Got a Lead 1010 about a month ago. I noticed this problem right away but tried a few things to try to fix it. First the problem I am having is the Z axis seems to have some variability when it goes in and out of cuts. The picture below is a good example. In the middle of the pocket the Z axis is steady but then It starts stepping down as the cut goes on. Some areas seem ok but others look like the picture. When the router doesn’t have to lift out of the cut to relocate, the z axis seems ok. When I surfaced the spoil board or drilled the dog holes, the z axis didn’t have any stepping. Surfacing spoil board did have some front to back stepping but that was due to lack of tramming and corrected and second resurfacing was clean. So as stated above I did an accurate tramming which showed that my X gantry wasn’t properly squared. I corrected but the problem continues. I double checked for backlash and made sure the screws holding the ends of the lead screw in place were tight. Current setup is a Lead 1010 with black box, high torque motors, and using fusion 360 for generating g code. I have run out of ideas of what could be causing this unless it has to do with controller or stepper motor. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
Hi Tyler, looks like classic flex coupler issue with setscrews not being secure or not on the flats and it's slipping (use loctite). could be some of these other things... 1) make sure $1 = 255 2) might need to turn up you z axis current 3) bit slipping/moving in collet 4) backlash nut too tight causing lost steps and/or more backlash because it's so tight (does the Z-screw move smoothly through the nut?) 5) plywood is not flat is lifting, flexing or bouncing while cutting 6) collars holding the z-screw tight with the bearings not snug enough allowing z-play Cheers Gary
I double checked if all the screws in the flex coupling were tight and they were. I turned on the motor and tried to turn coupling to check for play and it was solid. 1. This is my first adventure into cnc and I had never seen this before. After a little searching, I found some info and I will try it out tomorrow. 2. I see the current adjustment on black box but how can I tell if it is set correctly? Follow up question, how can I tell if I turn it up too high? 3. Double check bit and it is very tight 4. I think the backlash nut is ok. I am able to move z axis down with light pressure on top of router when machine is off but no movement when motor is on. 5. I had previously had a issue with material lifting since i was using side clamps. I since adjusted the dog holes and now board is firm against spoil board. 6. Had some play with z axis qt first when machine was turned on due to collars being loose. I got them snuggly pushed against bearing now and there is zero play. Thanks for reply and possible solutions. One thing that I forgot to mention was after stopping cut, I returned to 0 to see what the machine thought was 0 z. I was surprised to find out that it was slightly higher than where I set it before. This confused me more since cuts seem to get progressively lower and slipping would result in a lower 0 z.
Hi Tyler. A couple of questions. What sort of area did this job occupy? Did the error happen in just one spot, or randomly, anywhere? If you run a small job, does it repeat the same error? Does it complete a small job successfully?
It happens on any size of job and it seems kind of random. It definitely seems like it has to do with going in and out of the cut to relocate. To resurface the spoil board it held z all the way around. Even in the picture above, the middle of the pocket looks great. There is no stepping but then it relocated and came back around a couple times. I say it it seems random, but its probably just areas that were completed without relocating.
Hi Tyler, I'm thinking you need to increase your current and/or make sure you are not too aggressive on your speeds and accelerations. You are loosing steps if it's not returning to zero. Just turn the current pot in (righty-tighty) about 1/8 turn and test. The key is to have enough current but not so much that you thermal shut down the driver. Cheers Gary
I will try increasing the current and give it another shot. I have been struggling with feeds and speeds being new to cnc. I thought I was starting conservatively though. In this case I was doing a cut depth of 1.5mm and default speed that was set in fusion 360 of 760mm/min or so. If I understand a chart posted on the forums correctly, that speed is probably slow if anything.
