I setup up machine and tried to connect to cutter using Carbide Motion v4 and checked that GRBL was updated based on what I have read. When I load the program it opens and connects, but settings section x and y change when I select XXL but doesn’t allow me to click configure data. I don’t know if that’s the way it’s supposed to be or not. Then if I move into the homing cycle it lifted to z-axis to connect to limit switch but made an awful noise and error couldn’t find limit switch. If we do it and manually touch the limit it will say it jumped off. The closed belt broke while this was happening, unfortunately. New one on order now. I know I need to download VCarve Pro and run bootcamp as I have a mac. I was just hoping to test out using the hello world download and see it work. The labels on the yellow/black wires seem to be mislabelled as well. If I touch the limit on z-axis it would light up on the x on control board and vice vs. Y was fine.
Any thoughts? Tips?
For configuration see:
We will replace the broken belt under warranty — just drop us a line at support@carbide3d.com
If we mis-labeled the homing switch wires, our apologies — please re-arrange the wires so that the proper light lights up when the homing switch is closed — see: https://docs.carbide3d.com/software-faq/home-switch-troubleshooting/
It’s best to work on one thing and one aspect of the machine at a time so as to keep things manageable.
Let’s start by getting your homing switches working as described in the docs.
“I know I need to download” is an interesting phrase here… having a Mac doesn’t mean you need to use vcarve (though if you were, bootcamp would be the way to do it). There are lots of options for design on the Mac, not just VCarve.
I use VCarve Pro on a Mac and I use Parallel instead of Bootcamp, it is a better solution for PC emulation, I checked the different offerings and Parallel was rated best by several sources. No matter what solution you go with, you will also need to purchase a copy of Windows10 (full version). The beauty of Parallel is that Windows runs truly in parallel and you can switch between Mac and PC applications seamlessly (like you do for Mac apps) and you also have access to all files PC or Mac. If you double click on a PC file, Parallel will be loaded then Windows followed by the PC app e.g.: Vcarve and the file you chose will open.
Thanks for the quick response. I have checked on all limit switches and they look like they are installed correctly. Here are some pictures to show if you can let me know if this is right? I will have to wait for the 520 2GT belt to test the other I am assuming, correct? No need to apologize at all. Thankful for everyone’s support to help me get up and running. I’m excited and have a lot of orders in cue.
It may be just an odd angled photo, but in the very last picture it looks like your X belt is routed completely wrong. It’s like it’s routed over the bottom roller instead of under it. Again, it may just be a funny photo, if so disregard.
Dan
I am open to suggestions if I don’t have to run bootcamp or parallels. Let me know if you have some info. TIA
My Mac is only 250GB. I heard it takes up almost that in space to run both systems?
Well you need enough room on the disk for the Windows OS and Parallel on your disk drive, is your disk full? If you are running out of disk space, you can also keep you files on an external USB drive; you can get a 1TB drive for less than $100. You will need the room on your disk for Windows even if you have Bootcamp. You also need a minimum of 4GB of RAM. Important differences are that under bootcamp you need to create a separate partition for Windows and restart your Mac to boot using the other OS so going from Mac to PC app is not seamless and it is time consuming; no switching between apps seamlessly.
You can read the requirements in the User Manual here: https://download.parallels.com/desktop/v14/docs/en_US/Parallels%20Desktop%20User’s%20Guide.pdf
You could also contact Parallel to ensure your system meets the requirements.
You were absolutely right! Thanks for the catch!
Another quick check you could do is to check that the when the Z-Axis moves to the top that the limit switch is actually getting pushed in. If it’s working when you push the limit switch manually but not during homing it may not be aligned right and getting pushed in far enough.
Carbide Create is great for learning your way around the machine. it’s great for the simpler jobs, quick and easy to use and the Carbide3D guys are updating it all the time. Though it’s a great piece of software, it does have its limitations. For me I found them around the efficiency of toolpaths, the ‘ease’ of getting the drawing to look the way you want. The V-carving is good but not nearly as polished as Vcarve.
If you’re doing ‘arty’ work (like signs, cake toppers etc) then in my opinion you can’t beat Vectric software (I use Aspire) for V-carving and image tracing it’s just so easy. Vcarve Desktop is a great place to start. - it’s pricy and only runs on windows, but I reckon it’s worth it - it’s also quite simple to use and has a lot of powerful features
If you’re making more mechanical-type parts then Fusion360 is a good free(for startups making less than $100k a year) and runs natively on Mac. It’s a bit of a steeper learning curve but there are awesome tutorials out there on youtube that will get you up to speed.
My biggest focus will be on cutting words in script separately or built in to a sign. As well as circular signs which is fairly basic.
Carbide Create should be able to do that well, see:
Script fonts usually work with Booleans — if they don’t offset them as needed and then perform the Boolean operation.
William…I have adjusted belts and added photos in thread of the switches can you take a look and make sure it looks good to you? If so, what will be my next steps. I need to wait on belt more than likely before I can do the homing test?
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