Drilling tool path goes crazy when setting virtual zero

[scovell]

I setup a simple drilling tool path to drill six 1/4 holes in a board that is 5.5 " wide and 12" long.
When I load it into my CNC Shark, it prompts me to set virtual zero, when I click okay the router attempts to run past the usable table space, which I then abort.

I am running VCarve 8.5
The starting XY Data position is set to the upper left circle (Upper left hand corner of the board).

I'm sure it is a user error as the other cutting paths run as expected. Needless to say I don't use the drilling tool path very often.

I have attached a copy of the .crv and .tap files.

Thanks,

Mike

[Adrian]

Is the upper left the correct XY zero position for your machine? It's the bottom left on most machines.

[Rcnewcomb]

You also have the home Z set to 1.8" above the material. Do you have enough Z travel for that? A value of 0.5" might be a better choice.

[scovell]

Thank you both for the quick replies.

I can set the starting point to any of the corners or center of the defined space. I will try starting at the bottom left.

I typically have the Z position higher than needed to give me a little bit more room to place the touch plate when the program is first loaded.

[scovell]

I set the XY zero position to the bottom left of the board. I load the code into the machine which then asks if I want to use virtual zero, when I click okay the router runs up to the top right of the cutting surface and I abort it before it grinds the gears.

I ran another program using a profile tool path and the machine runs as expected.

[joeporter]

"The starting XY Data position is set to the upper left circle (Upper left hand corner of the board)." I am not sure what you are saying, is XY zero the upper left corner of the material or the upper left circle? I think you have to zero off the material, not a part of the drawing. Hope this is of some help...joe

[Adrian]

I set the XY zero position to the bottom left of the board. I load the code into the machine which then asks if I want to use virtual zero, when I click okay the router runs up to the top right of the cutting surface and I abort it before it grinds the gears.

I ran another program using a profile tool path and the machine runs as expected.

You have to set the XY zero position on the Job Setup to where the machine expects it to be. It's not a setting you can guess at and change around. Where did you set it with the profile toolpath that worked ok? Set it in the same place and try again.

[scovell]

The starting position defined in the Vectric software is shown in image 1.

The machine's starting XY position can be seen in image 2.

Both settings are the same when doing a profile cut, which runs as expected.

Thanks for your time.

[joeporter]

Scovell, when you changed your X Y zero to the lower left corner, did you recalculate your tool paths and save them to be used to run the project? This can be over looked. I am not familiar with a Shark, but when I am in the starting place on my machine (ShopBot), my control board will show 0X and 0Y. I think yours should show that also? Then, everything should run as you planned. Hope this is of some help...joe

[scovell]

Hi Joe,

I did recalculate and save a new file. (Saved it under a different name to ensure I got the new one loaded).

I also reset the machine's starting XY position to the bottom left.

[joeporter]

I am at a loss, when things like this happen with ShopBots people always start talking about machine or controller or post processor abnormalities like unit values or lost communications, etc. Have you talked to someone on the Shark forum? Sometimes things like these can have electrical or machine control problems. Your file runs fine for me in the preview and what you see is what you get all else being equal. I hope you find an answer and please let us know when you do...joe

[Gaffboat]

The Shark virtual zero requires that you set the XY data zero to the CENTER of the job and define the size of the virtual zero area. If you set the zero to anywhere other than center you will encounter the problem you are having.

[scovell]

Gaffbot, I had high hopes, but the bit still moves up to the farthest upper right hand corner of the work space when I attempt to setup virtual zero on the run.
I triple checked to ensure that I had set the xy data zero to the middle of the board in both vectric and on the shark cnc itself.

[Gaffboat]

Have you defined the size of the virtual zero area in APPS section of your Shark? You may have to modify it fit your current project. Then when you set it on the fly for the job you will need to use the touch plate at five positions: each of the four corners and the center. When you start the virtual zero sequence the gantry moves to one corner and the bit descends to meet the touch plate. When it does, it shows you the correction and asks if you want to use the setting. As soon as you say OK it moves to the next corner and repeats. You have to keep moving the touch plate to keep up with the gantry position so it is ready when the bit lowers again. The center position is the last one checked by the virtual zero app.

If you have done all of this and are still having problems, I'm as mystified as you are.

[scovell]

I have not defined the size of the virtual zero area in APPS section of my shark. I can't recall defining this area in the past, but perhaps it was done when I first set up the machine. I shall report back. Thank you.