# Initial set up and calibration **URL:** \ **Category:** Troubleshooting\ **Tags:** calibration, z-axis\ **Created:** [April 3, 2026, 4:24pm UTC](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/t/initial-set-up-and-calibration/25676 "2026-04-03T16:24:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bones](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/forums.maslowcnc.com/bones/32/31023_2.png) [@Bones](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/u/Bones)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2026, 3:03pm UTC](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/t/initial-set-up-and-calibration/25676/21 "2026-05-03T15:03:27Z")
How important is the squareness of anchor points? Mine are within 1/4 inch corner to corner. Do I need to get them closer? ---
**Author:** ![wouldchuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/58956e/32.png) [@wouldchuck](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/u/wouldchuck)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2026, 3:25pm UTC](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/t/initial-set-up-and-calibration/25676/22 "2026-05-03T15:25:22Z")
Anchor points don’t need to be accurate much at all. Just solid so they don’t flex or move. mine have been inches off from a rectangle. No problem. ---
**Author:** ![dlang](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/forums.maslowcnc.com/dlang/32/859_2.png) [@dlang](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/u/dlang)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2026, 3:34pm UTC](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/t/initial-set-up-and-calibration/25676/23 "2026-05-03T15:34:33Z")
Bones wrote: > How important is the squareness of anchor points? Mine are within 1/4 inch > corner to corner. Do I need to get them closer? I think if they are more than a foot or two out of position it can make the math harder. David Lang ---
**Author:** ![Bones](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/forums.maslowcnc.com/bones/32/31023_2.png) [@Bones](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/u/Bones)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2026, 4:42pm UTC](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/t/initial-set-up-and-calibration/25676/24 "2026-05-03T16:42:49Z")
Just ran a find anchors first 5 waypoints gave me numbers in the mid 40s, 6-14 gave me numbers in the mid 20s and failed with final being .2476913. ---
**Author:** ![Bones](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/forums.maslowcnc.com/bones/32/31023_2.png) [@Bones](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/u/Bones)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2026, 11:11pm UTC](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/t/initial-set-up-and-calibration/25676/25 "2026-05-03T23:11:15Z")
I shut it down, ran the set up and still cant get a pass. [Maslow-serial.log](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/uploads/short-url/2GpMRxxN32Tf00yvrHvmrr026eZ.log) (154.0 KB) please advise. ---
**Author:** ![Bones](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/forums.maslowcnc.com/bones/32/31023_2.png) [@Bones](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/u/Bones)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2026, 11:57pm UTC](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/t/initial-set-up-and-calibration/25676/26 "2026-05-03T23:57:08Z")
Ran it one more time and the numbers look even worse. [Maslow-serial (1).log](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/uploads/short-url/vPGRJOuT2c5ob1KWMS2FEGlZRgO.log) (30.8 KB) What on earth am I doing wrong? Frame is rock solid. I’ve torn down and reassembled this thing so many times I could do an instructional video. Corners are within 1/4 inch. Retraction is 725. Z is all the way down and set to zero. I just don’t get it. I have run find anchors so many times I’ve lost count. Ive seen this thing spit out numbers in the .60’s all the way down too .00’s. is something broken? Am I missing something? ---
**Author:** ![ian\_ab](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a587f6/32.png) [@ian\_ab](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/u/ian_ab)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2026, 1:14am UTC](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/t/initial-set-up-and-calibration/25676/27 "2026-05-04T01:14:45Z")
I don’t think this is your problem, but you are running inconsistent versions Index.html Version: v1.18-14-gecc35fa5 [MSG:INFO: FluidNC v1.19] Update to the latest V1.20 At least that should get rid of the **Failed to Compute** Spam Can you also drop a copy of your maslow.yaml file here and confirm the order of the arms is still per previous photo. ---
