New to CNC and having trouble with Carbide Motion with SO3

Router is not reaching the stock I’m trying to cut. Router stays approximately 3/8" above the stock thats sitting on the waste board. Stock is 1/4" thick.
Pulleys and Belts are tight. I cleared all my zeros and machine was Homed.
I can Jog the router manually and then it touches the stock, starting at bottom left corner, but will not reach the the stock when I start cutting the job.

Any suggestions out there
Thank you

Are you using carbide create?

I have the same problem sometimes if I’m almost touching it doesn’t cut until it runs a bit. I have had to just pretty much have the bit sit on the material, but I’m new to CNC

Yes, watch the training videos

1 Like

Presuming you’re using Carbide Create, do you have the stock thickness defined properly and all your toolpath depths are correct? And you set your job zero properly?

If the above is OK there’s a Z-belt issue or you’re horribly out of calibration.

Since I’m new to CNC I think you might be right on the calibration part b/c I did everything else according to the tutorials. I will eventually figure this out.
thank you

Winston Moy just posted up a great calibration/adjustment video… go have a watch:

1 Like

Yes, I’ve seen that video. It is a very good thing to do.
It looks like I may have to do the same, if all else fails.
Thank you

I didn’t think i will have to calibrate this machine as its brand new
Will see

If your machine is 3/8 off the part, it is NOT a calibration problem, is is most definitely a operator error. I HOPE you have watched some of the training videos to see where your error is.

PS A common newbie error: Incorrectly setting your X,Y and Z 0 positions. The Program 0 (X0, Y0 and Z0) and the setup 0 (X0, Y0 and Z0), needs to be EXACTLY the same.

1 Like

Is your CAM programmed to zero at bottom of stock but you are setting zero at top of the stock?

1 Like