Sunday 11 February 2018

Installing a Touch off Plate in Mach3 & UCCNC - episode 204 & 205

This week we have a double feature. How it install a touch off plate in Mach3 and UCCNC.
These have been put into different videos which will make following the install process easier.
A big Thank you to John Revill who has updated his UCCNC macro and shared it with us so that we can all use this process. I have updated the Mach3 script so that the experience is now the same in both controller software's which will make interchange between these 2 software's easier for people like me who use both.
Simply select the video that matches your control software and away you go. If you are curious why not watch both.



Click to watch Video

 



Click to watch video



Setting the touch off plate thickness
 The most critical part of using these scripts and macros is entering the correct plate thickness.
I started by measuring mine with digital callipers and entering this figure into the script / macro. If you find the cutter is sitting above or digging into the material in the thickness test then there are a couple of possibilities. 
Your Z axis might not be properly calibrated or the digital callipers might be slightly off.
If you are sure it is the callipers that are at fault here is a simple way of finding the correct value. If there is a gap between the cutter and the material surface then the value you entered into the Script / Macro is too small. If the cutter buries itself in the material then the value is too large and needs to be reduced. Make changes small and retry. 

Testing the offset value
When you test the script / Macro by entering an offset value of your material thickness no not be alarned or surprised if the cutter sits above or buries itself in the material. The cutter is set to be the value you entered above the spoilboard when you tell the Z axis to go to 0 and your material is probably under or oversized. If the discrepancy is larger than you expect then you will need to investigate further what the cause is. A simple check of the materials actual thickness will probably answer the question as it might be far thicker or thinner than you thought. If you find that you have a problem with both setting the touch off plate thickness and the offset value test seems to be way off then take a look at the Z axis calibration. If might be off.


Macros and Scripts

Please read this first.
The date included in the script will allow you to check if you have the most up to date version. There may have been changes to the script for bug fixes or feature improvement so please check.

If you find an issue with a script or Macro please advise me ASAP so that a fix can be found and implemented. Use the contact form on this page.


Mach3 Scripts
There are 4 scripts available in the Archive section under single and 2 pass scripts
The latest version is in the 2 pass with Touch test directory and is the recomended version.
After entering the material offset value the plate needs to be touched to the cutter to begin the probing routine. There is a 2 second delay to replace the touch plate ontothe table top.
The touch test makes sure the circuit is working correctly before probing begins to eliminate the risk of craching the cutter into the plate due to  a fault or if you forget to put the ground clip on the cutter if you use one.
 
All files are based on Big Tex's Auto zero setting script  Select the script you want to use and you will need to change the Plate Thickness value to match your tool setter plate but other than the remaining values should be OK.

Updated 27/07/2018 Minor changes To Error Handling and some Grammer correction
A readme file added to give additional setup information.
Updated 30/08/2018 to add a Feedrate override resest function for safety and restore to previous setting after probe complete. This is to ensure the feedrate is correct during probing. 
Updated 27/10/2018 Error found in Imperial script has now been fixed and should prevent Z-plate not found error. This affects the imperial script only.


ATTN Mach3 users

Some users have reported that the scripts do not work as shown in the video when probing.
After researching this it appears that not all motion controllers support the GetVar(2002) command or give the wrong information back to Mach3 about the point at which it touched off.
The GetVar(2002) is meant to record the exact point at which it touched the plate and report it back to Mach3. This gets around the latency between the tool touching the plate, the motion controller signalling back to Mach 3 to tell it that it had touched and Mach3 reading the DRO to get the position.
This is a problem most likely to affect the cheap Chinese motion controllers with the feature not being supported or possibly there could be a driver issue with your motion controller so make sure you are up to date with your drivers.

For this reason there have been 2 alternate scripts added to link below.
Only use the Alternate script if the original does not work for you.
Both start with the name Alternate and are modified to use GetOEMDRO(802) instead of GetVAar(2002).
Use of the Alternate script will not be quite as accurate as the original but in practical terms you should not see a major difference as the double touch off should help with accuracy.
Don't forget to change the touch plate thickness


https://www.dropbox.com/sh/7c5lmhl58lyhzn7/AACy4fPjUVi1RIX4Nh0Sm884a?



UCCNC Macros
Macro courtesy of John Revill
Select either metric or Imperial and rename to M31.txt
Replace the Aluminium touch off plate thickness value to match your own plate.
Replace the M31.txt in your UCCNC profile with the new one. 


