Instructions - How To Make And Set Up A Z-Probe On The M4

Wiki
, ,
21

You are correct the machine was not retensioned.

Also I have list a Z-probe on my Esty store If someone does not want to make their own.
https://visualgraphicsdesign.etsy.com/listing/1802940712/z-probe-malsow-cable

1 Like
22

Awesome! We just missed the newsletter this week, but we’ll link it in next week’s newsletter if that’s OK!

23

wouldn’t it be nice if you could update a new sled 4.1 with some space to leave the metal plate always there? So you can move it under the router when needed and retract it after z-probing.

1 Like
24

That’s an interesting idea. Although, unless the metal plate was included in the kit, different people would likely have different dimensions to their metal plates. I would also be worried about saw dust potentially getting in the recess, pushing the plate down, and causing the sled to tilt.

1 Like
25

Katho66 wrote:

wouldn’t it be nice if you could update a new sled 4.1 with some space to
leave the metal plate always there? So you can move it under the router when
needed and retract it after z-probing.

superglue a couple magnets to one of the vertical posts and put it on there.

David Lang

2 Likes
26

Any reason an old headphone extender wouldn’t work for the cables? If I put the female end on the board side it would make it really quick and easy and dust resistant for attaching I mean besides the fact that stranded crap is annoying to solder.

1 Like
27

Not that I’m aware of. There may be some small obstacles that arise specific to whatever you use, but they shouldn’t be hard to overcome. I actually mentioned in the “Essential Parts” section that you should be able to use old headphone wire, RCA cables, or something else you have lying around if you want. If it already has an easy to use connector and you can get it to work, all the better.

I’m definitely not the greatest at crimping wire connections. My wired connections have actually been the weakest part for me and a few times come loose from the connector causing the probe to fail and me having to fiddle with the wires to get a good connection (I actually replaced my wired connections just the other night because they were acting finicky, so hopefully they’ll be more consistent now). If you try it out, please share the results!

1 Like
28

Hopefully my friend who works at the metal furniture factory will be bringing me a plate I can use from the drop pile tomorrow I’ll keep you all updated!

1 Like
29

Today I used just a multimeter and the metal plate to set my Z. Still trying to scrounge up some alligator clips for purposes of actually building the rig and soldering the board. It was way easier than trying to do it by sight. Hopefully someone is bringing clips to Thanksgiving tomorrow and I’ll be able to solder it all up this weekend.

3 Likes
30

Aloha,

I’ve finally circled back to this, and in following the directions found that, at least in firmware v0.86, I can find no “probe configuration options.” When I add the lines noted above (scrupulously following the spacing), my Maslow throws “error:152 - Configuration is invalid. Maslow.yaml file may be corrupt. Turning off and back on again can often fix this issue.”

Totally fresh Maslow.yaml and the rest…haven’t even run a calibration (the frame’s in pieces right now; no place to set up at the moment).

Mahalo,

31

The ones when you’re on maslow.local? Those are there for me. Click into Preferences then go down to “Show GRBL panel” and click in there to “Show probe panel”.

32

Sorry…I wasn’t clear.

In editing maslow.yaml, you say to find the “probe:” section and replace what’s there with different values. In my fresh v0.86 maslow.yaml, I could find no such section. When I added the entry—my physical setup emulated yours exactly—I got errors.

33

I can see the panel—already changed the preferences and navigated to the grbl tab—but maslow throws a configuration error on startup.

34

Ah, got it. When you calibrate the machine, the maslow.yaml file gets restructured and several things get filled in and moved around. I believe the “probe:” entry is added in automatically by FluidNC during that process. So, try calibrating first then download the calibrated maslow.yaml file and open that file in a text editor like Notepad. Hopefully, it should be in there now.

Also, if you have a recent backup of your yaml file that is post-calibration, you can likely find the setting there and use the backup. I don’t think much often changes on the yaml side of things and using an older one is usually ok.

35

Alas, we broke down the frame to make room for a dance recital, so I will have to wait till it has a new home and run calibration then. Was trying to get a bit ahead, but no big deal.

Mahalo,

1 Like
36

Aloha,

Back at this and the probe is failing:

ERROR 20
Unsupported or invalid g-code command found in block.

Not sure what that’s about.

Mahalo,

2 Likes
37

I haven’t seen that before, but I think the error itself is self-explanatory–a bad g-code command was sent or entered. Can you give more information on what you were doing when the code occurred? What g-code command was sent that caused the error (it should list the code in the command prompt box)? Is the error repeatable (i.e., does it happen again during same step after a reboot)?

EDIT (2025.02.27): I’m dumb. I have seen that error before. That’s the same error that was showing up before firmware v0.85 when the Start Probe button would use a 38.6 command.

1 Like
38

It happens every time I click Start Probe after following the instructions for setting up the Z-Probe.

39

It ends up calling this function (assuming we’re talking the same “Start Probe” button)

function StartProbeProcess() {
  // G38.6 is FluidNC-specific.  It is like G38.2 except that the units
  // are always G21 units, i.e. mm in the usual case, and distance is
  // always incremental.  This avoids problems with probing when in G20
  // inches mode and undoing a preexisting G91 incremental mode
  ...

The regular Probe commands are:

G38.2: Probe toward workpiece, stop on contact, signal error if failure
G38.3: Probe toward workpiece, stop on contact
G38.4: Probe away from workpiece, stop on loss of contact, signal error if failure
G38.5: Probe away from workpiece, stop on loss of contact

The 38.6 ‘command’ is passed through to FluidNC in a slightly odd way, which I haven’t fully tracked yet. I think it may be a FluidNC specific GRBL command as opposed to GCode.

1 Like
40

Mahalo for the reply,

I have put the machine away for a time while I finish assembling and testing the mechanism I was fabricating, so I can’t check; I will do that possibly next week.

I followed the instructions above to the letter, so the error caught me by surprise. I am using v0.88, if that is relevant.