**Author:** ![dlang](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/forums.maslowcnc.com/dlang/32/859_2.png) [@dlang](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/u/dlang)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2026, 1:29am UTC](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/t/initial-set-up-and-calibration/25676/28 "2026-05-04T01:29:30Z")
Bones wrote: > Ran it one more time and the numbers look even worse. > > [Maslow-serial (1).log](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/uploads/short-url/vPGRJOuT2c5ob1KWMS2FEGlZRgO.log) (30.8 KB) > > What on earth am I doing wrong? > > Frame is rock solid. I’ve torn down and reassembled this thing so many times I could do an instructional video. Corners are within 1/4 inch. Retraction is 725. Z is all the way down and set to zero. I just don’t get it. I have run find anchors so many times I’ve lost count. Ive seen this thing spit out numbers in the .60’s all the way down too .00’s. is something broken? Am I missing something? If I am reading this correctly, it didn’t get past the first 6 points. I put them in a different calculation algorithm and it was giving me error bars of ± 450mm for Z coordinates, so something is very wrong. if the magnets are in the wrong place, it can have trouble reading their positions. when you do a retract-all it reports the difference between where it thinks the belts would be and where they actually are (which is 0 length) when you first turn it on and retract the belts, this will in effect tell you how far out the belts were. But after that, if you extend and retract the belts, this should give you near zero measurements (commonly under 0.1mm), if it is giving you different results, then it could be you put the roller with the magnet in the wrong spot or upside down. please do a few extend/retract cycles and see what you get. a video of the machine doing the find anchors routine may give some clues. the belts should be pulling tight at each of the 6 measurement points. David Lang ---
**Author:** ![ian\_ab](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a587f6/32.png) [@ian\_ab](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/u/ian_ab)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2026, 4:18am UTC](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/t/initial-set-up-and-calibration/25676/29 "2026-05-04T04:18:08Z")
What happened between Measured waypoint 4 and Measured waypoint 5] the first time. It looks like Stop was pressed and then belts retracted and extended again. If Find Anchors is interrupted, you need to power off, unhook the belts and do the full power on, retract, extend, mount anchors again or the belt readings will be wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Bones](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/forums.maslowcnc.com/bones/32/31023_2.png) [@Bones](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/u/Bones)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2026, 2:08pm UTC](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/t/initial-set-up-and-calibration/25676/30 "2026-05-04T14:08:09Z")
I verified all the magnets are in the right location (driven side of belt, magnets facing the sensor) Spools are stacked in the right order top to bottom 1 bottom left 2 top right 3 bottom right 4 top left Ran 4 retract extend cycles. [Maslow-serial (2).log](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/uploads/short-url/i8MvFfVd7HsBqksy2BWUBWJEO3u.log) (6.4 KB) the numbers keep coming up different each time, is this normal? I’ll load a video of the anchor calibration tonight when I get home from work. ---
**Author:** ![Bones](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/forums.maslowcnc.com/bones/32/31023_2.png) [@Bones](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/u/Bones)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2026, 3:35pm UTC](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/t/initial-set-up-and-calibration/25676/31 "2026-05-04T15:35:05Z")
> [@dlang](#): > > a video of the machine doing the find anchors routine may give some clues. the > belts should be pulling tight at each of the 6 measurement points. The belts are pulling tight at each waypoint measurement. The highest waypoint I’ve achieved thus far in the whole process had been 30. ---
**Author:** ![Bones](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/forums.maslowcnc.com/bones/32/31023_2.png) [@Bones](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/u/Bones)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2026, 3:36pm UTC](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/t/initial-set-up-and-calibration/25676/32 "2026-05-04T15:36:48Z")
> [@dlang](#): > > I put them in a different calculation algorithm and it was giving me error bars > of ± 450mm for Z coordinates, so something is very wrong. I ran the Z all the way down and set the home. The small position numbers above the button show Z at zero consistently. ---
**Author:** ![Bones](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/forums.maslowcnc.com/bones/32/31023_2.png) [@Bones](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/u/Bones)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2026, 4:01pm UTC](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/t/initial-set-up-and-calibration/25676/33 "2026-05-04T16:01:13Z")
> [@ian\_ab](#): > > don’t think this is your problem, but you are running inconsistent versions > Index.html Version: v1.18-14-gecc35fa5 > [MSG:INFO: FluidNC v1.19] > Update to the latest V1.20 > At least that should get rid of the **Failed to Compute** Spam that was the first time it has spit out the spam during this whole ordeal. ---
