Hey guys,
I recently built a Lowrider 3 and have attempted the crown test, I followed the instructions for setting up estlcam EstlCAM Setup - V1 Engineering Documentation
, put the pen a hair above where I wanted to start the test. Is the machine supposed to home first when the gcode is ran & if so why would my Z move down instead of up but when I jog the machine it’s the right direction…
Essential what are the steps to get this to work?
For the first crown test you don’t need EstlCAM at all. You are suppossed to load the gcode file to the gcode sender you are using (repetier host, cncjs…), connect the mpcnc to the pc, put the pen over the paper and start the job with the gcode sender.
Also you can put the gcode file on the sd card and run from it if your board supports it.
https://www.v1engineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Test-Crown-12mms.gcode (here’s the link, just in case)
After the pen test….when I actually start milling what is the process…I don’t want to break a bit if the machine is going to home then cut….do you have a video of what it should actually do before milling.
Homing code is not inserted by default. You would need to jump through some hoops to have it automatically executed. How you set up your jobs varies from person to person and often job to job. A common process of doing a job is:
Arbitrarily mount the stock on the spoil board
Home X and Y. This can be done through a display, or by executing a simple line of g-code.
Electronically jog your machine over your stock
Home Z to the top of the stock either using a sheet of paper or using a touch plate
Electronically jog your machine to the part of your stock you defined as the origin when you authored the job. Typically, this is the bottom left corner, but can be any corner or even the center of your stock.
Execute a G92 X0 Y0 Z0 to set the current position of the router as the origin
Execute the job
If you always set up your jobs this way, then it is easy to have the G92 automatically inserted by either EstlCAM or RepetierHost. If you have a display, there is a menu item (at least in Marlin mode), for setting the origin (executing a G92).
As you attempt to author the crown yourself (as you tried when you posted this question), the two biggest issues we see on the forum are:
Failing to add a G92 X0 Y0 Z0 to the script to establish the current pen position as the origin
Failing to set the correct depth of cut in EstlCAM. The depth of cut will determine how far the pen will descend before it starts drawing.