Forgive the question. Even as I write this it’s a little embarrassing but I just want to make sure I understand everything before I attempt to cut up a $75 sheet of ply…. I have a project with several pieces all laid out on a 8x4 sheet of ply in Easel and it will use the majority of the sheet.
I believe I understand that “home” is defined by the G-code. I usually make home in the center of the board (a habit from using the M2). Where I have a bit of confusion is that the video Anna made showing the set up of a new cut shows the target reticule as “home” and the pink dot as the location of the machine. She then navigates the machine to the lower quadrant of the plywood and “re-homes”. Is the target reticule indicating the home position of the g-code or is it indicating a previously zeroed out home from the machine? If the latter were the case, couldn’t Anna just have hit play and the machine would navigate to the “home” to start the cut? If it is the former, I would assume that she is simply moving the machine to a blank spot on the plywood, re-homing, and then the other movement she makes is just to make sure the cut fits. I’m I understanding this correctly?
For final clarification, if I take my g-code for my project, which again sets XY zero to the center of the 8x4 sheet, would I just move my machine to the exact center of my sheet, re-home, everything should fit within the sheet as I designed, correct? Thank you for the reinforcement!
When you load a GCode file into the Maslow it will display in the window. Clicking on the window will step through different views. Some views show a Rectangle (green) and there will be a crosshair showing where Maslow thinks home is. If your project is entirely within the green rectangle, it is saying it will fit. If not, you may have to adjust where the Maslow home is (by jogging to it and selecting set XY home).
You can also trace the file, which will move the Maslow around the boundaries without lowering the Z.
Hope this helps (it presumes you have the latest software updates)
I use easel fairly regularly for my Maslow. Any project I make before I save I select all, click the middle of the five dots in the position box and set that to 0x 0y. This will display the pattern in the bottom left corner of the grid with the center of the pattern on the left bottom corner. Save it in mm in that position. Load into the Maslow. Move the Maslow to the CENTER of the sheet (or center of whatever piece of wood you are wanting to cut on) and hold define x,y (I think or maybe define home) until the timer runs out. Turn on the router and vac. Good to go (hopefully you’ve already set the z home).
the center I’m referring to could be in the middle of a 4x8 sheet so your cutting the whole sheet or it could be something small you want to cut out of a full 4x8 day in the bottom corner. You set the center in easel so that wherever you home your Maslow is uses that same center for the pattern if that makes any sense.
This can be confusing, because on most cnc machines, Home is x0,y0. Work Zero can be anything, because you set that as your starting point.
Bryan is correct in that if you use Easel, you can tell the job to work from center.
I am one of those guys that always works from that bottom left, unless I’m doing a circle or something that makes more sense to go from the inside out. Anyway, I always move the design to x0,y0 before I export the g-code. Even though the design is in the bottom left corner, you can still do the job from the center. That 0,0 starting point is important though. Lots of other programs offer the ability to carve from center as well. I think Krabzcam can do it too.
It is also a good idea to outline the job before you run it. Make sure it is going to follow the path and fit properly in the workpiece. It’s a pain in the ass with my machine, but it is worth spending the time.
