Ok, I have finished the Ox cnc build, the electrics are done and I have checked that all the steppers are working and going in the correct direction etc etc, but I am not sure what the next step is. Is there a test file to help calibrate?, I am just a little nervous of pressing the go button and screwing everything up. any advise would be most welcome. Cheers
Run the attached file. It makes a star. The first thing it will do is G0 X45.786 Y21.886 ie. it will start the cutting at those coordinates not your x,y zero point so make sure your test piece is big enough. It does two passes so it is a nice way to see that everything is lining up right.
Here is a link to the "Hello World" gcode. http://www.shapeoko.com/wiki/images/7/77/Hello_World_ShapeOko.txt . I would cut and paste it into notepad and save it as .cnc or .ngc. However, someone else may have a better way. Also, you could use Sketchucam to create a simple circle or square and engrave it. A large square would be a good way to see if...you guessed it...your machine is square. That is what I did with mine. I cut a 600 mm x 600 mm square and broke out the old framing square. You could also play around with your feed speeds with a simple large cut like that. Have fun! **edit. That is not hello world. I just checked to be sure and it is text with the zero in the middle which if isn't taken into account will cause you to crash your CNC! Sorry about that.
Sorry to bore you, but here is the calibration pattern ShapeOko suggest for their users. The Shapeoko Forum • View topic - Prototype Calibration Pattern (with G-Code) You may want to confirm these are all in millimeters vs inches. That could pose a problem too. It looks like they are so you must make sure you select metric in your gcode sender. I use GRBL Panel. X,Y 0 point is front left.
Can't thank you enough Giarc. Not boring at all, this is a great help to me. I got so involved with the build I almost forgot why I was building it, but now its built I need to get back on track and get it running correctly. Thanks again.
I really need to get back to work on mine, but it is really cold out in the garage. I did pick up an upgrade for my egg-bot today, though.
I remember the excitement!!!! Do an "air" cut zero the z an 1" off the table then send some gcode!!! Oh your going to watch it run the whole thing!!!!! just as a safety measure sit with your hand on the powerplug!!!! Have fun!!! Bob
Test your e-stop and limit switches? I would jog it around manually then test machine home and part home. Then run code. Have fun. Joe
Thanks all of you for the above, will try all these suggestions. The drag chains I ordered turned up today so I am in the process of tidying up the wiring before I run the above tests. Cheers all.
Ha! I just did an air cut. I zeroed on the table top, then moved everything into position. Somehow i re-zeroed the z at 10 mm above my 5 mm work piece and sent the code. I came back and it was just wrapping up the air cut. Luckily it was a simple cut of door faces for my CNC machines support cabinet and not some 45 minute cut.
