I have recently received my Shapeoko Pro, and I saw a video where a maker had engraved a grid on his spoiler boards. I see that the specifications for my bed were 33 x 33 inches, so I created a grid in carbide create with 1 inch spacing , using a 90 degree v-bit and no offset, going down slightly less than a mm. My question is what is the best way to make sure I engrave the actually cutting dimensions of the bed? I’m not exactly how to set my true zero to the true zero (x,y) of the machine. Since I only get one chance without messing up the spoiler boards and then having to flip and/or resurface, I was hoping someone could help.
You can find the max movement values in the Debug tab of the Settings in CM. Once initialized, set your project zero to the max front/left.
I usually leave a buffer of 1mm around when doing things that max out the gantry movement.
Ensure that your project file does not exceed the motion limits of the machine. I for one have adjusted the X/Y max settings of my SPROXXL to within 1mm of the hard physical stops of the machine.
You can do an air-pass of the project file before committing to ruining your waste board to ensure it works & doesn’t lose steps hitting the physical limits of the machine.
My recommendation for this sort of thing is to start out by mapping the Rapid Position points and then to draw out the balance of the structure in relation to them: