I just wanted your thoughts on this. What if we could take a piece of tinfoil and put it between the waste board and your stock. Now when we start cutting and reach the tinfoil, we know we are at the end of the stock. we could eliminate our existing Z probe and use this method for measuring end of stock. It also would save the waste board by not going through the foil. I have no idea on how to make something like this or if this is feasible. It was just a thought to see what you guys think of this idea.
John, for me Z depth is not all that difficult to handle.
I agree your “tinfoil” method could be a solution, but I don’t think its as practical as the current methods.
The main reason is there is no reliable connection between the end of the bit and electrical ground. The best connection is used by the current method, but for your solution that connection is spinning very quickly. 
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I had a similar idea when I first started using my machine. After looking into it I realized C3D had thought of most things I run into and most workarounds stem from my lack of understanding of the procedures.
Z-probe is just for the Z-offset that arises from tool changes. Defining the Z-zero as bottom will save the waste board as properly defined tool paths will not go lower than this. If you have trust issues you can use the “Plunge to one inch above zero” macro and check it with a 1-2-3 block.
The depth of cut is set in the tool path. When using the BitZero/BitSetter the last cut may be less than the depth of cut. So if you use some other method you have to have your hand ready and waiting to pause to keep from cutting through on the last pass you want to make. Plus you must hyper vigilant or you will continue to cut through to the spoilboard.
The best method is accurate measurement of your material. I use bottom of material for all through cuts. I primary use painters tape and super glue and I seldom cut through the material. The reason for accurate measurement of stock is when using bottom of material the first cut can cut too deeply if you are not accurate in stock measurement. If you already have a BitZero and/or BitSetter why not use them. They have always been very useful to me.
During configuration picking the wrong Z is a problem for many people. If you have a Z-Plus but pick the HDZ all your cuts will be shallow. The reason is the HDZ has smaller steps than a Z-Plus. Conversely if you have an HDZ and pick Z-Plus all your cuts will be deeper than requested. So make sure which Z you have and go back through configuration and make sure you picked the correct Z. The Z-Plus has less steps per mm over the HDZ so your Z zero will always be off.
Thanks guys for taking the time
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