[AlisRuss]

My router now has a mind of its own. I had a board move causing the 6mm EM to drive into the wood and break. I lifted the router, removed the bit set it to "go to zero". It did not. I had set the bottom left corner as the zero axis. It went to the middle then moved all the way to the left. i tried to run two more projects and both times in the middle of the run the router moved to an area not even in the gcode.

I use mach 3 with a chinese 6040 router. Any sugestions? Should I reset the software or have I messed up my axis points. Should I re-calibrate my router? If so is there any videos or help text to show me how to do this properly?

It was a good year, learned a lot, made a lot, and now have messed up a lot!

 

[MEBCWD]

Does your CNC have limit/homing switches? If it does have you tried to rehome and if so what is it doing?

Just thought about this, check the stepper motor connectors to make sure the setscrews have not gotten loose and let the drive screws slip.

 

[AlisRuss]

Does your CNC have limit/homing switches? If it does have you tried to rehome and if so what is it doing?

Just thought about this, check the stepper motor connectors to make sure the setscrews have not gotten loose and let the drive screws slip.

It does not have homing switches. I have it sitting at the xy zero (bottom left corner) and the software (mach 3) says it is at x -181.1500 y -892.2906. My working area is only x 390 and y 600.

I have no idea where to go from here. I will check the set screws now. Ty

 

[AlisRuss]

It does not have homing switches. I have it sitting at the xy zero (bottom left corner) and the software (mach 3) says it is at x -181.1500 y -892.2906. My working area is only x 390 and y 600.

I have no idea where to go from here. I will check the set screws now. Ty

Everything is tight.

 

[difalkner]

Are you looking at machine coordinates or work piece coordinates? Can you just zero them?

 

[AlisRuss]

Are you looking at machine coordinates or work piece coordinates? Can you just zero them?

Machine coordinates. I did try to zero them out.

 

[MEBCWD]

It looks like you are probably exceeding the limits of your machine because if you are at y -892.2906 when all the way to the front of your machine travel, that is around 292.00mm over the working limit of your machine.

To help you figure out where to place your project, while you are at the far left front corner mark on your bed where the bit is on the X-axis(far left) is and where it is on the Y-axis(front). Then run the gantry to the far back right corner as far as it will go. Then mark on your bed where the bit is on the X-axis(far right) is and where it is on the Y-axis(back).

All projects to be cut need to fit inside those limits. Then make sure you always Zero XYZ at the origin you selected in the design software for your project(most people use the lower-left corner or the center of their project), the origin point is your choice.

 

[AlisRuss]

Placing my project is not he problem. When I make a project I usually start at the lower right corner or sometimes the center of the board depending on what it is. The problem is that after the bit jammed into the project I was working on and continued to try to travel, my numbers are all wrong. My y-axis is moving so far forward that is beyond the bed of the machine, and will not go back as far as it should. My x-axis stops at the right of the when it reaches the stop but on the left it physically stops when it runs out of room but keeps trying to move left.

That said I did reset the homing limits to be just a tad bit smaller than my work area. I ran an 18 minute plane job and all came out well. Then I tried to run a smaller plane job and though my starting x y was the lower right of the board it ran about 10-12 minutes and stopped at the top almost all the way left. (I took a video of this). Now then the spindle stopped but the program (I use mach 3) continued running like everything was fine. (I took a pic of the screen.) Then I raised the spindle and told the machine to go to zero and it moved to the right of the project and only forward an inch or so, when it should have moved up the whole " of the board.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Alison

 

[MEBCWD]

After you put the board on the bed did you center the bit over the origin point(lower-left corner of the center of the project) and zero the X-axis and Y-axis? If you don't do that then the CNC has no way of knowing where it is in relation to the designed cutting area. You need to zero on the origin of the project design.

 

[AlisRuss]

Yes of course. My boards are usually 3 runs ( 6mm EM then one or two runs with a 60 degree bit depending on the design) to get them done so I always start at a zero x y so I can go back to zero for the next bit change.

 

[MEBCWD]

If you are zeroing on the origin every time you start a project then you may be trying to take too deep of a cut and causing the CNC to lose steps.

Or, if you use the wrong post processor it could be a problem.

What design(CAD) software are you using and what CAM software are you using for your projects?

What size spindle do you have on your CNC?

 

[AlisRuss]

I use the Vectric Aspire to create the design and save the g-code which I open in Mach 3 to run.

 

[MEBCWD]

You are saving using the right post processor so the problem is probably trying to cut too deep or feeding too fast for your designed spindle speed.

What are the bit sizes, cut depths, feed rates, and spindle speeds for the file you are having problems with?

 

[AlisRuss]

The problem occured when my husband asked me to do a special item, domed with a design on it but running completely off the sides. Sooo, he put a double sided tape on 4 strips of wood and put the circle piece of wood on it. He assured me the double sided tape would work as he uses it on his lathe when turning wood. I determined it was too shallow for me to be running completely off the sides so I screwed two of the 4 slats to a larger waste board. This would give me more assurance that I would not run into the bed.

The 2 strips I screwed to the waste board of course stayed put, however the circle piece came loose from the double sided tape, the circle then became slanted and the 6mm em drove into it as it tried to continue on it's path. The em broke the cnc controller errored. I turned everything off, removed the project from the bed. Later I turned everything back on and tried to do another job and that's when I noticed the machine was now doing it's own thing. It stops in the middle of a job, when I try to get it to go to zero it goes somewhere else. I am at a loss.

 

[festus77]

Not sure if you've tried contacting the manufacturer, or not, but might be worth a shot.

good luck ...
festus

 

[MEBCWD]

I sent you a PM.

 

[MarkJonesRanger]

If you jam any of your axes x,y or z it will throw your axes off. You will have to reset them to zero position and run the program again.

 

[wyzarddoc]

You are saving using the right post processor so the problem is probably trying to cut too deep or feeding too fast for your designed spindle speed.

What are the bit sizes, cut depths, feed rates, and spindle speeds for the file you are having problems with?

I agree. Stepper motors on 60/40 machines have a tendency to miss steps if they hit a physical machine limit, are set to a speed too fast for the material or hit a hard spot in the material. Once you get the incorrect position in Mach3 the only way to correct it is to shutdown the machine and computer and restart ( be sure to move all axis to 0 and reset the zero) . Also check your soft limits in Mach 3 sometimes they interfere. Since your using Vectrics you might want to go to their website and have a look at how to program a post-processor. Or go to youTube and fine a tutorial. This will allow you to customize your machine software for your machine and how you like to work.