Easy way to move to a specific spot?

This has been brought up before (ie, Go to specific location using Carbide Motion? ) but I’d really like to see a way to input specific job coordinates. I’m working on something where I’m doing a bunch of work from the same zero position, but it will be batch work over a few weeks and I may in between want to do other jobs and lose my zero.

It’s easy enough to home, jog to zero, and jot down the coordinates but then returning to them requires finicky jogging. I know I can use MDI to send a move command but, really? I tried doing some trickery like telling CM that it was actually at say +300X when I wanted it to go to -300X, then telling it to go to zero hoping it would move -300 but no go, maybe I’m just tired and not seeing why that wouldn’t work.

On a related note how reliable are people finding this. Doing it by jogging back to the coordinated I’d used originally definitely left the second cut slightly off from the first. I didn’t notice the same issue when I did the jobs back to back, with the machine re-homing but then returning to the already set zero. Maybe I got lucky.

Kinda wish I could click an arbitrary spot on the rapid position tool also.

I think many people who have this need set it a jig up which uses one of the 9 rapid position locations instead of trying to hit a new location.

Another work around would be making a macro key that inputs ‘G1 X (Number) Y (Number) Z (Number) F888’ so you could hit M - macro - send and be done.

But none the less, it would be fun as a possibility.

3 Likes

That’s clever with the jig hadn’t thought of that. I’m working on fixturing for this project, tonight was a bust as I miscalculated and the spindle hit the X limit switch, lost position, and kept cutting. Walked away as I was frustrated but as I revisit the jig I could design it around a rapid point. Macro is a good second option for a workaround.