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Z - Zero Auto Adjust (P.I.N.D.A. Type solution)

Discussion in 'CNC Mills/Routers' started by Ninefingers, Dec 28, 2020.

  1. Ninefingers

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    Good day all,
    Lurker here mostly. Thanks taking a moment to read this, as it may have been asked before. Is there a GCode sender out there that can tweak the Z axis zero point on the fly by using a mesh map of the surface similar to the P.I.N.D.A. feature on the PRUSA 3D printers?

    If not this would be an incredibly useful feature for those of use working with wood that has not been made perfectly flat. I do not believe the4 same type of sensor that PRUSA uses could be used in this application as I think it requires a conductive material to sense its location as currently designed, but something else could be used I am sure.

    Thoughts?
    Thanks again Jason
    Ninefinger's Design
     
  2. Giarc

    Giarc OpenBuilds Team
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    Estlcam can do this, but as you said you need a conductive surface. I use aluminum tape with an alligator clip clamped on. It works grade on copper clad boards since then you only need to clip the alligator clamp from the probe to the board.

    BCNC can also do it, but I had issues that were probably specific to me (I am Linux ignorant and was trying to install it on a old linux laptop) so went with Estlcam.
     
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  3. Ninefingers

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    I have used sonar to measure distances on non conductive surfaces using an arduino. Wonder if a feature like this could me integrated.
     
  4. Giarc

    Giarc OpenBuilds Team
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    I just flatten my board with the cutter I use to surface my spoil board if it is that bad. ;)
     
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  5. Ninefingers

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    yeah I do the same, I guess I see this as a long term value, especially when carving flag unions and you need to keep time and cost way down.
     
  6. Giarc

    Giarc OpenBuilds Team
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    It is an interesting concept and seems like a fun project, but when I have done the probing for PCBs, the probing takes longer that if I had surfaced the same sized board. But, surfacing a copper clad board defeats the purpose of having the copper on it. ;)
     

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