Hello. This is my first post. A little about my self. I am a production machinist by trade. I work on haas, and okuma  machines, running good ole fanuc controls. Ive not done any real programming, just heavy editing of known programs, for parts and materials that I am very familiar with.

So, I bought a Chinese made cnc 6040 router table, and a gecko 540 controller,, and figured it would be simple for a pro like me to just get it up and cutting chips in no time. Its a bit more complicated than I thought. Im trying to cut acetal plastic using a .250 2 flute endmill. Just a simple pocket. I thought it would cut like butter, but its more like aluminum. Initially I stalled out the machine by trying to take too big of a cut, and after E stopping, and raising everything up, I found that all 3 axis had lost position. So, when I went to "go to zero" it went a couple inches off from where zeros were set.

How can I prevent that from happening again? Do I have the velocity in mach3 too high? My settings are as follows : 10160 steps per inch, velocity 78, acceleration 7.8, step pulse 3 , dir pulse 2.   Speed is a bit fast, as I had to slow feed down in g code to f3, and then reduce manually on the mach screen to 60%.  Depth of cut was .05, and spindle speed was 15k. Yeah, Im pretty sure the vfd was reading 15k,, or it might have been 1500,, but pretty sure it was 15k. The vfd goes up to 40k, but its got the decimal point at a strange spot in the display, so im not 100% sure about it. Im controlling the spindle manually, as I dont know how to hook up the Chinese made vfd to the gecko 540 yet.

Regarding the machine itself; Can anybody recommend some T nuts and clamping hardware for the extruded aluminum T slot table? How about a good smallish (4"?) LOW PROFILE vice I can indicate for set up?

Thanks for your time!

O/K, so I figured a little bit out. No encoders on this machine, so it really dosent know where its at if it gets turned off, and the mach 3 position is changed but the mechanical position is not moved at the same time. So, it helps to have home and or limit switches to reference a position at start up,, or as Im doing,, just dont crash it or move anything un intentionally.

Home switches are almost a requirement, if you want to "Save Fixture Settings" (I.E. the machine's current position) when you exit Mach3 to turn the machine off. IF the current position of the machine, is your current work offset Zero position, then when you power up the machine (and Mach3), click the Zero X Y and Z DRO's, then rehome the machine. Then click Goto Zero, and it should return to where it was at the time you shut it down. The key is using the home switches. Without a physical frame of reference, (the Home Switches) Mach3 only knows what you tell it. Just don't forget to follow the above steps in exactly the order described, or you will lose your last position!

I dont have any limit switches yet, but heres what I have been doing. I have my x0.y0. set in the middle of the table, at the lower left corner of a vice that Im using as a fixture. I have the machine zeros set in the same position. So, I avoid forcing the steppers to miss steps,, and at shut down, I zero everything out. Then at start up again, the mach software, and the machine are in agreement as to being at last known zero. Ghetto,, I know, but not much else to do without limit switches for a reference start.  FUN FUN! But I already want to start spinning bigger tools!