Z axis cutting to deep

[hrdwrkr]

Hey guys, looking for a little help. I finally started using my new PRS 96/60 today and am very excited. I seem to be having problems with my Z depth though. when trying to cut out a simple design with a 1/4" straight bit it cut deep into my spoil board. i have my project piece set at .75" thick and i set the cut to .751". i zeroed x,y and z in the corner at the top of my 1x4. everything seemed to work fine except that it cut way past the 3/4" thick pine and kept on going deeper. obviously there is something i am missing and would be great full for some assistance. i am sure there will be many more questions to come.
thanks

[thewoodcrafter]

Welcome Dennis.

So your machine is completely set up?

You surfaced a spoil board?
You have the Z zero plate thickness set correctly?

What are you using for software?
Do you know how to use it?

[hrdwrkr]

Hey Roger. yes the machine is completly set up. i ran my spoil board last week and all is done. i followed all of the steps setting up the zero plate so to the best of my knowledge it is set properly. i am running the latest version of aspire 2. No, i would definately not refer to myself as qualified with the software at this point. i have been working with it while i was waiting for the machine. i am becoming familiar with the software but have just began compared to the time that others have into it.

[butch]

Dennis
First thing I would check is if I had the program zero to the top of the material and then zero the Z to the table.
If you want to zero the Z axis to the table, make certain that the file is set to Zero at the table and not the top of the material.
I'm not certain which software you are using, but it sounds to me like you are trying to run a file that is supose to be zeroed at the top of the material and then you zeroed the Z axis to the table.

If you go into editor and open the file you are running, look at the M3 lines. If it looks like M3,1.000,11.000,-0.25 then the axis needs to be zeroed to the top of the material. If it looks like M3,1.000,11.00,0.25 then the file is set to run with the Z axis set to be zeroed on the table.
Or open the file you are running and look under the material setup (if it is Aspire it is "Edit/Job Size") and see where the Z axis is set top or bottom of material.

Butch

[zeykr]

Let's start simple and see if the Z is moving the amount we tell it to. Zero your bit to the table using the zero plate. Then do a MZ 0 to put the bit on the table. Now do a MZ 4 (or as big a movement you can make on your z) and get out your tape measure and see if it really moved up 4 inches. If not, your unit values may be off or the pinion may be loose. You might repeat moving up and down to different heights several times then measure as a slipping pinion or other mechanical problem will likely be cumulative.

If it moves right amount it's possibly a programming error and as Butch outlines above you need to look at your .sbp file and/or aspire file and see if you set up to zero at table or top of material and make sure you are zeroing where you told the program you would be, but if as you say you zeroed at top of material and program had been set for zero at table, you would have air cut above your material. You should have had to program for zero at top of material then zeroed at table to get it to dig into spoilboard the way you describe.

Upload your .sbp if it's small and you're still having problems and I'm sure someone will be happy to look at it and see if they see any problem there.

[dlcw]

Dennis,

Welcome aboard.

What version of ShopBot Console software are you using? If you have 3.6.3 installed you might want to consider going back to 3.6.2 or 3.6.1. I've had my machine for about 2 months now and when I moved from 3.6.3 to 3.6.1 a lot of the problems I was having went away. Additionally, my PRS Alpha 96x60 is running much smoother.

Another thing I did was to draw a little square on my Zzero plate (about a 1/2" square) and measure the thickness at that point with some digital calipers. The calipers are accurate to within .0005". I then set &my_ZzeroThickness in my_variables.sbp file to this measurement. When I Zzero, I always have the bit land within this little square and I know my zeroing will be very accurate.

Don
www.diamondlakewoodworks.com (http://www.diamondlakewoodworks.com)

[khaos]

I'm with Butch. -Joe

[hrdwrkr]

Hey guys i just got back into town, I am sorry for the delay on getting back to you. I got it figured out this morning. I check and I was zeroing right (on top of the board) and all seemed well until I tried Ken's suggestion of moving my Z and measuring the distance of travel. My Z value was off about 3/4" in 4 inches. I talked to Scott this morning in support and he got me squared away on the correct value. I appriciate the help and the advice. I can now try to accomplish something.
Dennis