Thanks for your video, been having troubles with my Oxcnc. Thought I was doing it right but your video showed it is such a simple fix. Cheers from Australia!
Charley Thomas I want to thank you for sharing your spreadsheet for the calibration. I had nothing but problems with my Z axis cutting to deep. Thank you for sharing. It is appreciated. Brian
Hi, mr. Thomas I had a lot of trouble calibrating the step motors. Your spreadsheet was the solution for the problems Many thanks for this Sorry for my bad english and Greetings from holland
Just received your rail end plates and the craftsmanship/packaging was flawless. Just odered your touch plate kit for a great price to make accurate 3D casting patterns. Appreciate the time you take to help the new guys out!
Nothing 'trivial' about accuracy. Thank you for clear, well presented information. And the spreadsheet:-) Do not understand the thumbs down people - seriously.
My friend, I am very happy with my router after you have applied your calibration method, thanks so much for sharing your expertise. I am sorry for the google translator...😊👍
Thank you for the video! Nothing is to trivial if you are looking for decent accuracy. I don’t want to program a circle cut and get an octagonal cut. This looks pretty easy to do and will come in useful in my current setup. Thank you again.
I have had many requests for the spreadsheet. To make it easy for anyone to get please go to www.triquetra-cnc.com and look for the link on the lower left side of the home page.
Hello Charley , thanks for the video .... it really helped me to calibrate by diy cnc plotter ...i was struggling to get it right for using the plotter for pcb etching which requires a good calibration and precision... thanks n cheers..
Thanks very much for this very informative video. it helped me out today as I was setting up my first ever cnc. had issues with it when jogging it to 1 inch it actually went an inch and a quarter now its dialed right in thanks to you, I would have never figured it out if I didn't find this video.
Thanks Charley Starting the assembly process later today. Need to build the bench for it first. Hope to have my controller by the time I am done putting it together. Going to take my time and do it right.
Yes, FLAT :) I have 2 layers of 3/4" MDF covered by a 1/8" Hardboard. Do you have the spreadsheet available for download? Installing the Triquetra tonight
If you have the Triquetra then it is on the Blue disk or you can download it from the Triquetra Owners Page. Look for the Excel file G-Code Generator. The calibration page is part of that.
Thanks for the quick, easy, and no-nonsense explanation! Very well done. I am assuming you are not using micro-stepping with steps/mm so low? Are you able to do 3D (well, 2.5D) relief carving?
Perhaps so, but with a accurate ruler you can travel greater distances which will compound errors and make them easily visible. I used a 12 inch ruler. I have seen 24 inch rulers that would make it even more precise. The digital caliper would work very well for the Z axis though.
First a bit about accuracy..... An error of say 5 thou in 4 inches will translate to 15 thou per foot. The longer distance you can measure will in itself minimize TOTAL inaccuracy. 15 thou is right at 1/64th an inch or .381 mm. Also how you have the speed and ramping set up for your steppers can affect the accuracy too. Too fast of a ramp up or too high a speed setting WILL cause steppers to loose steps. Get these settings right before setting the axis movements. There are many videos on you tube on how to do this. Most common are ones showing to set them in Mach 3. IGNORE the part specific for that controller as the setting procedure is the same. What is different is HOW you modify the settings for your controller. Another thing that can affect overall accuracy is dull bits, bits dug in too deep, and to high a travel speed. In addition, keep belts, lead screws, and bearing surfaces clean. These can cause underpowered steppers, common on many small cncs, to loose steps. The steppers must not loose steps to maintain accuracy. I recommend using one of those digital calipers. They will . work Dull bits, bits dug in too deep, and with both English and metric. Clamp it down in such a way the body WILL NOT move and at the same time allow free movement of the slider. Rulers can work but its IMPOSSIBLE to eyeball anything to the degree you can get with the calipers. Dont expect to get anything closer than about a 64t of an inch or half a mm using a ruler. Use a bit of 1/4 or 1/8 rod in the chuck instead of a bit because if the bit turns somehow, the reference point will shift due to the fact the flutes are usually a spiral shifting the contact point. Use one of the