Newbie here doing some experiments with an XL version of SO3.
I wanted to cut some 10mm slots in the back of a oak sign. The sign is 64mm x 300mm and that is the size I entered in the set up. I set the grids to 5mm and counted to make sure I had 60 squares. Then I drew a 10mm line starting at 50mm in from each end. So, I have two 10mm slots on the same line with a 50mm space on each end. Depth is 5mm.
It looks fine on the canvas of Carbide Create and the simulation looks even also. I saved the GCode file to my thumb drive and used my laptop to load it into Carbide Motion. I air carved the work only to find it was offset 5mm to the right side of the sign. I tried again with the same results then finally I made an entirely new project, Same offset. Finally, in Carbide Create I shifted the two slots 1 grid square to the left and it works perfectly when loaded with Carbide Motion.
I have the same problem with a rectangle border. It looks great in the Create program but is offset vertically by about the same amount as the above problem.
Part of the setup in Carbide Create is deciding upon the origin for the project.
That will then be used as the zero point for the current machine zero — how are you setting that? Please describe the specific steps (post any files as well) describing each thing you’re doing, in tedious detail, what you expect to happen and what actually happens.
In the settings section I specify that the height is 64mm and the width is 300mm. The depth is 12.7mm. I also set the grid divisions to 5mm. I leave the depth measurement at the default top of the material and the origin (Red & white circle) at the lower left hand corner.
I then draw my 10mm slot at a spot 20mm, 4 grid spaces, down from the top and 50mm, 10 grid spaces, in from the edge of the rectangle. The second slot is on the same 20mm line and at the 240 - 250mm position. In other words 1 line from 50 to 60mm and the second line from 240 - 250 position on the grid.
I expected the first slot to be 50mm from the left edge of the sign and the second slot to be 50mm from the right edge of the sign. The first slot is about where it should be while the second one is offset 5mm and therefore 45mm from the right edge.
In the “design” section with one of the lines selected Create shows the X location at 55mm & 245mm while the Y location is 50mm. “Scale” shows 10mm long and a height of 0.000mm. Each element has 2 nodes–one on each end of the 10mm line. The X location indicated must be the midpoint of the element.
Perhaps it is a mistake to use the actual size of my object as a canvas document. Maybe I should be setting up something like 100mm x 350mm and then drawing a 64 x 300 rectangle to represent the sign dimensions.
It turns out that my measurement errors probably are the results of poor operator technique. I got serious about setting the zero point and found that I probably was introducing about 1.58mm errors because I was not compensating for the radius of the cutter when I set the zero. Now, I find the edge and move the cutter the exact radius of the cutter but before zeroing that axis. Previously, I was making items that would fall out of the main stock and it did not matter if the zero was perfect. When I tried to use precut wood pieces my carving would be skewed up and over. Also, when trying to cut a line using no offset you have to remember that the radius of the bit will extend the length on each end.
