Second pass in program is several inches off. (Elite AR8)

[artnobscura]

I just got my machine up and running this week, and wanted to start with simple projects so I'm working on flattening a slab of Maple that I have.

Yesterday, I ran a few passes on the slab and everything went well.  I'm trying to be conservative on the cut depth, so I have the machine running the full depth in 2 passes.  I ran a couple of passes to, adjusting my z each time to take a bit more off each time.  The machine ran smoothly, and but I needed to call it a day.  I shut everything down, and closed up shop.

Today I came back to finish flattening this piece, and something is off.  I'm using the same files, and I haven't done anything different.  I have my project setup based off of home in the bottom left hand corner, and zeroed everything off the same way.

When I ran the program today, the second pass started 6" off from the original passes starting point (negative on the y).




After stopping the job, I re-homed and the y homed a good 3-4" away from the position it did originally (positive on the y). 

 

I've been trying to figure out the correct steps to go through to narrow down what might be causing this, looking through other threads with xy axis issues and I can't seem to see anything that is like this.


I've restarted the machine a number of times, and created new files... each time getting the same result.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts.

-Drew

[gerry]

You're losing steps. Pushing too hard. That's a big bit, so it needs very shallow passes, especially in maple. Also, the bit should be ramping in.

[artnobscura]

Hey Gerry, I’m trying to be cautious, so I have it set to take two passes of .03125 to get my full cut depth of .0625. (I’m using a four fluted 1-1/2” flattening bit)

After stopping everything I’ve tried to re-home, and y homes about 4” away from its original home position (positive on the y axis) in the front left corner. I manually try to position the tool further with the controller, but that is the furthest it will move.

After restarting, it will home properly... but the same sequence of events happen when trying to run that job again.

[Kristy]

Jan 23, 2021 20:10:37 GMT -5 artnobscura said:

I just got my machine up and running this week, and wanted to start with simple projects so I'm working on flattening a slab of Maple that I have.

Yesterday, I ran a few passes on the slab and everything went well.  I'm trying to be conservative on the cut depth, so I have the machine running the full depth in 2 passes.  I ran a couple of passes to, adjusting my z each time to take a bit more off each time.  The machine ran smoothly, and but I needed to call it a day.  I shut everything down, and closed up shop.

Today I came back to finish flattening this piece, and something is off.  I'm using the same files, and I haven't done anything different.  I have my project setup based off of home in the bottom left hand corner, and zeroed everything off the same way.

When I ran the program today, the second pass started 6" off from the original passes starting point (negative on the y).


View AttachmentView Attachment

After stopping the job, I re-homed and the y homed a good 3-4" away from the position it did originally (positive on the y). 

View Attachment 

I've been trying to figure out the correct steps to go through to narrow down what might be causing this, looking through other threads with xy axis issues and I can't seem to see anything that is like this.


I've restarted the machine a number of times, and created new files... each time getting the same result.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts.

-Drew

Hey, Drew, with this being an Elite machine, experiencing a loss of position, could only be due to a loose coupling. Please check both set screws on the x and the y axis. If you have any questions give our support team a call.