So this is blowing my mind. I am currently trying to do a wooden inlay and am working on the plug. My first try this morning my bit went way too deep into my stock, I have a start depth of .175 and max depth of .20. and the bit went .375 deep… So I tried into a scrap piece of pine and it worked perfectly as expected. So I tried again (with the same exact file only difference is the size of the stock I changed) and it went even DEEPER into my stock. So I once again tried the same file into a scrap piece of pine (again I changed the stock size in the file) and what do you know it work as expected. WHY?? The only thing I can think of is my final piece of stock is too small for my CNC to read, which makes no sense but I have no idea why my practice pieces work, but my final pieces get ruined. I attached both my practice and final plug files so you see what I’m talking about. Dye plug Final.c2d (90.9 KB)
I can’t look at the files right this moment but 99% of the time this kind of issue is one of two things:
Incorrect Z zero point when setting up the job on your machine or in the software.
Mechanical issue with the Z axis.
From your description I am leaning toward the first one. What type of Z axis do you have? Belt drive or Z-Plus? I can look at the files when I get home.
I have a z-plus, I updated it and double checked that it I have Z-plus chosen in carbide motion… I don’t think it’s a mechanical issue because I just did the pocket cutouts and plugs for a different project a couple days ago and it worked fine. And also my practice pieces cutout fine, it’s only when I cut my final stock it goes too deep
The stock for my final piece is .48 thick and retract height is .075… But so I did another final piece just now, with a bigger stock (still about a half inch thick) just wider like I did for my practice pieces and it worked fine. So for whatever reason, if my stock was too small my router went too deep? Makes zero sense.
After you changed the stock thickness did you resave the gcode. The gcode takes into consideration the stock thickness when you save so if you change the settings you have to resave toolpaths.
Could your bit be slipping down in the collet during the milling operation? The bit should not bottom out in the collet when it is installed. As I understand it, there should be a small gap (~1/8") to prevent loosening due to thermal expansion. I didn’t experience this issue or learn about bit installation until I started milling plastic.
If you have a bitsetter, you must use the bitsetter workflow. You have to use the new tool button because the machine keeps track of the differences between tool lengths and adjust the Z zero point to compensate.