Which CAM software are you using to generate the tool paths? I'd suggest that it's a setting in that that is the issue - eg in Fusion 360 there is a "keep tool down" option for most operations. I turn this off for machining metal as it allows the CNC bit some time to cool down (I don't have my air blast system working yet).
Please post a g-code file so that we can have a look at it. It sounds as though you have spindle speed commands where don't need them. What post processor are you using with Carveco? Alex.
You might be better off asking the CarveCo team: Support as its a CAM/Toolpath Setup issue, not a CONTROL issue. They do provide support for their products
The problem he's having is not the 'keep tool down' it's the M3 and M5 command that shut the router off while going up and down between letter, which it has to do or the letters get to be in cursive !
It is M5/M3 commands, but you don't need to turn off the router before raising Z. My router doesn't turn off when moving Z to the retract height when doing lettering. @Jimc137, as @Peter Van Der Walt said, ask Carveco. If you are on Facebook, tag @LeightonCarveco. Unfortunately Carveco do not make it easy to modify post processors if the problem lies there. Alex.
Ok, he hadn’t posted his gcode at that time, so I was making assumptions based on the limited data provided.
TLDR — sorry for the verbose post, in short — I'm looking for more documentation around setting Zero Points that survive power on/off, serial cable bumps, hard limit switch triggers, anything else, than the Quickstart, Tips and Tricks and 10 min YT video listed above in OP. Firstly thanks for this excellent software and hardware, I have access to two CNC routers from OpenBuilds, forget which models but the cutting bed is about 600 mm x 900 mm on both and Z-axis range seems to be about 100 mm. I'm slowly learning how to use these OpenBuilds CNC machines using OB Controller to drive the machines. My process is design in AutoCad for Mac, open .DWG files in vCarve software on a PC to produce sets of work paths — export work paths as gCode files and open them in OpenBuilds Control to drive the CNC Router. I read/watched the document listed above in the OP. I'm wondering if there is more detailed OpenBuilds Controller documentation than this? In particular I need to be able to set zero-points that last longer than until a hard limit switch is bumped or the cable to the CNC controller box is touched and it's momentarily drops the connection and inconveniently drops the current zero point I spent ten minutes setting. There's a drop down list of a few zero points in the Goto Zero menu but I'm not sure how to create semi-permanent entries in this list. That's it pretty much for this — the rest of this post is just background info (newb frustrations I guess!) ____________ Background: I seem to spend an inordinate amount of time re-setting the same zero points for the three axis due to a few compounding difficulties, like the two reasons listed above but also for instance I'm using Y-Axis tiling to CNC longer material than the bed of the CNC router can cut. (also vCarve has a software limit on output to 625 mm x 625 mm gCode files). The pieces I'm designing/CNC-cutting ATM are 1100 mm long x ~ 170 mm so I'm using Y-Axis tiling to generate two tiles for each piece and sliding the material through 600 mm after Tile 1 CNC gCode job(s) are complete. I'm not getting accurate enough tiling happening so far, which is a major frustration because it means my parts don't fit together and I end up moving zero points 1 millimetre this way and that thing to open up mortices for tenons etc and I need to rezero the piece very accurately whether I remove it for testing or leave it in the router bed and loose my zero point for one of the many reasons listed below. The most common problem is when I air cut to test a gCode file, the Z axis hard limit gets hit since I have a 12 mm spoil board then my 18 mm plywood then screw heads etc I don't want the drill bit to smash into, and the 5mm Z-axis lift for jogging built into the gCode exported from vCarve. It ends up hitting the Z-Axis hard limit unless I zero the Z-Axis to only a few mm above the material surface, and dam it I some times rush and forget to do that. Which means I hit a snake and slide back to square one and have to rezero. I'm also cutting multiple pieces a few at a time from the one piece of material and loading different gCode files as I go... I'm aware of the touch Zero locator, but we don't have one, and will be a while before I know if I'll be wanting one long term (sure want one now). I'm also struggling to connect to the mobile ob web app b/c these CNC machines aren't on a LAN, they just connected to isolated PC with no WiFi in the building (please don't ask me why!). I'm still working on getting the IP address for the web app hosted on the PC running OpenBuilds when using a WiFi hotspot for the PC with my iPhone, but I'm sure that will stop me having to step over the serial cable all the time to get a good eyeball on the Y-Axis, which occasionally bumps the very fragile serial cable connection into the OpenBuilds control hardware box and I loose my zero points. Other times when I abort a job or hit the hard limit switches it also loses my zero points. One other thing, it would be amazingly helpful when cutting multi parts from the one piece of material if one could relocate the origin of the gCode file directly in OpenBuilds Control software and then just rezero at the spot I want to cut from the material. If there's a way to do that already I can't find it.
