Automatic tool height

Technical Details
61

And the 0.5mm tolerance on my 500mm X 700mm laser cutter gives me absolute fits! :tired_face:

62

Still behind, but catching upā€¦

So youā€™re the reason I had to explain (many timesā€¦) that tramming your 3D printer bed had nothing to do with a spirit level, to a whole generation of Printrbot newbies? :roll_eyes:

1 Like
63

The basic question is the capacity of Maslow cnc router to do 3D. I would start with simpler consideration for wider usage.

  1. shape board that are narrow.
  2. water jet cutter
  3. arc plasma cutting
  4. wire edm
    These three are 2D routing like the plywood cutter.

The issue for that narrower board. which means the sled has nothing to move against. So how do we solve that problem. Suggestion is to put the sled on the top of the sled and place a surface to move against, piece of plywood. a parallel supporting surface holds the piece being cut., At worst the drive system will use one motor driving two sprockets on the same shaft, bearing needed. and thus two identical chains to the sled. Four chains is all.

Now if you didnā€™t want gravity to hold the sled against the surface then the sled could use vacuum clamping approach with omni directional ball rollers of the slide material use for furniture. The sled will be bigger to take the force from the cutter off its surface. Thus it is possible with sufficient vacuum to put the router and any angle off vertical since gravity is still needed to keep the chains tight.

This takes care of the thrust from water jet cutting and a pan below catches the water for the water jet or EDM.

For EDM two sleds moving together from the same drive and now four chains being driven by the motor. the supply wire reel is on one sled and the take up reel on the other sled.

3D would require a modification to the G code reader but since it would be like 3D printers raise up a level and then it is 2D for that level. I am sure the change is available. Thus table legs and carving could be done.

64

The basic question is the capacity of Maslow cnc router to do 3D. I would start with simpler consideration for wider usage.

  1. shape board that are narrow.

put scrap of the same thickness next to the workpiece

  1. water jet cutter

a very different machine, and very dangerous (a high-pressure water jet thatā€™s
shooting close to horizontally is a major hazard). see how this low-powered
waterjet cut a hole in the concrete floor two feet below the waterjet

  1. arc plasma cutting

not quite as bad as a waterjet

  1. wire edm

These three are 2D routing like the plywood cutter.

The issue for that narrower board. which means the sled has nothing to move
against. So how do we solve that problem. Suggestion is to put the sled on
the top of the sled and place a surface to move against, piece of plywood. a
parallel supporting surface holds the piece being cut., At worst the drive
system will use one motor driving two sprockets on the same shaft, bearing
needed. and thus two identical chains to the sled. Four chains is all.

Now if you didnā€™t want gravity to hold the sled against the surface then the
sled could use vacuum clamping approach with omni directional ball rollers of
the slide material use for furniture. The sled will be bigger to take the
force from the cutter off its surface. Thus it is possible with sufficient
vacuum to put the router and any angle off vertical since gravity is still
needed to keep the chains tight.

you would need to make a diagram of this, one of us isnā€™t understanding
something.

This takes care of the thrust from water jet cutting and a pan below catches
the water for the water jet or EDM.

For EDM two sleds moving together from the same drive and now four chains
being driven by the motor. the supply wire reel is on one sled and the take
up reel on the other sled.

3D would require a modification to the G code reader but since it would be
like 3D printers raise up a level and then it is 2D for that level. I am sure
the change is available. Thus table legs and carving could be done.

the maslow already does 3D, no g-code changes needed

David Lang

65

Is this still turned off in the most recent firmware?

66

Did you try it recently?

There are two components to the function:
a) GroundControl Z axis popup window provides a TouchZero Button that triggers a GCode message to the Arduino Firmware. That looks like it is available and defined here
b) A firmware function that responds to that GCode and automates the Z axis move and contact detection sequence here.

67

Hi @c0depr1sm, I have not tried it recently. I am way behind on my firmware and GC version. Iā€™ll have to look to see how far behind. I am hoping this weekend will provide me some more time to play with my Maslow and start actually cutting useful items.

Thanks for looking into it. I did do a search of the forum, but didnā€™t see anyone mentioning using the soft keys for auto zero since @blurfl comment that I quoted above. Hopefully Iā€™ll be able to report back soon.

68

I recently upgraded my groundcontrol, and was very pleased to see it not grey any more, it works perfectly, thanks to whoever added this. I should edit the wiki to remove the part about the macro when i find the time.

3 Likes
69

thanks @Dag83! That is great news. That frees up a macro slot for meā€¦ once I update my software and firmware.