Using Bottom of part for Zero

I am very confused. I am trying to use the Bottom of the part, or the waste board as my Z axis zero,

For example; my stock is 0.500" thick and I want to cut through to cut out the part. If I set the stock thickness to the Bottom and set it to 0.500 in the job set up screen how do I set up the tool path?

In Toolpath, when I select “Use Stock Bottom”, do I insert 0.5 as the start depth and 0.500 as the Max depth?

Hi @RickHutfloetz,

Think of it this way:

  • whether you select “stock top” or “stock bottom” in CC, only relates to where you will be physically zeroing (on the top of the stock, or on the bottom of the stock = wasteboard), not to how your toolpaths are designed.
  • independently of where you decide to zero, the toolpaths in CC are all relative to the top of your stock (assuming you keep a start depth of 0), so you need to set a start depth of 0 and a cut depth of 0.500 if you want to cut through 0.500.

what the “Use stock bottom” option does behind the scenes, is adding the thickness of your stock to all Z values in the file, such that you are back to the same situation you would have had if you had selected to zero on stock top…basically you don’t need to worry about that: just make sure that you zero where you told CC you would, and it will work.

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Thanks I will give it a try.

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