The first 1-7 subroutine is fine for setting Z assuming you have a touchplate but it does not accomodate other ways of setting Z like using an index card and not everyone will have a contact capability.
Good but not ideal for all situations. Moving the sled introduces potential for process misalignment. And dropping Z with a tool installed is going to break things. The UI will need user confirmation to proceed each step too. Though my M4 is not assembled yet maybe my thinking that we can keep the sled from shifting in the X and Y when trying to physically lock during toolchange is unrealistic anyway
The first 1-7 subroutine is fine for setting Z assuming you have a touchplate but it does not accomodate other ways of setting Z like using an index card and not everyone will have a contact capability.
There is no safe way to put an index card under the bit.
what you could do is manually set the zero by brushing the top of the workpiece
Good but not ideal for all situations. Moving the sled introduces potential for process misalignment. And dropping Z with a tool installed is going to break things. The UI will need user confirmation to proceed each step too. Though my M4 is not assembled yet maybe my thinking that we can keep the sled from shifting in the X and Y when trying to physically lock during toolchange is unrealistic anyway
true, but for some setups, it’s going to be far easier to change the bit that
way.
to the second method in dlang’s message I’m not sure what is meant by accessing the chuck under the sled and how that would actually work.
The Kobalt router has the button and chuck much further ‘down’ than the dewalt
router, so if you cut the sled appropriately, you can run Z all the way down and
get at the button and chuck from under the sled.
I’m looking for something like your 2nd option. Even with the Z all the way up, most of the bits I have are too long to come out between the router and the workpiece. I was thinking of cutting an addition piece to mount next to my spoilboard with a hole in it that would allow the bit to come out and use that as my Zero, but I’m not sure if that would work or if I can even jog the maslow beyond the 4x8 workpiece that I setup initially. Thoughts (other than buy shorter bits, which i will try to find in the future)…
@gazinux How do you get the files to line back up? I have a maple leaf that I want to engrave the veins on the inside of the drawing with a V groove bit and then use an up-cut bit to cut the part out of the sheet. I think I could split the drawing into two parts- vein engraving and up cut outside profile but how would I get them to line back up when I run the cut files?
I would import the drawing that shows the v-grove and cut out lines into my cam program (Estlecam) and set an origin in the software. then create the job for the v-groove and save the .nc file. do the same for the cut out and save that as a seperate .nc file. jog your tool to where you see your origin point on your workpiece and set your origin in the maslow software. if the origin is outside your part you can run the router and slowly jog z down to physically mark the workpeice (this is useful so you can always find your origin, say, if you want to do the cut out the next day). after you change your bit you should just need to reset the z zero after you change to that bit and lower it to the workpiece surface. then run the cut out file.
