounting holes for the various frames we have.... as well as things around the house that break....lol. We live in the desert and it is not to kind on plastic or rubber parts lol.

 

[Tench745]

I use an emax 2812 motor on my needle cutter with a 10 amp ESC to control speeds. I power it through the laser output, just using the + and - wires. So far it has worked fine, currents (running at 9800rpm while cutting) are at or under an amp, so I don't think I am straining the eleksmaker mana 3 axis board. I don't think the pwm signal on the laser output acts as a rehostat, though, so you won't get what you want. There is a motor output on my board, but I don't know if it is variable speed. If it is, that would be the output to use for a brushed motor, I would think. Fun to tinker, though, let us know what works!

On the Laseraxe board the low-wattage laser outputputs out 12v and varies power by increasing the length of the 12v pulse. I tested it with a little motor out of a hair dryer and it will adjust spindle speed just fine. The only thing I don't know is the max RPM because, wouldn't you know it, the battery on my tach is dead.
I've got my new z-axis installed and operational. Now I just need to figure out how to mount things to it and get some bearings to build a needle cutter.

 

[Michael9865]

I am looking for any recommendations.
I am having good success cutting DTF, but when I try to cut a kit out of MPF something goes wrong.
When the X axis goes higher than 560mm possibly, it loses it and begins to cut parts in the wrong place.

The above sheet cut perfectly, everything in its proper place. The upper most cut line is 555.6mm from zero. The very next sheet it started cutting parts on top of each other. The upper most cut line is 582.3mm from zero. It actually cut it at 560mm, approximately.

Am I missing somewhere that a max X axis limit is? I have screenshots that I can upload to show how I have things setup. Not sure how to see the arduino settings, but I could YouTube a how to. (I had this same issue with the original arduino board that came with the MPCNC when I bought the kit. I went to hand cutting MPF planes as a work around. I thought maybe the problem was the old windows setup or Repetier that I controlled the Arduino with, apparently not.)


As background, I use SketchUp 20?? on a Windows 10 laptop to create the DXF files. Then I use Estlcam 11.221 to create the GRBL G-Code. I then use a Dell Optiplex running Linux Mint 19.3 and Universal Gcode Sender v 1.09 to send the file to an Arduino CNC Shield. Original build thread, https://forum.flitetest.com/index.php?threads/my-build-of-my-mpcnc-with-needle-cutter.27227/. Thank you for any constructive direction you can give me.

 

[dkj4linux]

I am looking for any recommendations.
I am having good success cutting DTF, but when I try to cut a kit out of MPF something goes wrong.
When the X axis goes higher than 560mm possibly, it loses it and begins to cut parts in the wrong place.
View attachment 165387
The above sheet cut perfectly, everything in its proper place. The upper most cut line is 555.6mm from zero. The very next sheet it started cutting parts on top of each other. The upper most cut line is 582.3mm from zero. It actually cut it at 560mm, approximately.

Am I missing somewhere that a max X axis limit is? I have screenshots that I can upload to show how I have things setup. Not sure how to see the arduino settings, but I could YouTube a how to. (I had this same issue with the original arduino board that came with the MPCNC when I bought the kit. I went to hand cutting MPF planes as a work around. I thought maybe the problem was the old windows setup or Repetier that I controlled the Arduino with, apparently not.)

View attachment 165388
As background, I use SketchUp 20?? on a Windows 10 laptop to create the DXF files. Then I use Estlcam 11.221 to create the GRBL G-Code. I then use a Dell Optiplex running Linux Mint 19.3 and Universal Gcode Sender v 1.09 to send the file to an Arduino CNC Shield. Original build thread, https://forum.flitetest.com/index.php?threads/my-build-of-my-mpcnc-with-needle-cutter.27227/. Thank you for any constructive direction you can give me.

Hey Michael! Hope this finds you well.

Since you're runnng Grbl, I'd do the "$$" thing from the console and check out the $20 and $21 values first... soft limit enable and hard limit enable, resp. Then check $130, $131, and $132 to see that they match your machine's extents for X/Y/Z, resp. Then I suppose you'd need to check for your machine extent settings in Estlcam... don't remember off the top of my head where it's set but I'm pretty sure it's there someplace. Get them all matched up across you whole workflow and hopefully things will start working for you.

Good to hear from you. Let me know how it goes. -- David