Hello everyone. I’ve had the XXL for about 18 months or so and have literally made hundreds of projects with it. I’m using Vectric VCarve Pro software and really love it. The problem I’m having is this; when doing a v-carve toolpath (with a total of 4 different cutters), after doing the clearing cut (.250 end mill), the finishing cuts (.125 & .062 endmills) sometimes wind up 4-6 thousands deeper than the clearing cut. This is very frustrating. I’ve contacted Vectric and sent them files several times and they can find nothing wrong with the toolpaths. I’ve checked everything on the CNC, tightened belts, etc., and can find nothing wrong. Has anyone else experienced this? Thanks!
Have you measured the actual the bits to make sure the angle and cutting length are what you expect? Primarily the angle…
Also how are you zeroing out between tool changes
Yes I have and I’m using a touch plate for the Z axis. It’s been driving me crazy for some time now. I’ve learned to “sneak up” on the toolpaths with the smaller bits but it’s a pain.
Is it consistent or do you think it’s something like accidentally moving the z-stage a few steps while changing bits? Otherwise a few thousands off on a belt driven machine doesn’t sound terrible - there were a few good threads recently about accuracy and precision that would be more authoritative.
Thanks very much for the comments. I’ve tried to be as accurate as I can. I use the same point on the touch plate and touch off in the same location. I only use the touch plate now for the Z axis. I use the center of my workpiece as a starting point. I found it’s much faster than using the touchplate on the workpiece corner.
Are you using Carbide Motion?
I am not. I found the program didn’t have the features I wanted so I’m using Vectric V Carve Pro
What do you use to send gcode and do your probing?
I’m using universal g code and a Triquetra touch plate.
Try slowing down your probe routine. Probe a few times, slower.
My belt driven z is very accurate in depth.
I have re-cut paths to achieve different results and the repeatability of the belt drive is very precise.
Might even venture to use the word “exact”.
Even after power off and re-homing.
The beauty of a direct belt drive such as this is the lack of power transfer to different mechanisms resulting in near perfect repeatability.
3 Likes
This topic was automatically closed 30 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.