Hey everyone! Happy Wednesday!
I have probably a silly question.
if we have a 30x30 piece of wood and we are cutting out a 28 x 28 project but the 30 x 30 needs to stay intact, how do we use the touch plate to establish xyz access?
With the board being so large, there is not enough room for the calibration of the touch plate.
So I love the touch plate, I don’t have success if I don’t use it (can’t ever seem to get my bits lined up properly)… so i’m trying to figure out what to do?
Thanks.
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@chapklc If you don’t have enough room at the corner to establish X0YO with the touch plate, one option is to set X0Y0 at the centre of the piece. If you want to be very exact, find the centre of your 30 x 30 piece and use a V bit to set X0Y0. Change the bit to the one needed for the carve. Then use the touch plate to set Z0. If you decide to do this, make sure that you have set your CAM software to the centre of the project before you write out your gcode. DAMHITK 
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@chapklc you can you the touch plate to set the Z height any place on your project surface. Just turn it over (text side down) and zero off the thin part of the touch plate. As far as X and Y you can change your project to a center reference instead of lower left corner and manually position X and Y till the router bit is over the center and then manually reset X and Y to zero. If the router bit reaches the lower left corner of your project you could leave your reference at the lower left corner and move the router there and reset X and Y zero.
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Great minds think alike!
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so if i zero on center, and i have to change bits, it doesn’t matter as long as gsender isn’t turned off or resets? I love gsender, but it has had some glitches, so how would i re-establish center if my carve is already underway and my original z is missing?
@chapklc When you set X0Y0, then change bits, X0Y0 does not change. This would be true if you use the touch plate or the centre zero method. In fact, the key is to make sure that you do not change X0Y0 when you change bits. Z0 on the other hand will change with each bit change since the bits are of a different length.
I’m not sure what you mean when you say “my original z is missing”.
well if i’m carving and the original surface is no longer there.,… but i have to change bits…?
Zero X and Y only at the start at the center and zero your Z somewhere else on the piece where the carving is not taking away the surface. It is better to use that same spot for all Z Zero so that your carve is consistent. I make a mark, usually in the waste of a piece or in pencil on the piece where the surface is left intact so I know where to Zero Z after a tool change. You could also Z Zero off the waste board, but your piece is pretty big so that may not be an option.
You mentioned your piece was 30x30 and your carve would end up 28x28. You could Zero Z in the area around the 28x28. Having a flat spoil board and a flat workpiece also helps.
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ok, i’ll be giving it a try, thanks everyone!!!
May I clarify something here…
When you are working on a project that requires 2- or 3- bit changes… and you CAN use the touch plate appropriately…
Do you guys x-y-z “re-zero” on bit changes…? Or do you only re establish the z?
@chapklc You only reset Z. X0 and Y0 stay the same for the whole job. This is true whether you use the touch plate or not.
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wow, so i’ve been doing it wrong the whole time…I have been rezeroing ALL with each bit change if the diameter is different.
So X and Y don’t matter if your bits are different diameters?
That is correct. The touch probe measures to the center of the bit. Of course you definitely need to use the correct diameter bit based on your project requirements.
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wow, i feel really crappy… thought I had been doing it right all this time!
Thanks again guys, really appreciate it!
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@chapklc No need to feel bad, Kari. We’ve all been there.
Further to what Heyward said, it is imperative that you pick a bit in gsender for your probe and use that bit to find zero. It does not even need to be a bit that you will be using for your project. Stay away from using V bits and tapered bits for this. Use only straight bits. After finding X0Y0, you can change bits to whatever you want and only need to reset Z0.
Have fun.
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So after finding your initial zero with an endmill you can use the probe to find the z-zero for a vbit?
@druiz73 Correct, Diana. Just make sure that whatever bit that you choose in gsender to find X0Y0 is the one that you put in the collet when running the probe module. Then, use the V bit, or whatever bit that you are going to use for your first tool path, to set Z0. If you will be changing bits for subsequent tool paths, leave X0Y0 alone and use the plate only to reset Z0.
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