I was far left, maybe left of sled about inch aware from the edge of plywood . The actual cut out is 9 inches in from the edge, and 24 up. So center, about 9 inches into the board. Is that too close to edge? I have the 12 foot metal maslow rail up top. It was moving around counter clockwise. I thought I set the rate to something I found on forum, but now I am not sure. It was a while ago I setup the Estlcam settings. Do you recall what the feedrate should be? I am using the bits from makermade. I stopped that cut when it looks like it tried to cut another part in the same place, and when setting home back to centerā¦she moved with the bit buried in the wood. Did not retract back to safe travel height which is odd. Looks like this now, I assume I have to set the Z axis again to zero, no way to retract except manually now (which you all said once you do, you have to reset correct)
Starting to wonder if best I use another program to generate the code meant for Maslow, until I get the Estlcam under control? Is there one that is more for beginners? I thought I was good, but this is new to me, and maybe it is me me not understanding Estlcam settings?
I have a 10 foot beam and I can cut within a foot of the edges. A 12 foot beam should be able to cut where you are. It looks like all your cuts end with a return to z of 0 with the g0 commands. I would expect those to be some safe travel height and not zero. Feed rate of F762 is pretty high but should be ok depending on what you are cutting. Z is stepping -3.175, -6.35, -9.525, -12.7, -15.875, -19.05, -20.32 and the plunge rate is only 178? I have the z axis plunge at 800. You are at 1/8inch cut depth for a 1/4inch bit as is recommended. Your feed rate should be ok for the depth, but you are using a downcut, so the sled may be climbing if your bit is spinning to fast, now dull and not moving chips as it should. Is the sled catching on anything? Sharp edges, rough surface? Is the sled lifting at all? As far as estlcam goes, you need to set up the tool, the post processor and it should just work. Ill look at my settings again.
On my first cut with the down spiral, I ran it too high of spindle speed, burned the tip and it is now purple and dullā¦ Donāt do that.
Thank so you so much Orob! If you have those setting, please send them over and I will make sure matches. The settings you are referring to, those would be in the Gcode from estlcam right not in Webcontrol? I think so, the only thing I did was change the step of the Z axis to 24, then made it negative like the 3.17 (I had to change that with the slower motor too). No edges or anything to speak of. I did think it was cutting sort of quick based on videos I saw, it was not me doing that on purpose. I rather slow it down to be honest, I am in no rush. See I think my settings in Estlcam may be all out of whack now as I upgraded to that 10x faster Z axis motor from Metal Maslow, and incorporate what sounds like bad settings for the rest of the cut, and I set that part up for disaster. Thanks so much, and let me see if I can figure out the above by looking in the settings in Estlcam, then I can try to change and see what happens. As far as that safe travel height, I wonder if that got messed up when I moved from ground control to Webcontrol. I thought I set that a while backā¦
I wonder if I do have too high, 17,500 RPMsā¦I turned it up last night doing the Holey test, and I think that was foolish of me. Is there a set speed for the Rigid that should be used, I forgot what that was from last year. Going to set it, and then change the feedrate back down to match those RPMs until she doesnāt get caught up or drag. Is that a good idea?
Yeah Orob, you know I got a new computer and Estlcam was converted over along with everything else. I had a bad drive. Wonder if I changed the settings back to āmaybeā what I used pre-testing Maslow to be honest with you. Lesson learned, that Gcode will change the feedrate, plunge, all that, so I need to really set those correctly. I also wonder if changed to a default when I just flipped the output to GRBL? Either way, if you have the settings you used for the different options in Eslcam, and the tool setup, that would be HUGE!! I will mirror those, and see if things get better for me 
Appreciate anything you can offer!!
My speed control is as slow as it goes.
So dial that router right back down to very low. gotcha! thank you, yeah mine is not jacked all the way, but geeze darn close.
I am going to check that bit now just to make sure I did not burn it out!
Hey Orob, I am trying to play with the settings. The numbers you provided, the F762 feed (which I have and is too fast), and Z axis plunge of 800, is that inches per minute?
no, that is in mm/min
thank you, that is what I thought. Mine is set to inches/min, so let me change it (as you can), then will try your numbers. Do you know what a good feedrate would be at mm/min?
Iām running an 1/8" bit and this is what I have in the 1/8" tool setting in estlcam
setup ā basic settings:
setup-> program settings (postprocessor)
tool set:
awesome thank you so much!! I have the 1/4 inch bits that I bought with the maker made kit. I also bought others from them to have extra. Would you recommend 1/8 bits and if so do you know of a good site to get them from? I did not see any (at least last year ) that had 1/8ās. Let me re-ask this, what brand is a good oneā¦looks like your tool name is Amazon 1/8, so I think know where you got them from Also my Fire HD 8 tab came in today, AWESOME to keep that by my side while checking the router. Good call, thank you!
I bought a collet adapter set (8) and a set of 10 1/8" bits off of amazon. The collets were a few dollars and the bits were $12 I think. Great set to learn on and toss when you do something stupid. After burning the nicer makermade one out, I decided to test and play on the cheap ones and Iām still using them. They have been great. Just make sure your collet adapter is in tight so you donāt drop your bit mid cutā¦ i heard. Your feeds and speeds for 1/8 are different than for then 1/4 inch. Iām doing tighter radius cutouts, so I like the 1/8" curf over the 1/4. Iām sharing what works for me, but keep in mind that my experience is limited in this respect, so I would recommend reading otherās adviceā¦ and I donāt cut 1/2 the depth of the 1/8" bit. I run it 2-3 mm per pass. I donāt have all day to wait for it. it burns through bits faster, feeds a little slower and requires a little more cleanup on the cut depending on if it is ply or mdf being cut.
Thanks Orob! I know what I will be ordering after I update my settings to yours. Just so I understand the mechanics of it, 1/4 compared to 1/8, should the settings be dialed back a touch for 1/4 inch or can be a little higher as bit can handle more cut width? I will mirror your settings for now as I have not been able to find any other Estlcam resources to follow to get myself at least goingā¦then when the 1/8ās come in, the settings will be all set. But if I need to increase or decrease temporarily while using the 1/4 inch, will do so and why asking about the mechanics. Honestly once these bits come in, will stick with them (1/8ās) so your setup will be the permanent one. I plan on cutting some detailed things in my arcade side panels, so the thought of having less curve to have to overcut on the inside ones, big fan! I added 1/16th deep pockets for the mounting strips so can tie in panels from the inside of machine, so less to overcut with smaller bitā¦at least I think
I donāt have a good answer for you. I have found the 1/8" settings that work. If you cut too fast, the cutting gets loud and the sled can sound like it is surging as it cuts. that is too fast. You will need to experiment. You set up the different tools and select which one you use in your drawing. I usually put in random tabs at 2 mm height and 10 mm long and cut them out with an oscilatting tool. I just added my tool window to the picture post above so you can see some of the settings for the 1/4" and the v bit and the 1/8" that I use. the v bit is the one that comes with the standard router bit kit from home depot.
this is great, thank you! Yes I see the 1/4 inch bit on there now. I will try that for now until I order the 1/8s, then set the rest to your setup. I have done a lot of hand routing, so I think understand what you are referring to. I need to find that sweet spot of speed and rpm. Which I will try to dial in if need be after I at least get a good base (thanks to you!). If I wanted to, could you used bits from like a HD kit? I have tons of bits which I used by hand, or some for cabinet doors. Will maslow handle the larger bits as long as I slow down the feed enough, and maybe turn up the RPMs a touch? I would love to maybe make some cabinet door insides on Maslow, I never thought of doing that.