Z Touch Plate

Hi there,
I just finish my MPCNC…

…but I forget to buy the Z Touch Plate.

So I just want to ask… can I buy one of this Z Touch Plate in order to regulate my Z please ?

If yes… where can I tell to the CNC that my Z Touch Plate is 10mm and not 1mm (higher) ?

Thanks in advance
Denis

As long as you wire it the same way it should work, I was looking at the same type.

Below is a excerpt from the V1 probe selling page.

"G28 Z

G92 Z0.5

G0 Z5 F480

This homes Z

This tells the board it is now at 0.5mm above the Z plane

This moves the Z axis up 5mm to let you remove the clamp and probe."

You would run the same commands but change the G92 Z0.5 to G92 Z10

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It’s little complicated cause I’m beginner… but I think I’m understand.

G92 Z10
So now the board know that the Z plane is to 10mm
… but now, If I want to engrave for example 2 mm im my material,
I must tell to the Estlcam that must engrave 2mm or 12mm (that is 10+2) ?

Thanks a lot again
Denis

I’ve tried to add some more details about the commands below.

The first thing you would do is place the touch plate on top of your stock.

G28 Z
This command tells the machine to move Z down until the Z-Min input is triggered. This is the input you connect the touch probe to.

G92 Z10
This command tells the machine that Z is currently at a height of 10mm

G0 Z5 F480
This command moves the Z axis up 5mm so you can take the touch plate away.

The machine is now set so that the top of your stock is at Z0 so if you want to engrave 2mm you just tell Estlcam to go 2mm deep.

Hope this makes it clearer.

2 Likes

Greate explanation… thanks a lot.

One more question please… all this thinks, can be made from the marlin firmware ?
I buy the kit with the SKR Pro board (and LCD)

Thanks a lot another time :slight_smile:
Denis

As far as I am aware this is configured as default in the V1 Marlin firmware so all you need to do is connect the touch plate to the Z-Min End stop Signal and Ground pins on the board.

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Yes… but I think that the Marlin firmware inside of SKR that I buy from V1 is programmed with a .5mm plate.
Maybe I’ll put your commands from the LCD menu.

Thanks a lot for all the help.
Denis

Marlin isn’t calibrated with any particular sized touch plate. The only difference between between using the 0.5mm plate and the 10mm one is the G92 command that you give the machine.

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Just a word of caution. It’s not an exact dimensions so carefully measure it when you get it. Also the center is quite thin material and if you would forget to attach the clip to the v bit it will punch a hole right through it.

Hypothetically, I would have never done something like that :wink:

3 Likes

Ok I understand.
Tomorrow will arrive the piece and I’ll try.

Thanks a lot all
Denis

Also… If you use the script as given, you could be in for a surprise if the movement is not in relative mode.

If it’s in absolute mode, the G0 Z5 will plunge the tool 5mm into the touch plate, also hypothetically resulting in a puncture.

Personally, I would set absolute mode, just to be sure, and give it a coordinate that is higher than the surface of the touch plate:

G90
G28 Z
G92 Z10.0000 ; adjust to whatever your caliper says the thickness is
G0 Z15 ; 5mm (or so) higher than the previous command
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That’s a very good point.

I got those three lines form the touch plate shop page so it might be worth adding a note to make sure you are in the correct movement mode.

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Ok… so the G90 is some yupe of absolute mode if I understand.
I’ll play today when the piece will arrive.

Thanks a lot all again
Denis

Here’s a quick link to gcode commands supported by Marlin. No need to guess or assume when the documentation is readily available.

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Thanks a lot Tom
I have a lot to read this days… also I must begin to study some graphical software, so just need time.
And I like it :slight_smile:
Denis

Not sure if this would be useful, but got a cheap probe before this shop sold theirs and I wanted to make it lower profile. Quick print to sort out the problem :slight_smile:

Low profile ring for commodity z-probe by LagDragon - Thingiverse

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Thanks a lot, but I have send it back the one of Amazon
and I make one by my self.
This one have only 0.2mm and I don’t must to send that commands because for now it’s work.

I will carve 0.2mm on the working table and I will put it at the zero level.
I hope will be ok

Thanks again
Denis

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Moving onto the other part of my noobie lowrider series of post!
I want to touch off my tool.
Don’t believe I wanna have the post processor do it automatically but, I’m having a hard time understanding the. Values. Generally speaking on the machines I run at work z+ is all the way up to home zo. One we touch off the top of the stock then you have a. G54 offset z-12.00 (example).
From there any z value we give in the program will be off of that z0 and will be a negative value below to the top of the stock for your cut depth.

If I want to just touch off the end I’ll
Manually with my


Select probe z
Clamp on the endmill
Controller I have, jog it down to to almost to the touching and then bump the plate?
Noticed when I went to probe z offset I can turn the dial positive or negative z value??

Now that you contacted the plate
Where can I see the value stored for the z zero?
I used @Flyfisher604 post processor and believe it was set to .2mm ? Is there anywhere else I can variety the offset is stored on this controller?

Appreciate you guys helping me through this mess
:metal:

Continued from my previous reply/post
I do have these type of Z stops, for homing. The guy added them


And in my controller it says (soft end stops - ON)

When at Z home position it shows z +100

Do any of the values need changed in advanced settings?

Then under advanced settings> probe offsets I see this?

Usually we have the soft stops off.

The home position is at the top, but stock V1 firmware assigns an arbitrary high position to home (200mm, IIRC) yours would be set to 100mm, probably reasonable.

Marlin firmware is starting to be able to deal with workspace coordinates but we usually just reassign the machine coordinates with G92. A typical probe sequence would assign Z to be whatever height that your touch ate thickness is.

If you do have soft stops enabled, this is no longer stock V1 firmware, so I have to guess at what other modifications are there. G38.2 Z0 should probe down and stop at contact. You might be able to work with workspace coordinates like you’re used to. I use workspace coordinates on my machine with Reprap Firmware, but never did with Marlin.