So I have started using fusion with some brass parts I’m making because of the ramping function and and ability to control the CAM better. One thing I’ve run into which seems to be a know thing is the Z zero position never seems to match. I’ve been going over and over it. I did a search here but all the Carbide3d links seem broken.
The part is a simple rectangle with radius corners and tabs but the z always starts much higher than what I set as zero.
Things I’ve checked:
Model and CAM are both in mm.
There are no offsets for the top and bottom of the material in fusion 360
Origin is set the same in setup, and CAM.
Not sure what else to do. I know other make this work.
Do the Fusion 360 simulation and the Carbide Motion actual seem the same? I simulated the job in Camotics and it appears that the bit ramps down from start but doesn’t cut any material until it’s diagonally across the stock from the starting point. Is that expected?
Yes, that moved, and apparently never got a re-direct. We’ve only ever had the one official article.
No huhu about being upset — this stuff can be maddeningly infuriatingly opaque at times — sometimes I think the only reason I stick with it is 'cause it’s good for helping me to improve my self-control.
I have been having similar problem. I am using Solidworks with HSMWorks. In the simulation in the CAM program it all looks good, but when I tried to run it using Carbide Motion on the Shapeoko XXL it went WAY down than it was supposed to. I checked the units, checked the thickness of the stock, the job 0, … Found nothing so far.
The piece I am trying to machine is 2.33" thick, and I need to machine it all through the thickness. I was wondering if it could be that the Shapeoko is trying to retract to +Z but is stumbling on itself, so it looses steps or something?
Thanks Will. You know how it goes when you spend all this time making sure you set things up correctly and make sure everything is just right and something as simple as a Z home will mess you up.
If the Z retracts upwards and makes contact it’s possible for it to lose steps then dive through your work. I ruined a nice thick piece of wood that way. One remedy is to lower your retract height, the other is to raise your router higher in its mount.