Today I was trying to make my first cuts with the Shapeoko 5. I had some successful ones, but on two jobs, the Z-axis went below the stock bottom into the waste board (see attached picture). The first time I was doing my first cut with Fusion 360, and as the software is quite complex, I though I made a mistake somewhere in the settings. But the second time, I was using Carbide Create and doing a simple contour cut with the max depth set as the stock bottom. I checked again my file and the stock thickness and the cutting depth are both correct. So I guess that the problem is more with the Z-axis than with my G-code.
On carbide create, the zero height is set to the top of the stock thickness and the tool path zero to the lower left. On Carbide motion, I then did the probe with the BitZero v2 on the lower left of the stock. I then insert the 201 endmill and used the BitSetter before starting the job. I followed the same process on my previous cut and it was fine.
What do you mean by "Did you configure for the correct Z-axis? " ?
Happy to send my Carbide create file if that helps. Thanks!!
Did you position the BitZero at the corner and probe all 3 axes? See:
You would be 3mm too low if you position it at a corner and probe for Z only.
How accurate was the measurement of your stock?
If you instead set the origin at the surface of the MDF and jog up by the stock thickness as specified in Carbide Create and then set zero there, where is that in relation to the top of the stock?
I use the bottom of stock for almost all my projects. I replaced my spoilboard in Oct 22 and it is almost pristine. The spoilboard is meant to get scarred up but it is a pain to machine and replace the spoilboard so by using the bottom of the stock my spoilboard is in very good shape.
The only issue with using the bottom of the material with the BitZero is you must measure twice. So what I mean is if you want to use the lower left corner just do an X Y and Z and then move the router off the material to a blank spot on the spoilboard and do a Z only probe. It is more steps but works great. Additionally I use the center more than the lower left corner.
The other issue with using the bottom of material is you can use the jog rapid positions to move to the X and Y to check it but if you do a Z+6mm you need to be off the material or you will crash into the surface of your material.
I did position the BitZero at the corner and probe all the 3 axes. My stock is a 22mm mdf sheet. I checked and the thickness is very accurate.
I’ve made around 20 other cuts since the other day. I’ve made sure to follow the instruction in the link you sent me and it is working fine. Thank you. The only issue I have now is that when I select the stock bottom for a cut, it doesn’t fully cut through everywhere. I have up to 1-2mm left over in some areas. I guess I will have to flatten the wasteboard to solve this issue.
Thanks, I will try this way for my next cut. I don’t mind the extra step if it is more accurate. When you changed your spoilboard, how did you process to flatten it? I bought the McFly cutter and I was wondering what was the best practice to do it.
Also, thank you for the tip regarding moving to rapid positions with the Z+6 mm. I am often using this function now and this could have definitely happened to me!
To make a spoilboard for an SO3, or any other machine, I created a document. In the doc I explain how to flatten your spoilboard. The principal is the same for an SO3 with supplemental spoilboard or the hybrid table with slats.
Basically I zero on top of the spoilboard. I make pencil marks all over the spoilboard. I then make rectangle that the largest cutting area you can. On the hybrid tables you will get a lip around the sides and the back. On my SO3 I talk about how to optimize the supplemental spoilboard so I can go over the edges and not have a lip. The hybrid tables it is unavoidable due to the nature of it. The only issue with the lip is if you are going to tile out the back of the machine it can cause your project to not sit flat. You could take the slats out with the lips and run them through a planner to get them even with what you already surfaced.
When I flatten my spoilboard I just take off 0.010" at a time until all the pencil marks are gone. If one pass does not do it I simply start the job again. I disable my BitSetter because my Whiteside 6210 bit has a hole in the middle of it so the BitSetter is incompatible with it. If you go into configuration and uncheck the BitSetter power cycle the machine. The unchecking messes with the internal coordinates and I always get an air job after unchecking the BitSetter and not power cycling.
Took a peek, and if my casual observations are correct, on the SO5 the spindle can reach (to surface) everywhere on the wasteboard except the rear 1/2” or so along the back of the machine. Seems like a 1” bit should hit the entire wasteboard area unless I’m missing something.