In Grbl, note that G0 feed if not set explicitly is run at the Maximum travel rate (set in the Grbl Settings) so check there too, if that value is too high, Z can skip during fast G0 retractions, even if your plunge feed is low on G1 moves Paste the output of $$ if you need us to check
Was surfacing done with a different bit? (maybe a router bit with a 1/4 shank) and this job with a different bit (that might look like a 1/4 inch shaft (6.35mm) but actually has a 6mm shaft? And although the collet is super tight, it has a feeble grip on the shaft as its a 1/4inch collet with a 6mm shaft? that happens to me sometimes
So I turned up the current on Z motor by 1/8 turn and tried to run job again. Z motor does seem hotter than the rest of the motors. Is there a safety shut down on these if they get too hot? Don't want to melt anything down by accident. During this test the depth of cut seemed much deeper in some areas. I quickly found out that the project being side clamped down all night resulted in some bowing in the middle. That being said the results were similar in regards to the stepping. I flipped the piece over so the lifting was on the edge and screwed it to the spoil board this. I have questioned my clamping method in the back, so I wanted to removed that variability. Before I start another go I wanted to double check the rest of your suggestions. Below is the paste of $$. I see now that $1=255. Also I am assuming that all acceleration is set in the black box and has nothing to do with g code from fusion. All I found in fusion was speeds. If all the setting are in fact from the black box, they should all be standard from when I first flashed it. Hopefully that is what you are seeing Lastly I checked both bits used with a caliper and they are both 1/4". Both are also from reputable companies. If everything checks out I will run another test, this time with work piece screwed down to remove that variable. Am I wrong to think that would mainly affect depth of overall cut and not so much stepping? Grbl 1.1g ['$' for help] [09:15:13] [ ] ok [09:15:13] [ $$ ] $0=10 ;Step pulse time, microseconds [09:15:13] [ $$ ] $1=255 ;Step idle delay, milliseconds [09:15:13] [ $$ ] $2=0 ;Step pulse invert, mask [09:15:13] [ $$ ] $3=4 ;Step direction invert, mask [09:15:13] [ $$ ] $4=1 ;Invert step enable pin, boolean [09:15:13] [ $$ ] $5=0 ;Invert limit pins, boolean [09:15:13] [ $$ ] $6=0 ;Invert probe pin, boolean [09:15:13] [ $$ ] $10=1 ;Status report options, mask [09:15:13] [ $$ ] $11=0.020 ;Junction deviation, millimeters [09:15:13] [ $$ ] $12=0.002 ;Arc tolerance, millimeters [09:15:13] [ $$ ] $13=0 ;Report in inches, boolean [09:15:13] [ $$ ] $20=0 ;Soft limits enable, boolen [09:15:13] [ $$ ] $21=1 ;Hard limits enable, boolean [09:15:13] [ $$ ] $22=1 ;Homing cycle enable, boolean [09:15:13] [ $$ ] $23=3 ;Homing direction invert, mask [09:15:13] [ $$ ] $24=100.000 ;Homing locate feed rate, mm/min [09:15:13] [ $$ ] $25=1000.000 ;Homing search seek rate, mm/min [09:15:13] [ $$ ] $26=250 ;Homing switch debounce delay, milliseconds [09:15:13] [ $$ ] $27=5.000 ;Homing switch pull-off distance, millimeters [09:15:13] [ $$ ] $30=1000 ;Maximum spindle speed, RPM [09:15:13] [ $$ ] $31=0 ;Minimum spindle speed, RPM [09:15:13] [ $$ ] $32=0 ;Laser-mode enable, boolean [09:15:13] [ $$ ] $100=198.169 ;X-axis steps per millimeter [09:15:13] [ $$ ] $101=198.287 ;Y-axis steps per millimeter [09:15:13] [ $$ ] $102=198.307 ;Z-axis steps per millimeter [09:15:13] [ $$ ] $110=2500.000 ;X-axis maximum rate, mm/min [09:15:13] [ $$ ] $111=2500.000 ;Y-axis maximum rate, mm/min [09:15:13] [ $$ ] $112=2500.000 ;Z-axis maximum rate, mm/min [09:15:13] [ $$ ] $120=150.000 ;X-axis acceleration, mm/sec^2 [09:15:13] [ $$ ] $121=150.000 ;Y-axis acceleration, mm/sec^2 [09:15:13] [ $$ ] $122=150.000 ;Z-axis acceleration, mm/sec^2 [09:15:13] [ $$ ] $130=810.000 ;X-axis maximum travel, millimeters [09:15:13] [ $$ ] $131=730.000 ;Y-axis maximum travel, millimeters [09:15:13] [ $$ ] $132=90.000 ;Z-axis maximum travel, millimeters
Well, while cutting there is still downward force at the tip of the endmill, so if it can bow/flex... It might not be right. BlackBox will shutdown driver if it overheats but wont know about your Stepper melting. Regular nema23 or High Torque? I dont think current was the issue, set it back if you feel uncomfortable. Unless your Z feels wimpy when you jog?
They are high torque motors. If the $$ settings looks good, then I will try another test cut. I don’t think Z movement feels wimpy. I have made the mistake of having the wrong increment selected when moving z axis and plunged the bit into the bed. Definitely didn’t feel weak when that happened.
