My machine is a PRO XL. My question is how do I set Z-Zero on a IDC Surfacing Endmill? The problem is that the Endmill cutters are on the outside edges of the bit, therefore touch the material before the center of the bit. Since the Bitsetter zero is based on the center of the bit, the cutters will already be about .035” into the material. I know that because the bit jammed itself into the material and brought my router to a noisy smoking stop.
I see two possible solutions. The first is to somehow offset the bit so that a cutter is the first to touch the Bitsetter. The second is to disable the Bitsetter.
Anyone have a solution for me?
1 Like
The official recommendation is to disable the BitSetter, I further advocate for: quit Carbide Motion, relaunch, reconnect, reinitialize (and repeating that when re-enabling it)
Or, use a surfacing tool which has structure in the center to hit the button such as our McFly:
Note that we have an 8mm version for folks w/ VFDs:
and be sure to grab the matching collet:
(and while you’re at it, consider: "El Ocho" 8mm Cutters - Carbide 3D )
1 Like
Many surfacing bits have a hole in the center which making the BitSetter impossible to use as is. I have a Whiteside surfacing bit with the hole in the middle. As @WillAdams suggested I disable the BitSetter and use the paper method to set Z.
Some others have suggested making a disk to set on top of the BitSetter with a specific thickness and after setting Z offset the Z by the height of the disk. The paper method is easiest.
I resurfaced my 4XL spoilboard the other day. I removed the bitsetter, disabled it in settings and used the paper method to set Z. In the toolpath settings I set my max depth to 1mm and depth per pass at .25mm. That way when I saw that the imperfections in the spoilboard were gone I could stop the job.
Thank you, but at what point in that procedure do I disable the bit setter?
Start Carbide Motion and Connect to machine. Then go to settings and disable the bitsetter. Once you have it physically removed from the machine you can initialize and set your zeros one by one manually. Then load and run your file.
Have a look at this video and it will all be crystal clear.
1 Like
First/last:
and as noted, repeat that when re-enabling:
re-enable, quit, relaunch, reconnect, reinitialize
Maybe not necessary, but I prefer that the machine is always in a known state which is one which is typical for normal usage.
2 Likes
You can attach a larger surface to the top of the BitSetter, and leave it there for all bits. Since the BitSetter is about relative offsets, the thickness of the new surface doesn’t matter.
I had some leftover 1" wide, 1/8" thick Al bar stock. I cut off a 1" square, and glued that to the top of the BitSetter. I used LockTite as the ‘glue’ since it has relatively low viscosity, so it’s easy to press the new top flat onto the top of the BitSetter.
1 Like
A quick and dirty solution I use is to put a thin washer on the Bitsetter button that is large enough to handle the cutter diameter. Since there are no other cutters in use when surfacing, this works and I don’t have to disable the Bitsetter in CM…
In a pinch, I have also used a putty knife.