What I think you are asking is how can you permanently change the X and Y orientation of your CNC. The Piranha is an NWA designed and manufactured product. I have the original NWA Shark CNC which is also 12x24 and when shipped it had the Y axis on the 24 and the X on the 12 inch side. Since I put my unit against the wall it made sense to me to have the X being the long axis with 0 being left and and the Y the short axis with 0 at the bottom. There are a number of Shark Forum topics about this and how to change it permanently so you don't have to do any messing around with rotating your projects in V-Carve each time you want to make something.
I can't guarantee that this solution is what you need for the Piranha but the similarities are close enough that I would recommend that you investigate. The process I used was to swap the X and Y stepper motor leads at the controller box. You also have to physically reverse the gantry because everything will be backward for the Y. And then go into the controller software and change the sign of the Y steppers from positive to negative. Do not change the values, only the sign. worked perfectly for me and after 5 years have not had a problem. The only time I had issues where the Y exceeded my machine capacity, I found the problem to be between the keyboard and the chair.
There are a number of postings about how to do the process and how to get into the setup of the shark controller software. Check out the forum and do a search on changing X and Y axis. You might find what you need. http://www.cncsharktalk.com/
Based on your info, I see there is no one button method for rotating X & Y.
You both mentioned the same method and it does work, so that is what I will use.
Thanks for the insight and help, much appreciated.
pd417 wrote:Based on your info, I see there is no one button method for rotating X & Y.
You could bind a gadget to a button combination like Ctrl+F2, which is close to a one-button solution.
I just use the following keyboard sequence:
Ctrl+a - select all
Ctrl+0 - rotate clockwise 45 (or 15?) degrees (do this a few times)
F9 - Re-center selection on material
I have the same problem with my 6040 Chinese router, the Y is the long axis and its driving me up the wall. My "other" router that I had for 5 years a USA made one and it took me six months to get it running. It was not turn key!!
I am using Mach3 and the controller box has identical plugs as I can tell for X and Y. So why can't I just swap those plugs around, same motor and same settings?
I do not understand why the gantry needs to be changed?
Using VCarve 5.5 maybe the newer version has a rotate axis when saving gcode.... I am dreaming I think!
It will be Two Years this March that I have had my Shark HD3 Pro CNC machine with no real problems that could not be solved. I have found it a lot easier to rotate the design (with tool paths applied), re-size material in setup, and then recalculate tool paths after in V-Carve (which actually works!!!) then to have to tackle the tedious task of messing with the machine.
Who knows what you might end up with after taking a monkey wrench to the machine --- Heinz 57 maybe!!!
Tackling the Machine
1.) voiding any warranty (if any)
2.) a possible Heinz 57 CNC machine when complete.
3.) personal injury is possible
4.) etc...., etc..., etc...
Three(3) extra steps at the computer sitting versus no telling how many steps/days tackling the machine!!!
Something to consider RIGHT???
Just my thoughts and opinions!!!
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