lesad
New Member
Posts: 50
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Post by lesad on Jan 11, 2020 14:20:14 GMT -5
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Post by stevem on Jan 11, 2020 18:47:23 GMT -5
Lesad: Please try to explain exactly what is happening!
Are you saying the X doesn't travel all the way to the other side?
When you surface the spoil board, you won't get the entire spoil board cut edge to edge. The spoil board is actually larger than the machine max travel.
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lesad
New Member
Posts: 50
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Post by lesad on Jan 11, 2020 20:07:48 GMT -5
Lesad: Please try to explain exactly what is happening! Are you saying the X doesn't travel all the way to the other side? When you surface the spoil board, you won't get the entire spoil board cut edge to edge. The spoil board is actually larger than the machine max travel. when I did the spoil board the first time it went totally around the bed and didn't leave a ledge. Now it leaves a ledge and the other problem I think I measured wrong lol |
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johnb
Full Member
New owner @ March 2019, AR16 Elite, Aspire, 4th Axis & Laser
Posts: 326
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Post by johnb on Jan 11, 2020 21:38:18 GMT -5
Actually, you CAN surface the entire spoilboard, but you have to make sure that the soft limit of X is far enough over to allow the edge of your fly cutting bit to reach the edge of the spoilboard at maximum X travel. This is a factor of "positive millimeters" starting at the X-0 limit switch. Move the switch so you're cutting "less air" at X-0 and you'll find that you get a full overlap at maximum X. It's a little trickier if you're leaving a "ledge" at either Y-0 or maxium Y, since to fix that you typically need to loosen the spoilboards and move them further "up or down" the table.
You want to surface the entire spoilboard, because eventually you'll have a work piece that will overlap the edge (or the lip) and it won't lay flat if you don't.
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Post by stevem on Jan 11, 2020 22:15:02 GMT -5
johnb: when i turn my machine on and it homes all the way to the front left it cannon move any more to the left.I hove a AR4 and I do get the full 24x24 cut area, but the spoil board is 27" wide, so even with a 2" surface bit, I can't cut all the way to both sides. Additionally, the boards are much longer in the y travel and that cant be cut to the end of the board ends either.
When I got my machine both the X & Y limit switches were way off and I had to adjust them so I could get the full 24x24 travel. easy enough to fix, but I still couldn't surface the entire surface of the spoil boards. For me, it really doesn't matter because I made a spoil board for the entire top and removed the strips that came with the machine anyway. Since they are just MDF anyway, it's really not that hard.
If Lesad is having a problem, the X homing switch may have moved on her and that is what is causing the problem.
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johnb
Full Member
New owner @ March 2019, AR16 Elite, Aspire, 4th Axis & Laser
Posts: 326
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Post by johnb on Jan 12, 2020 9:11:31 GMT -5
Stevem
Neither of the limit switches at "Maximum X" & "Maximum Y" are designed to limit the travel. They are there as a backstop to keep the spindle from hitting the gantry at maximum X and overrunning the upper end of Y.
The limit of travel is baked into the controller settings and "starts" at whatever is defined as X-0,Y-0.
If you put in your flycutting bit and home the machine (bringing it down manually in Z), where is the "outer edge" of the bit in relation to the left side of the spoilboard and the "bottom end"? If it is overhanging at all on the left, then that is robbing you of area that could be cut on the right side of the spoilboard. Moving the minimum X limit switch over by the amount of the overhang solves that axis.
On my machine, the bit was overhanging maximum Y and leaving a ridge at the bottom of the spoilboard going all the way across from minimum X to maximum X. The solution to that is to actually move the spoilboards by loosening the screws, sliding them up, squaring each to a long rule, and re-tightening. That is because the minimum Y limit switch wouldn't go any further "down" the Y axis of the table.
If all of that still leaves you with a ridge (or ridges), then I suppose you could always remove the spoilboards and trim them down to length (ripping the outer ones to width by removing 1/2" from the left side of the left one and 1/2" from the right side of the right one) in order to get rid of the ridges and allow for a flat surface overall. If the only ridges are the ones running the length of Y, just move your limit switch over (temporarily) to allow it to move far enough to cut it and re-run the program from the same Z depth that you started with the first time.
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lesad
New Member
Posts: 50
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Post by lesad on Jan 15, 2020 14:59:45 GMT -5
johnb: when i turn my machine on and it homes all the way to the front left it cannon move any more to the left.I hove a AR4 and I do get the full 24x24 cut area, but the spoil board is 27" wide, so even with a 2" surface bit, I can't cut all the way to both sides. Additionally, the boards are much longer in the y travel and that cant be cut to the end of the board ends either. When I got my machine both the X & Y limit switches were way off and I had to adjust them so I could get the full 24x24 travel. easy enough to fix, but I still couldn't surface the entire surface of the spoil boards. For me, it really doesn't matter because I made a spoil board for the entire top and removed the strips that came with the machine anyway. Since they are just MDF anyway, it's really not that hard. If Lesad is having a problem, the X homing switch may have moved on her and that is what is causing the problem. Steve how do i fix that x homing switch issue? |
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Post by stevem on Jan 15, 2020 18:56:35 GMT -5
Lesad:
When I got my machine and set it up, I then turned it on and it tells you to home the machine! When I did that, the gantry moved all the way forward, but when it went to the left side, it stopped short by more than 3 inches.
The yellow limit switches are fixed, but the small metal bracket that trips the switch can be moved.
On my machine, I simply loosened the screw that holds the metal tab and slid it over to the left enough so when you home the machine, the spindle will go further over to the left. Do it in small amounts, because you don't want the spindle slamming into the left side of the gantry.
I also had to adjust the Y switch as well, because it didn't move all the way forward either.
Before I did anything, I called Chad and he said they are not always in the correct position and need to be adjusted.
Now when I turn on the machine, the gantry comes all the way forward and the spindle moves as far over as possible. There is a small plastic dot on the spindle mount that comes to within 1/4" from the gantry side. For my machine, that is where Chad said it should be. When I move the spindle all the way to the right side I have my 24" of travel.
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