New User to Mach 3 ....... Help!!

[bullet11300]

Hi

To set the scene ... I am new to the world of CNC. I have a Zenbot 1216 CNC Machine working with Mach 3 and I use Vectric 2d to create my G code.

The stage I have got to is this .... I have loaded a basic 2d shape from the Vectric software to the mach 3 software. I can see my shape on the screen great. The big issue I have is how to set the table parameters around the image. My cutter keeps running into the full reach on the x and y axis. I know my image is well withing the table size but I am clueless as to how yoy set the table, the cutter relative to the image ... I need to move the cutter to the middle of the image and indeed middle of my table somehow so that the cutter can get around the shape fully.

I know this is basic stuff but sadly it has me confused, nowwhere in any documentation is it explained in basic terms, I would greatly appreciate any help!!

Thank you

Mike

[ger21]

In Cut2D, you pick an origin, which can be lower left, lower right, upper left, upper right, and center. Typically, you'll want to use lower left.

In Mach3, jog your machine to the lower left corner where you want your part to be, and zero the X and Y axis. Then run your code. You'll also want to zero the Z axis to the top of the part. Make sure that's how Cut2D is configured as well.

[mrpenguin]

ger21, when i reference the z-axis to the top of the material, zero it out, and hit regen toolpath; i then run the program and the z-axis jumps up to a height and then starts drilling. the problem is that when it does that the bit isn't anywhere close to the top of the material. I've been fighting with this off and on for the past two days. any ideas of why this is happening and what i can do to fix it?

[ger21]

Yes, it's the G43 tool length offset.

I modified my Vectric post to remove it.

If you remove the G43 Hx from the g-code, it should fix the problem.