Flipping XY coordinates in Aspire

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SCW
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Re: Flipping XY coordinates in Aspire

Post by SCW »

IslaWW wrote:Did you know that the vast majority of errors and bug reports for CAD, CAM and CNC control softwares are reported by users in their first 60 days of ownership? One would think that experienced users would find more things wrong?????
lol... Maybe because the "old guys" just deal with the bugs/quirks of the software and the "new guys" still think there's hope to change it. :lol:

Frunple

Re: Flipping XY coordinates in Aspire

Post by Frunple »

SCW wrote: Hopefully my pic is attached. If so, this is how I use my CNC... I'll reach down with my right hand and flip on the Variable Freq Drive; I don't manually adjust the speed so I never touch the drive again until I'm ready to shut the system off. You can see the hand controller hanging on the CNC stand (which happens to be where the machine xy-axis = (0,0). When I'm running a program, I keep the hand controller on top of the CNC table (where the wrenches are in the pic) because it's easier for me to hit the stop button if something starts messing up. I stand between the gantry and the hand controller when the project is running so that I can get in there and see the detail of the work. If I'm standing "where I'm supposed to be" on the short end of the machine, then I can't see enough detail of the wood/bit once the gantry is over 2' away. I'm still new to this and I'm still experimenting. I want to stare at the bit the whole time because i'm afraid I might have feed/speed wrong to where I might snap my thinner bits. My computer with Aspire is located in my office and I don't have any monitors or computers connected to my CNC.
CNC.jpg
I've got a couple coworkers that have one of their dual widescreen monitors in the portrait orientation... I don't do that because i can get two [portrait] documents tiled side-by-side on my widescreen [landscape] monitor. :D
So swap your cables so the Y axis is moving on the gantry and the X is the gantry. Done.

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IslaWW
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Re: Flipping XY coordinates in Aspire

Post by IslaWW »

Not quite "done".
In most cases you will also need to: (if possible) and I do not believe it is possible on the Richauto controller
Change direction of the Y axis
Rewrite the homing routine as the former -X home switch now must be +Y (or move the switch)

X and Y switch wiring must be swapped


Learn to translate speak when speaking to peers or support. IOW: When my X..... , that would be your Y............
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Re: Flipping XY coordinates in Aspire

Post by LittleGreyMan »

SCW wrote:I've got a couple coworkers that have one of their dual widescreen monitors in the portrait orientation... I don't do that because i can get two [portrait] documents tiled side-by-side on my widescreen [landscape] monitor. :D
Darn. You got me. you win. Chessmate. :D

Hopefully, I wrote "nearly anybody"!
SCW wrote:lol... Maybe because the "old guys" just deal with the bugs/quirks of the software and the "new guys" still think there's hope to change it. :lol:
Maybe, maybe not.

As Gary advised, swapping axes may not be that easy if the controller does not have this feature. Read carefully his post.

I think you'd better use your machine as it is, and once you're more used to all CNC concepts (Aspire, the machine, its controller, …) consider if it is worth the change.

Maybe not an old guys vs new guys issue, but simply the knowledge of experienced users.
Best regards

Didier

W7 - Aspire 8.517

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Re: Flipping XY coordinates in Aspire

Post by LittleGreyMan »

Read "checkmate" of course.
Best regards

Didier

W7 - Aspire 8.517

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TReischl
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Re: Flipping XY coordinates in Aspire

Post by TReischl »

This XY zero thing got me thinking. I do a lot of work with a vise. I use the back jaw of the vise for obvious reasons. I also use a right end stop block for location. So for those jobs I put the XY zero in the upper right corner. Takes a little getting used to.

Looking at the pic from the OP, it is pretty obvious there is no optimum solution. He would be better off with a machine similar to mine. The difference is that my gantry runs along Y axis. X is on the gantry and is the long axis. On that machine (and many, many others) to aid in rigidity they have made the short axis on the gantry. Pretty typical. But it actually does not make all that much sense unless most of the work to be done on it is narrow and tall. Doors come to mind. A few years ago a user who made lots of entry doors was complaining about his axis orientation. ::::sigh::: there is no one size fits all. I would see about either modifying the post or swapping the wiring around.
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Re: Flipping XY coordinates in Aspire

Post by martin54 »

This XY zero thing got me thinking. I do a lot of work with a vise. I use the back jaw of the vise for obvious reasons. I also use a right end stop block for location. So for those jobs I put the XY zero in the upper right corner. Takes a little getting used to.