**Author:** ![Bones](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/forums.maslowcnc.com/bones/32/31023_2.png) [@Bones](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/u/Bones)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2026, 4:35pm UTC](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/t/initial-set-up-and-calibration/25676/34 "2026-05-04T16:35:30Z")
[maslow.yaml](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/uploads/short-url/n3eUhrvLAzPUCZqPNN7cyWzKyms.yaml) (6.5 KB) yaml as requested ---
**Author:** ![ian\_ab](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a587f6/32.png) [@ian\_ab](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/u/ian_ab)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2026, 9:27pm UTC](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/t/initial-set-up-and-calibration/25676/35 "2026-05-04T21:27:26Z")
Can’t see anything wrong in there. I think there is a problem with the find anchors program. Suggest you try reverting back to Version 1.15 to run the Find anchors. If you do, go to the setup menu and set the retract value and config values to 700. Let me know if that works, because it will give us a better idea of what is going wrong in the later versions. ---
**Author:** ![ian\_ab](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a587f6/32.png) [@ian\_ab](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/u/ian_ab)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2026, 10:11pm UTC](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/t/initial-set-up-and-calibration/25676/36 "2026-05-04T22:11:44Z")
> [@Bones](#): > > yaml as requested On further looking if I interpreted how your arms are ordered correctly from the photo, then from the bottom we have BR, TL, TR, BL. If this is still how they are set then they don’t match the offsets in your maslow.yaml file. You need to set Z for each as follows tlz: 78, trz: 56, blz: 100 and brz: 34 To change these, go to FluidNC, Config Items then go down to /kinematics/MaslowKinematics/tlZ and change setting to 78 and Set Do the same for each of the other Z values then go back up the top and Save Force a re-read by powering off and back on then Try Find Anchors again. ---
**Author:** ![Bones](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/forums.maslowcnc.com/bones/32/31023_2.png) [@Bones](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/u/Bones)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2026, 11:04pm UTC](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/t/initial-set-up-and-calibration/25676/37 "2026-05-04T23:04:20Z")
![Screenshot20260504170112Gallery](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/uploads/maslowcnc/original/3X/a/c/ac53474555b15d1f9013361b25d6d193e05ffba3.jpeg) I believe i corrected the spool stack. 1 top spool… closest to top of router 4 bottom spool… closest to the sled ---
**Author:** ![ian\_ab](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a587f6/32.png) [@ian\_ab](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/u/ian_ab)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 12:12am UTC](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/t/initial-set-up-and-calibration/25676/38 "2026-05-05T00:12:39Z")
I thought that was likely it. Damn. Did you try V1.15? you will get some ignored fields on start up. They shouldn’t matter. I have tried running V1.20 on my machine with the supplied maslow.yaml and am getting bad results, which is why I suggested you go back to V1.15. Once you have good Anchor Points you should be able to go to the later versions. Calibrate force was changed to just retraction force, which is why I said to set it again if using V1.15. Also change Maslow\_calibration\_grid\_width\_mm\_X and Y to 0 from 400 and set grid size to 9 ---
**Author:** ![Bones](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/forums.maslowcnc.com/bones/32/31023_2.png) [@Bones](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/u/Bones)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 12:52am UTC](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/t/initial-set-up-and-calibration/25676/39 "2026-05-05T00:52:14Z")
I’ll have to get into github and find 1.15… I actually hate that site its like shopping in a busy walmart full of screaming kids. Too much stuff going on in there. ---
**Author:** ![ian\_ab](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a587f6/32.png) [@ian\_ab](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/u/ian_ab)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 1:07am UTC](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/t/initial-set-up-and-calibration/25676/40 "2026-05-05T01:07:28Z")
Go to Maslow Home (At top) then Resources down to Firmware, then go down to V1.15 or here they are [firmware.bin](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/uploads/short-url/dV7KTVHVZTO8OYk7UdsPuizANw1.bin) (1.9 MB) [index.html.gz](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/uploads/short-url/xA1wAjqSsvYdyTVLXc6f6jGPPEV.gz) (127.6 KB) [Previous page](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/t/initial-set-up-and-calibration/25676.md?page=1) [Next page](https://forums.maslowcnc.com/t/initial-set-up-and-calibration/25676.md?page=3)