BitZero V2 didn't go up

Software Carbide Motion
1

So, today I had my Pro5 do something odd (maybe). I’m doing a 911 address on a 4x4 post (3.5"x3.5" actual). Everything was moving along fine, clearing everything. It WAS pretty close (1/4"?) maxed out on the z axis but still seemed fine.

I started the probe. X and Y worked seemingly fine. Then…it didn’t “stepover”…didn’t lift up at all actually. Just rammed straight into the side of the inside of the circle of the BitZero. Which was pushing diagonally into the wood. I had the sense to smack the stop button.

I went on setting zero the “old fashioned way” and the project ran great.

Any thoughts on this? Honestly, the project is still running and I haven’t tried the bitzero again yet.

2

The big thing which one can get wrong when probing w/ a BitZero is setting the wrong version of unit.

The big things which can go wrong are:

  • groundlead coming loose/not fully in contact
  • lost steps resulting in a wrong position — that happening on retract (insufficient lubrication?) might result in what you describe
3

Hmm

  • I’ve used it many times already and always on the corner
  • the ground lead was for sure attached (interestingly I forgot to attached the ground lead the previous zeroing and it worked :man_shrugging:t3:)
  • lubrication seems fine (everything else is working great)

I will try it again with another piece just to see how it runs.

First, though, must attach my new shop nation dust chute to my Dewalt compound chop saw! Christmas came early this year :grin:

4

Christmas in July. My tool buying has really slowed down. I have plenty of tools I dont really use too much but some sales are hard to resist. I very seldom buy a tool at full price. Monday I have a 12x21 Inch lathe coming that I need like a hole in the head. But the price was originally about $700.00. The company was having a sale and something I did not know I even had was Shop and that gave me an additional discount and free shipping. The bottom line was $405.00.

Here is the difference between men and women on spending money. I went into a clothing store that was having a sale. I typically man shop and that means buying multiple sets of clothes to replace worn out ones. I got to the cash register and the clerk said you saved $200 odd dollars. I said I spent $300.00. The lady in line behind me piped up and said you saved $200.00. That in a nutshell is the difference between men and women. All I saw was what I spent and all the ladies saw was how much I saved. :smile:

2 Likes
5

So true! (I laughed out loud reading this). I have to admit my tool buying is upgrading from older tools to better tools. And I have a wife who supports this… actually, sometimes I’ve been jealous of the tools should would buy for a previous business she had. :rofl:

By the way… the shop nation dust chute works incredibly well!! Worth every penny.

6

Well…the BitZero is working on a 3/4" board. Is it possible that there is a z-axis limit on the height?

7

The only limits should be that the stock needs to be thicker than the lip for a corner (3-axis) probe and that the stock thickness not be so great that the machine will run out of Z-axis travel when lifting.

If you can post a series of photos and screen grabs which show this difficulty so that we can reproduce it we will do our best to look into it with you.