Do you have homing switches installed? (If not, you need homing switches installed! ) Homing the machine at power up means that your previously set origins will still be valid. Just pick up where you left off.
To whom it may concern: I will be milling out 1 mm diameter holes with a 0.6 mm end mill. I have a "stiff" machine with a spindle that can run up to 40,000 rpm. This is a demanding application. I use the OpenBuilds X32 BlackBox control box with 3 off OpenBuilds Nema17 stepper motors. I have the current limits for each axis set as low as possible for each stepper motor. I have not adjusted the micro-stepping setting, so I believe that is set at 1/8 out of the box. My questions are as follows: Is the 1/8 micro stepping suitable? Is this a setting I should test for my application, and how should I test it? I have attached the grbl settings. I wanted to ask if there is a procedure regarding which settings I should assist with for the appropriate performance of my specification application. What settings I should test first, and how should I conduct the tests? Thanks again for the great software and great support. Regards, GS76
It would be good to know what material you are planning to mill in since wood may require different settings than aluminum.
Hi JustinTime. My bad, sorry. I would be milling Ti6Al4V titanium. As I plunge, I would calculate the speeds and feeds accordingly. I would mill one or two microns (meter) in depth at a time..
That's all fine. With miniature tooling the secret is in the CAM setup. Spend a couple pre-bedtime hours on the University of YouTube to learn some secrets from the pros
The configuration you posted above has the resolution as ~200 steps / mm, so your finest resolution would be 1/200 = 5µm. Does that configuration calibrate OK with 8X microstepping? If so, it implies an 8mm pitch leadscrew (which sounds quite coarse to me).
So that could well be right, then (my bad). Increasing the microstepping multiplier would increase the theoretical resolution, but even 32X would only get to 1.2µm. I can't really see an 8mm pitch leadscrew making repeatable 1µm moves - it must be an exceptionally stiff machine to take a 1µm depth of cut, too.
We don't recommend changing the Microstepping, resolution is more than adequate, and higher microstepping adversely lowers torque
Hi Misterg, Thank you for the information. I attached the incorrect file. Please see attached and I forgot to mention I have a 1 mm pitch lead screw. Let me know what settings and other adjustments I could be making. Thank you.
Not at this time. But check out https://docs.openbuilds.com/interface for an even more complete experience (USB drive instead of SD, and LCD/Touch buttons as well)
So you already have >1000 steps per mm and a theoretical resolution (at least) of <1µm. I think that everything else will be specific to your machine. What, in particular are you looking to change / improve?
