Probing and plate alignment

[KTM]

Hello

I have a plate that is already punched with holes with 2 reference holes on the edge of the plate, now I want to plasma cut the plate.
Is it possible to use a laser probe to set the angular offset and zero position of the X and Y axes to align the plasma cutting and punching?

Regards

KTM

[jimpinder]

Quite clearly, the thing you need to do is set the 0.0 position of your plasma program and align the plate with the X or Y axis. I do not see the purpose of the two reference holes on the plate unless you are going to do multiples of the cutting. In that case you need to make some sort of jig on your table to hold the plate, with some sort of indent (or outdent) for the holes, so that subsequent plates locate in the same place.

If you know the relationship between the holes and the rest of your program, the laser probe is irrelevant. In this case a drill bit, or rod of the same sixe as the hole will suffice. Zero your table if you have lhome switches, put the drill or rod in the chuck and move the table , until the the drill bit or rod slides smoothly into the hole. If the holes are semi-circular, move the table to the correct position and put the plate in place against the rod.

The alternative is with a drill and two short pieces of rod, drill your table in the correct place for the holes, and the two pieces of rod will tap into the holes. All you plates will then fit in exactly the same position on your table.

[KTM]

Every punching job is different. The cad drawing is made in 2 layers - 1 for punching and 1 for cutting.

To get the overlay exact it is more accurate to set a reference point on a punched mark and set the angular offset on the other mark. I cannot drill the table, as it consists of a supporting grid.
There are plasma machines that do this - some with video probes and others with laser probes.
 I just have to figure out how it is done.

Regards

KTM

[Hood]

Tried using the Set Rotataion wizard?

Hood

[KTM]

Where do I find this mysterious wizard? 

Regards

KTM

[Hood]

Presume you are using Plasma, if so then  big button under the SoftLimits button, it says Load Wizard. Click on that then go down to set rotation wizard.
 If you are using another screenset it may be different.

Hood

[KTM]

It is not in the list of wizards - see attachment

[Hood]

What version you running? Its definitely in mine. No problem however, I will attach it in a few mns.
Hood

[Hood]

OK shut down Mach, download the zip file and unzip to C:\Mach3\Addons then restart Mach and it should now be in the list.
Hood

[KTM]

Thanks a lot Hood.