Meshcam 6 program zero not working right

MESHCAM 6 PROGRAM ZERO NOT WORKING RIGHT HOW TO
MESHCAM 6 PROGRAM ZERO NOT WORKING RIGHT REGISTRATION
MESHCAM 6 PROGRAM ZERO NOT WORKING RIGHT SOFTWARE

This option requires very accurate tool holders that keep the length constant and a lot of effort on your part to measure and input all of the length data before machining begins. In many machine controllers it is possible to preconfigure everything so that a tool change doesnвЂ™t require a rezero. You need to touch off that corner again except that it isnвЂ™t there: Nor youвЂ™ve finishing roughing and youвЂ™d like to use a different tool for the finishing. Image that youвЂ™ve set the zero on the top, southwest corner as seen below: If the point initially used has been machined away by the roughing operation then youвЂ™ve lost the ability to set your tool length. The point you pick for a zero must be available any time you need to do a tool change and reset the tool length.

If you change tools in the middle of a machining job then you need to reset the Z value of the zero since the two tools are not likely to be exactly the same length. The only time the вЂњTop SouthwestвЂќ position may give you trouble is when you need to change toolsвЂ¦ What about tool changes?ДЄll of the coordinates in the gcode file tell the mill where to move the tip of your tool. Z coordinates will be negative when youвЂ™re cutting into the stock and any positive Z number should be вЂњin the airвЂќ. In general, this is what I use 90% of the time it works well, itвЂ™s easy to locate and it keeps all of the X and Y toolpath coordinates as positive numbers. If I had to give you one default position to pick it would be the top of the stock, in the lower left-hand corner, the southwest corner in MeshCAM terminology. While this zero may take a few minutes for a new machinist to locate, itвЂ™s not hard to do if youвЂ™re patient.

While this is a point that does exist, itвЂ™s in empty space so you have very little change of accurately finding it.Д«y contrast, if you were to pick a corner of the stock then you have three planes/sides that you can touch the tool off of, the top, side, and front. Imagine, for instance, a zero that was 10 inches to the left of the bottom corner of the stock. For you, the machinist, the program zero must be something you can locate with the mill if the point cannot be located then you are probably going to have a lot of problems. On a mathematical level, the CAM program can accept any arbitrary zero point, itвЂ™s just an offset in space and one is as good as another.

MESHCAM 6 PROGRAM ZERO NOT WORKING RIGHT SOFTWARE

The program zero also gives the CAM software a single reference point for the toolpath.

MESHCAM 6 PROGRAM ZERO NOT WORKING RIGHT REGISTRATION

Without this registration process, there is very little chance that anything would line up. Since the mill table is generally much bigger than the stock you are cutting the mill must be вЂњtoldвЂќ where youвЂ™ve put the stock. This can be seen more clearly in the image below:ДЄt a basic level, the program zero tells the mill where to find the stock on itвЂ™s table. MeshCAM uses the compass layout- north, south, east, and west, to describe the location. ItвЂ™s difficult to write clearly about sizes and edges when we talk about the location of the zero. My one caveat for this post is that it doesnвЂ™t apply equally to everyone if you have a big machining center with an automatic tool changer and properly configured tool offset tables then this doesnвЂ™t apply to you as much.

Once you get a few jobs done and get a better understanding of the process there are real benefits to picking the right program zero for a job. Luckily, the default program zero in MeshCAM is very safe, and most users begin with very forgiving jobs, so everything usually works out fine. Most will just accept the defaults and see what happens.

MESHCAM 6 PROGRAM ZERO NOT WORKING RIGHT HOW TO

New users frequently ask questions about how to set a program zero for a toolpath.

Meshcam 6 program zero not working right