Haha, I just pot my vice on the table upside down so the fixed jaw is closest to me, means I have to reach over to tighten it up but it saves me having to remember to change any of my other set up :lol: :lol: :lol:

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Re: Flipping XY coordinates in Aspire

Post by martin54 »

martin54 wrote:This XY zero thing got me thinking. I do a lot of work with a vise. I use the back jaw of the vise for obvious reasons. I also use a right end stop block for location. So for those jobs I put the XY zero in the upper right corner. Takes a little getting used to.

Haha, I just pot my vice on the table upside down so the fixed jaw is closest to me, means I have to reach over to tighten it up but it saves me having to remember to change any of my other set up :lol: :lol: :lol:
I run mach3 & UCCNC so swapping the axis cables over & then making the changes in the software is simple enough, the x & y motors are identical so no other set up required.

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TReischl
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Re: Flipping XY coordinates in Aspire

Post by TReischl »

martin54 wrote:This XY zero thing got me thinking. I do a lot of work with a vise. I use the back jaw of the vise for obvious reasons. I also use a right end stop block for location. So for those jobs I put the XY zero in the upper right corner. Takes a little getting used to.

Haha, I just pot my vice on the table upside down so the fixed jaw is closest to me, means I have to reach over to tighten it up but it saves me having to remember to change any of my other set up :lol: :lol: :lol:
Oh that's just wrong!
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Re: Flipping XY coordinates in Aspire

Post by adze_cnc »

SCW wrote:Most of the work I'm doing is in a landscape format and so that's why I want the x-axis in Aspire to run on the long axis of my CNC machine (currently Y-axis on CNC).
Call me naive but if you rotate your "landscape" vectors 90 degrees they will match up with your "portrait" machine. No swapping XY axis, rewiring, or reprogramming controllers needed. Your machine is what it is. Aspire is what it is. Adaptation seems to be the easiest route here.

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Re: Flipping XY coordinates in Aspire

Post by Jozua »

adze_cnc wrote:all me naive but if you rotate your "landscape" vectors 90 degrees they will match up with your "portrait" machine. No swapping XY axis, rewiring, or reprogramming controllers needed. Your machine is what it is. Aspire is what it is. Adaptation seems to be the easiest route here.
+100
I have been following this thread and wondered exactly the same thing. Why not simply design your project and then rotate it to match the machine bed? :?
Joz

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Re: Flipping XY coordinates in Aspire

Post by martin54 »

Having read through some of this thread again I would be inclined to agree with those that have said to leave the Axis as they currently are.
Once you gain a bit more experience you may well find that you want to get on with something else while the machine is cutting rather than standing watching it all the time.
When I first started using my machine I would stand for hours watching it but now once I have started the machine I give it a couple of minutes just to make sure it is doing what I am expecting it to & then I turn away & get on with something else that needs doing. The machine still fascinates me & there are times when I can just stand & watch it cutting away but I have the confidence to move away a bit if I have other things to do, I am never far away from the machine when it is running though just incase I do need to hit the emergency stop :lol: :lol:
As for breaking bits then more than likely if your settings are wrong then they will break & no matter how quickly you hit the emergency stop it will be to late :lol: :lol:

One thing I did learn as an engineer in the RN was that you very quickly become acustom to the noise machinery makes, if there is a change even if you are doing something else & not thinking about the machine at all you will still know something is not right :lol: :lol: :lol:

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Re: Flipping XY coordinates in Aspire

Post by Adrian »

I have a ShopBot. With those the XY home is on the bottom left if you're standing on the long axis (X). Now with the shape and size of my shop there is only just room to walk sideways down each long axis and the control panel is on the short end for access reasons. The control screen and start/reset buttons are on the opposite wall facing the machine so I stand with my back to the machine while operating. All this means that the directional arrows on the control software are 90 degrees out from the way the machine moves given where I stand and laying things out in Aspire is also out of whack with the perceived position as the home appears to be bottom right from where I stand. However none of this has ever caused me the slightest bother and I always work with the XY home in Aspire at the default bottom left but people who look at the setup can't get their heads around why it doesn't confuse the heck out of me.

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Re: Flipping XY coordinates in Aspire

Post by SCW »

adze_cnc wrote:Call me naive but if you rotate your "landscape" vectors 90 degrees they will match up with your "portrait" machine. No swapping XY axis, rewiring, or reprogramming controllers needed. Your machine is what it is. Aspire is what it is. Adaptation seems to be the easiest route here.
LOL... Well, three thoughts come to mind:
1) I'm stubborn.
2) I don't want to keep flipping vectors back and forth and I design them, cut samples, and then refine the design some more.
3) I'm an engineer... I don't accept, "that's how it is and that's how it will always be!"

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Re: Flipping XY coordinates in Aspire

Post by SCW »

Well, I've just emailed both Vectric and Axiom customer support... Hopefully one of them will add this "swapping" feature for me... :lol:

You guys can thank me later... :wink:

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