PixelCNC Has Moved: deftware.org

CAM software developed by artists for artists to create unique and original works on a 3-axis CNC router or mill. · By Deftware

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Z axis starting position hits limit

A topic by mn_nate created 22 days ago Views: 52 Replies: 3

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mn_nate22 days ago(+1)

Hi All, I'm new to Pixel CNC and hoping someone here can point me in the direction of a solution.

I'm just starting with the built in tutorials ( the flag ) and wanted to go ahead and trial that out on my CNC. The issue I'm having is that I can't seem to tell PixelCNC to limit the Z upward movement for starting location.

When looking at the simulation ( different operations tested ) it appears that the G codes goes to a plus 2 inch Z from zero level.

Where can I set that lower, can it be set relative from the top of the canvas?

Thanks in advance!

- Nate

DeftwareDeveloper22 days ago

Hi Nate,

You can set where your machine will be zeroed out relative to the canvas volume from the Canvas Properties panel. Any changes to the origin requires recalculating any toolpaths that have already been generated - at least for now but we're planning on changing things so that the origin can be freely moved without recalculating toolpaths or simulation heightmaps. We're just about to release v1.80b soon which includes the ability to set the machine origin outside of the canvas volume as well so that you will not need to create a canvas that's large enough to include the machine origin within its volume.

If you move the machine origin to the top of the canvas then you will want to zero your machine on the top of your work piece, in most cases.

Be sure to do a dry run above your workpiece (zero your machine up in the air) to make sure that it will go through the correct motions when it's actually cutting, just to be safe!

- Charlie

mn_nate22 days ago(+1)

Hi Charlie,

Thank you for the info, I'll give that a shot. That said I think my question wasn't described properly.

For example if I zero canvas and machine to the top of the canvas in the lower left ( making all x, y positive and all z actions negative ).

When I start the g-code it sends the machine up to some set Z height above the canvas / workpiece. How is that height defined? From my observations ( machine and simulation ) this height was more than the "Rapid Height" but I couldn't find where, or if it could be adjusted.

-- Nate

DeftwareDeveloper21 days ago

Hi Nate,

If you are setting the machine origin to the top of the canvas, and zeroing out your machine's origin to the top of a workpiece, the tool should never travel higher than the Safe Z rapid height from the top of the workpiece. The only thing that would make it travel higher than the Safe Z height from the top of the workpiece is if the machine is actually being zeroed out below the top surface of the workpiece. Where you see the toolpaths relative to where you set the canvas origin is where they will be relative to where your machine is zeroed out. There's also the possibility that some kind of work offset is being applied by your controller and needs to be cleared/zeroed but you'll need to figure out what those may be for your specific machine.

Don't forget to re-generate operations' toolpaths after making any changes to the canvas origin! That can cause some unexpected placement of cuts if they're not generated for where the machine origin is currently set to. This is something we're looking to change soon as a number of people have found the need to adjust where the machine origin is after creating operations and generating toolpaths but where the machine origin is placed relative to the canvas is "baked" into toolpaths when they're generated - which isn't necessary and we should only be applying the origin when exporting G-code instead.

Keep me posted!

- Charlie

itch.io

PixelCNC Has Moved: deftware.org

Z axis starting position hits limit