Fix Backlash - CNCnutz Episode 222 

It’s almost 3am here... how did you know? 😜

Very well done Peter, your macro saved me lots of hassle.

Thanks again for another great tutorial

Sorry you may not had a lot of views yet on this video but for us who do watch, Thank you! Very good info and very much appreciated! Cheers

Peter, Thanks for the great calibration videos. I just got around to doing the backlash. Before I started I noticed a very loose Y axis which I was able to fix quickly. (I wouldn't have found unless I was fiddling around... thanks) Next I did the x axis that looked great. The Y axis needed a bit of backlash and the Z was spot on. Love the videos and enjoy your humor. Keep them coming. Next stop- new pendant, ordered a few minutes ago (PS4 made by VistaCNC).

Thank you sooooooooo much; you saved many 1000's hours for people

The thing I dislike the most about digital indicators is whenever I need to use one the battery is usually dead. Thanks for the informative video and the Mach3 macro.

That dial moved 3 micron! I'm a service engineer and wouldn't worry about anything less than 10 generally on a 250k machine so for the hobbyist I'd say anything less than 0.1mm is perfectly acceptable. You have too many factors (encoder accuracy, dial accuracy, motor accuracy, etc..) eventually there comes a point where your fighting against each one. So to chase less than 5 microns you would be there a long time and may never get anywhere because of those other factors! In context the average human hair is 60 microns 0.060mm! Great video by the way!

Peter, Excellent. I have thought about the backlash but never knew how to start to measure it or fix. I'll be heading down to the shop in the morning. Thanks. Dave

Many thanks - I had done this manually a couple of times but this makes it so much easier to replicate and confirm the results...

Great video Peter. This is the best video I have seen on backlash to date. I might be a little biased, but Excellent Job.

my back has some backlash when i bend the wrong direction. Good video man

I added backlash compensation to my machine because I was getting a positional error while doing inlays. X and Y required a .013 (imperial) entry to the backlash compensation in the Mach3 machine. after restarting I got backlash down to .001 which was ok for me, but I then ran a test using a 10-degree engraving bit .0100 deep, and at each quadrant, the backlash compensation corrected the position and had a jagged movement to correct for the backlash. Backlash measurement only measures it in the axis understudy so a multi-axis move may be aggravated by the compensation. Further research in Mach 3 manual said that using this method should be the last step. it trying to correct for backlash if all other steps failed. I was hoping to correct my backlash in software but learned that must resolve why I have the physical or mechanical problem first. I think it is the nut that is the main culprit, and I am researching that now. Thanks for your series, I enjoy all the episodes you produce. --Ken

Peter, THANKS! I had some lingering issues with my machine, and backlash never crossed my mind. Z and Y were perfect, but X was really sloppy. Happy cuts to you!

That's a nice way of dealing with backlah.I wish that would be a macro for centroid .Great job.

Thanks a lot! Brilliant video

Great job Peter! Heading to the shop now to give it a try.

Pete, you are a genius.Thanks for sharing.

Great video.

Excellent, Peter! Thank you!

Good shit Peter I am going to give this a shot next week. hopefully, I can get the same results. the temp of the day can make a difference.

Great information Peter.....thanks

Thanks much Peter... gonna try this on mine. I don't even have a hairless cat either!

That looked like a lot of macros in your Mach3 folder. Fancy doing a video on them and sharing any good ones 😀. Please 🙏. Cheers

Thank you for another great video and your macro !!!

Hello, thank you for your script. I need community advice. I'm setting up the backslash in the settings, saving it. Then I'm doing Save Config. Then I'm restarting Mach3. I double-check, and there are no changes. No matter what value I enter in Backslash, there are no changes.

Good tutorial. Refreshing. Cheers.

Great tutorial! Thanks! Found you by my viewers' suggestion. :) And thanks for the macros! I'm using UCCNC and need soon to make final adjustments to my BIG cnc machine I've built. You can check the videos from my channel if you like.

Hi Thanks, My A-axis is slave to Y-axis.. my backalash come out to be 0.07mm , so can you please tell should i write down Backlash in both A and Y axis?

Hello Peter can you please tell me where you bought the rack and pinion drive .

hello peter, thanks for the great video! i'm a mach3 user i'm getting crazy cause i'm not able to find any usb motion controller that support backlash compensation in mach3... do you have any suggestion? should i opt for an ethernet controller???

this is a really nice video. is there a way to take this software and use it in the openbuilds software program? i use the blackbox and it dont have backlash option.

Good video.

What does khz mean on cnc board?

Hey Peter, I've been having issues with my Gatton and zeroing. I did your backlash test and I have about 0.002 even tho I have backlash nuts. When I go to try and fix it in the mach3 backlash settings, it doesn't change anything....any ideas?

Hi I am next door from Australia I have a program running right now can you please let me no how I can stop it and continue tomorrow I am using mach3 thanks👍

Great video. I have a Shopbot Buddy PRS alpha that uses Shopbot 3 software. Is there a macro available for backlash testing that would work in my control software?

Great vid Peter...!

So going from one direction to the other, does Mach 3 add additional steps to take up the backlash and not calculate them in position?

How have you found that .001 indicator? Is it actually any more useful than the .01?

I understand how the system compensates on direct x,y or z movements, but if your moving diagonal or circular motion and reverse direction does it compensate by ratio/percentage of the backlash? Cheers

You're not fixing backlash here. The problem isn't only that it won't go back to where it was, but also that it's backdrivable the backlash length. E.g., maybe your z measurements show 0 backlash because your gantry is so heavy that it'll just backdrive itself down, but as soon as you start to actually cut something, that will push it up by the backlash amount. Or if you have some backlash compensation in x, but as soon as you put pressure on it it'll move by the backlash amount in the backdrivable direction. In these cases backlash compensation does nothing. So it basically only works if your router is so massive with so much friction that it will completely overwhelm the cutting forces.

BTW: Link to the digiDial is no longer valid.

No more “whip” this week? 😋

it's a very useful video, but it's on the wrong software. I'm sorry, but the "UCCNC" sales support consists of cheap marketers. It is difficult to understand how such a legless and lying sales and support team was put in front of such successful hardware and software.

Excellent, Peter! Thank you!