I am looking into each of the grbl settings and what is important. Which of these settings should I be looking to optimise or test for the best results etc. I hope that makes sense? $0=10.0 ; Step pulse time, microseconds $1=255 ; Step idle delay, milliseconds $2=0 ; Step pulse invert, mask $3=4 ; Step direction invert, mask $4=0 ; Invert step enable pin, boolean $5=7 ; Invert limit pins, boolean/mask $6=1 ; Invert probe pin, boolean $7=0 ; Disable spindle with 0 speed, boolean $8=0 ; Ganged axes direction invert as bitfield $10=511 ; Status report options, mask $11=0.020 ; Junction deviation, millimeters $12=0.002 ; Arc tolerance, millimeters $13=0 ; Report in inches, boolean $14=0 ; Limit pins invert, mask $15=0 ; Coolant pins invert, mask $16=0 ; Spindle pins invert, mask $17=0 ; Control pins pullup disable, mask $18=0 ; Limit pins pullup disable, mask $19=0 ; Probe pin pullup disable, boolean $20=0 ; Soft limits enable, boolean $21=0 ; Hard limits enable, boolean $22=0 ; Homing cycle enable, boolean (Grbl) / mask (GrblHAL) $23=7 ; Homing direction invert, mask $24=100.0 ; Homing locate feed rate, mm/min $25=1000.0 ; Homing search seek rate, mm/min $26=250 ; Homing switch debounce delay, milliseconds $27=5.000 ; Homing switch pull-off distance, millimeters $28=0.100 ; G73 retract distance, in mm $29=0.0 ; Step pulse delay (ms) $30=40000.000 ; Maximum spindle speed, RPM $31=0.000 ; Minimum spindle speed, RPM $32=0 ; Laser-mode enable, boolean $33=80000.0 ; Spindle PWM frequency $34=0.0 ; Spindle off Value $35=0.0 ; Spindle min value $36=100.0 ; Spindle max value $37=0 ; Stepper deenergize mask $39=1 ; Enable printable realtime command characters, boolean $40=0 ; Apply soft limits for jog commands, boolean $43=1 ; Homing passes $44=4 ; Homing cycle 1 $45=3 ; Homing cycle 2 $46=0 ; Homing cycle 3 $62=0 ; Sleep Enable $63=2 ; Feed Hold Actions $64=0 ; Force Init Alarm $65=0 ; Require homing sequence to be executed at startup $70=7 ; Network Services $73=1 ; Wifi Mode $74=NaN ; Wifi network SSID $75=NaN ; Wifi network PSK $100=1327.333 ; X-axis steps per millimeter $101=1327.333 ; Y-axis steps per millimeter $102=1327.333 ; Z-axis steps per millimeter $110=2500.000 ; X-axis maximum rate, mm/min $111=2500.000 ; Y-axis maximum rate, mm/min $112=2500.000 ; Z-axis maximum rate, mm/min $120=150.000 ; X-axis acceleration, mm/sec^2 $121=150.000 ; Y-axis acceleration, mm/sec^2 $122=150.000 ; Z-axis acceleration, mm/sec^2 $130=1000.000 ; X-axis maximum travel, millimeters $131=1000.000 ; Y-axis maximum travel, millimeters $132=100.000 ; Z-axis maximum travel, millimeters $300=NaN ; Hostname $302=192.168.5.1 ; IP Address $303=192.168.5.1 ; Gateway $304=255.255.255.0 ; Netmask $305=23 ; Telnet Port $306=80 ; HTTP Port $307=81 ; Websocket Port $341=0 ; Tool Change Mode $342=30.0 ; Tool Change probing distance $343=25.0 ; Tool Change Locate Feed rate $344=200.0 ; Tool Change Search Seek rate $345=100.0 ; Tool Change Probe Pull Off rate $370=0 ; Invert I/O Port Inputs (mask) $384=0 ; Disable G92 Persistence $I=custom
no, OpenBuildsCONTROL is GUI software, it runs on a PC, and sends the Gcode to the BlackBox via a USB cable. With a BlackBox X32, it can also connect via wifi, though I, personally, do not recommend controlling a machine via wifi. The Blackbox X32 can take an SDcard, and can be configured with a web interface through which gcode is uploaded to the SDcard and jobs run. This is a little tricky to get working and the machine control is not fantastic (yet). The Interface is a PC replacement, it plugs into the Blackbox via a direct UART cable, and sends the gcode and controls the Blackbox directly. Gcode can be uploaded to it via wifi, or on a USB Flashdrive Learn more at https://docs.openbuilds.com/interface
Not really... (To me, at least!). The GRBL settings are about telling the controller how to move the machine - if the machine moves as much as it should do, in the direction it should do, and as fast you want it to, then the GRBL settings are pretty much correct. Does your machine do this? The parameters used for machining (in your CAM process) and the physical attributes of the machine, cutter and workpiece will determine what happens when you cut something (is that what you mean by 'results' ?). Taking a 1µm cut in titanium is not a trivial requirement. I can't envision a machine capable of this being driven by NEMA17 sized motors, but that's just me
Hi Misterg, Thank you for the feedback. I agree this is not a trivial application by any stretch of the imagination. I appreciate all the input. Thank you.
If I may ask (as I have my own thoughts) why do believe Nema17 motors would not be able to assist to make a 1 micron cutter in titanium. Are you concerned about the hardenss of the titanium? I just wanted to understand your thinking/concerns. Thank you again.