common digital calipers you can find most anywhere, the longer, the better. A 6 inch one is most common. You should have one anyway as they're very handy for a multitude of uses such as measuring the real thickness of materials. Stock wood is almost never the thickness its sold by. If you have the real material thickness then just set the maximum depth of cut a few thou short of the thickness and you wont ever chew up the spoil board. The procedure is exactly the same, other than how you make any needed corrections, for all CNC controllers. What differs is HOW you modify the settings. You will find how in the instructions for your controller. Clamp the calipers down solid where the body CANNOT move, but allowing freedom of movement of the slider. somewhere where you have double the length of the calipers to allow clearance for the slider part. I use English but its the same exact procedure for metric. All that changes is just numbers. Now open the calipers up a bit and position that bit of rod close but NOT touching the fixed jaw. Next slide the movable jaw against the rod and ZERO the calipers display. Make a move about an inch shorter than the range of the calipers. The actual movement can then be easily read off the calipers display within half a thou of an inch. Use a 1 inch dial indicator for Z and make your movements UP. With the X-carves, and possibly other controllers, you got to do a bit of math to figure out how much to adjust the value for the axis. Wth mach3 that I use on my home brew its completey math free. It has aneat utility built in where you tell Mach 3 how far you want to move. When it finishes a box pops up asking you how far you actually moved. I simply put in what shows on the caliper display and it makes the needed adjustment, one reason among others, why I DID NOT NOR EVER WILL go with the type of controller the X-carve, along with several other small Cncs. Now that you have made your corrections simply manually run the spindle back to the starting point and repeat the above again. 3 or 4 times and you should be able to get down to say .0005 inch.
Outstanding from one old hobbyist to another, THANK YOU all these wippersnappers talk to fast and leave steps out. The Spreadsheet was Gold. I can read and understand that perfectly I plan build one myself. Is this App still about I may go see after this. I have converted muy old Dremel Drill Press to a Mini Mill with manual X and Y Tables but am putting in a CNC Controlled Z axis to better manage and control cutter depth. I am machining old Model Train Chassis to adapt Digital stuff to them. I can do it manual but the Z height on this Dremel Drill Press is not really controllable in a consistent way. Thanks for the help I go it now. Dennis in Virginia Any way you can change that hat. D
Hi Charley, thanks for the good video and explanation. (I'm not so good with software) all this I did not know, so thank you so much It looks like 3D printer software I have seen now (I have two 3D printers) I have no CNC(not yet) I want to make one myself. I have an Arduino with a CNC shield and 4(more) stepper motors. I have Arduino software, GRBL and Gcode Sender. (It was said to me that I had better take Mach3) I'm still looking for simple (free?)drawing software to send to the Gcode sender. (Name plates and PCB will probably be my goal) Regards from the Netherlands. Rob.
I am a newbie. i made my own machine. I have it up and running. using arduino,grbl.,ugs. Visulizer shows an item key chain that is 40mmx40mm. but machine is reproducing image 20 times larger. re calibrated doesn't help. what am i doing wrong? please help. thanks
Is it best to start axis calibration with the full travel of the machine and work down, or small axis travel first? Oor does it make a difference? Very helpful video and thanks for your spread sheet.
It doesn't matter which axis you do first. It is best to use something that will measure the greatest distance of travel for whichever axis you are working with. You will be more accurate if you test with 300 mm of travel than you will if you test the same axis with only 50mm travel.
Thank you. It stands to reason (then why did I ask?) that the any error remaining over the longest travel would be lessened as the distance traveled became less.
I replaced my woodpecker control board with a GRLB 1.1F board. The new board is off on the axis 4 to 1. I could correct by changing $101=800 to $101=3600. It appears excessive and I wonder if there is another issue. Board works well otherwise. Thanks
tohose numbers are not excessive at all. Make a project with a square and measure each side and see if it is correct. If not then use the spreadsheet in this video to help you determine the correct callibration.
