Finally got my MPCNC put together, that was a very fun build, and thank you to Allted for his matermind design. Now that I have it together Im having some strange things happen with Estlcam, and was wondering if someone can help me out. I am trying to carve out a basic wood sign (about 2mm letter depth) as a test. I am importing my svg file into Estlcam from Inkscape and creating toolpaths using the engrave tool, my settings are set up like those on Allted’s site as well. I save the CNC Program and put it into my machine via SD (using Full LCD only, no Repetier, Pronterface, etc) Before I start the machine I set it to where I want the origin to be (X, Y, and Z) then turn the machine on I goto Print from SD and here is where the fun begins… The toolhead moves approx 6 inches in X and 6 in Y away from my origin and then starts the carve/engrave. The Z is a little funky to, but Im not sure its the same type of issue (somehting tells me its tool settings or something). Also the engraving/carve is backwards on the workpiece, I found a way to get around this by flipping the drawing in Estlcam, but I would prefer to not have to do this if possible. Thank you in advacne
You need to set your origin closer to the cut in estlcam, and flip the plug on your ramps board to reverse your axis.
Thank you, which plug should I reverse? Im kind of confused coming from a 3d printer with limit switches, I’m not sure I am setting the origin correctly, does moving the xyz axis to wherr i want the origin to be and flipping the board on make that location the origin? Also should I be using absolute or relative positioning in the estlcam settings?
You have to send a picture for me to know which one to flip.
The origin is where the head is located when you turn on the arduino. When you try it out you will see it is easier than endstops. Zero is exactly where you put the head.
I can’t answer questions about the estlcam board controls. I use marlin.
“I can’t answer questions about the estlcam board controls. I use marlin.”
Sorry to be confusing I am using marlin I was talking about the “Texts” options under “Setup/CNC program generation” in Estlcam, is that not something I need to even mes with? I did not import my gcode from Estlcam into Repetier, just put it on the SD and in the machine.
“The origin is where the head is located when you turn on the arduino. When you try it out you will see it is easier than endstops. Zero is exactly where you put the head.”
Exactly the info I was looking for (and what I was thinking) thank you
Here is a pic of my stepper connections (extra drivers are going to be for dual extruder, eventually):
I was able to get this out of it to show of to the wife:
Just would like to not have to flip the image in Estlcam, and wondering why such long travel on start, it traveled at least 3-4 inches from the start to the closest point on that engraving, seems kind of unpredictable I would have thought it would have started exactly where the origin is in Estlcam.
I can’t tell what axis is backwards because you flipped it in estlcam. So if it is flipped left to right it is your x axis, top to bottom your y axis.
Just uncheck both the boxes in estlcam. Arcs aren’t working well right now.
The cut you made looks pretty good, High five!
Thanks, not to bad for my first time I guess 
it was left to right, I, Ill try flipping x and see what I get tommorrow. Which boxes should I uncheck? Sorry there are so many options, Estlcam is an amazing looking piece of software, looks like there is not much it cant do. I purchased it right after making that first cut because it impressed me it was pretty easy to get it going, figured the flip was something I did. Lots to learn Thanks again
I couldnt take it and had to check it tonight (used a sharpie instead of the 660 to be quiet) I had my X axis plugged into Y and vise versa, swapped those around and played with the polarity until I got it right, everything seems to be working ok now (no flipping, and no extreme movement prior to start), Ill find out for sure in the AM.