Please send your email request to charleyntexas@gmail.com. I will provide you with a Excel Spreadsheet that will aid in calibrating your stepper motors.
well i liked and subbed so there ye go.Curiosity time,is the x carve arduino powered?. I'm building my own 3 axis bed and i might blag some sizes from it,drive stepper types ,spindle rating etc.
I took a piece of aluminum about 3/4 inch square and 4 inches long. Drilled and tapped hole in about the middle of the 4 inch side for a 1/4 inch bolt with the head cut off to fit inside my collet. Then drilled and tapped a hole in one end for another 1/4 inch bolt that fit through the mounting bracket of the Dial Indicator. Works like a charm.
If you are using GRBL and your X and Y axis move correctly but the A Axis moves up when it should move down then change GRBL setting $3 to $3=4. Reference Directions settings for $3 below: Setting Value Mask Invert X Invert Y Invert Z 0 00000000 N N N 1 00000001 Y N N 2 00000010 N Y N 3 00000011 Y Y N 4 00000100 N N Y 5 00000101 Y N Y 6 00000110 N Y Y 7 00000111 Y Y Y
Not sure what you are confused about. The Excel Sheet is a Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet that I configured to do what is in the video. If you have a specific part that you would like me to explain pleas let me know and I would be happy to help you out.
Charley Thomas. Thank for attention. I am newer in this field. I am trying to convert Reprap prusa i2 3D printer to CNC machine. I have replaced electronics. Now issue is calibration. I understood about your video but I have no EXCEL Sheet like that. Can you help me about that EXCEL SHEET. I mean can you share me.
Just go to my website at www.triquetra-cnc.com and on the home page at the bottom there is a link to get the stepper calibration spreadsheet. It does require Microsoft Excel however you can also open it in with google docs or Open Office which are both free to download.
Can you explain to me how to tell the program the measurement of the machine and measuring the piece that I want to cut by the machine ... !!! ...................... And whether the numbers that I used it in this calibration you made will change when you start working using the machine .... I mean the numbers you used such as 290 mm Is it fixed or change later ... I ask you clarification
You do not need to use 290mm as a test distance. You can use any value you like. The longer the distance you use as a test distance the more accurate it will be.
Hi Charlie, great video. I have a problem that when I return to zero, the z axis goes down and bottoms out and then starts to zero x and y, then goes up and stops. Any ideas? thanks Laz Australia.
Hmmm This is actually MORE COMPLICATED than Mach3 Calibration process. No spreadsheet and no recalculating. All you have to do is enter the actual distance traveled (error) and Mach3 automatically does everything. run the test again and Voila!! it's Calibrated.
@@CharleyThomas2016 Yes, IF we try to do it manually, it might have some difficulty. But Mach3 does it all AUTO. 2 questions 1 answer and VOILA!! "How much do want to move?" "How much did it move" (enter the actual movement" mach3 recalculates! DONE! (second run is to verify. but it's done!) In my very First set up on a Bridgeport CNC1 Mill, I refurbished I guessed that I would have 2000 steps per inch. (initial settings) I run the Calibration and it only moved exactly 0.1 inches. So mach3 adjusted to 20,000 steps/inch (logically. factor of 10) and VOILA! second run was only to confirm. This Calib is done by "Steps per Unit" (mm or inch) so All gearing, pulleys, leadscrew pitch, etc. even added incrementally is IRRELEVANT. The only that matters is How many STEPS did it take to get to the desired distance.
Mach3 ya tiene una rutina de calibración de pasos incorporada. Aquí hay un enlace de video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE--oJrYSRbYUA.html
Fortunately you don't need to. Just enter the distance you want to travel and put that the spreadsheet. When you click the jog button with your jog units set, that is how far your machine will think it is going. The ruler will tell the you how far you actually traveled and that will be the second number you put in the spreadsheet to get the correction needed.
I am using tb6560 board...8mm lead scrow..........1mm g coad =2560.000 1mm running ............ but continuously not running so what to do......please tell me about this...
I assume you are using Mach3 to control your machine. If so, take a look at this video to help with wiring and getting Mach3 configured: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-vf1a6F2tYdU.html and ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-PwR3mzRf5X4.html