Updated 09/02/18 to remove the need to enter 0 in question box. You can now just press the enter button if you are not using an offset. eg you have the tool setter on top of the material.
Updatesd 26/08/18 to add Pretouch test and Beep. 
A readme file added to give additional setup information.


https://www.dropbox.com/sh/avbquib6r4yw5nv/AAAln02mvRbTnJGPzuYILjMOa?


Thank you for watching  and I hope you find this useful.
Feel free to leave a comment or any suggestions you may have.

Cheers
Peter

18 comments:

  1. Peter,awesome information you have put together.Saved me lots of aggravation. I need your help. Im having a problem not sure if its with this script. Probe Z axis seems to be doing everything correctly except at the end i get this message "Z-Plate not found, check connection or stroke and try again"
    Then the probe returns to the spot where i started the probing process and zero outs the "Z" axis. Any Ideas?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Peter, I found the same error. There is a bug in the routine when the metric program was changed to the imperial program. 0.1 is a small move in metric, but a big move in imperial. This needs to be changed to 0.004 which is about 0.1mm.

    "ZProbePos = GetVar(2002) 'get the exact point the probe was hit
    If Abs(ZProbePos) <= Abs(SmallDownStroke)-0.1 Then 'Check if the probe has been found"

    Change to
    "ZProbePos = GetVar(2002) 'get the exact point the probe was hit
    If Abs(ZProbePos) <= Abs(SmallDownStroke)-0.004 Then 'Check if the probe has been found"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thankyou, I have made the change. It was present in 2 locations within the script. Hopefully it will fix the problem.
      Cheers
      Peter

      Delete
  3. Hi Peter
    Thanks for a great blog. I have installed your latest metric version of the Mach3 Touch Off script. I am getting the Z-plate not found error. Do you have any ideas what the problem may be?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Peter
    I just loaded the latest m31 macro. It's a bit annoying to have to press the switch down manually on my tool sensor to continue the probe sequence, can I bypass this somehow? (i'm using the metric version)
    Cheers
    Andrew

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Andrew, if you have a look at the macro you will see a lone that says pretouch test = true and there is a note next to it that says if you don't want this feature change it to false.
      If you do this the probing will start immediately. Let me know if you have any problem.
      Cheers
      Peter

      Delete
  5. Hi Peter
    Thanks i'll check that out this evening. Just out of interest there is a new AXBB-E ethernet motion controller and breakout board combined controller available from uccnc. I've got one for a future product. It might make a good video subject. I'm not affiliated with cncdrive but their software got my machine working after years of sitting unused as a shelf in my workshop. I'm always happyto recommend something that actually works without needing a 5 year course to learn. Your you tube vids have really been a great help to me. Thank you.
    Cheers
    Andrew

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Peter
    That did the trick. Now to try and figure out the new Probe settings page in the latest uccnc test version! maybe another item for one of your inspirational videos??
    Cheers
    Andrew

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi Peter.
    Every thing works as it should and very accurate,except after manual tool change what do i need to change to make it zero out accurately, using ucccnc 1.2111 .
    Cheers Jim.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sorry I don't understand. What does it do after a manual tool change.
      In what way is it not working?

      Delete
  8. Hi Peter
    When testing as in your video no file and no material thickness entered it works perfect, after manual tool change if the bit is shorter or longer it just returns to the original setting eg sitting above or below.
    Cheers Jim.

    ReplyDelete

  9. Hello Peter
    sorry for my English,for a long time I have been using uccnc and I have installed this macro so far everything has been ok, but recently when I started the program and turned on the tool length measurement, after double "touching" the tool sensor, the z axis instead of rising 10mm above the sensor is 70mm below the sensor. I did not change anything on the program or the machine and I had such an unpleasant surprise. What can be the reason for this behavior?
    Cheers Michal from Poland

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Since the behavior of the Macro has changed something clearly must have changed. You will need to check everything starting with the Macro and then UCCNC. Check the Macro file hasn't been corrupted and if necessary load your backup from before the problem started.
      Cheers
      Peter

      Delete
    2. The macro file is definitely not damaged, I downloaded a new one from your site and the effect is unchanged, instead of 10mm up is 70mm down.
      I have probably searched all the uccnc parameters and I have absolutely no idea what could have changed.

      Delete
  10. Hello. I have done everything you have instructed. I am getting the box that talks about the machine not being homed yet. Please help.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm assuming you are using the UCCNC version. Can you check the version you have please. You should be version v1.12 which includes auto detection of homing. If you have homing set up in uccnc it will require it to be done first and if homing is not set up it should not ask for it.
      Cheers Peter

      Delete
  11. Hi Peter, next problem :) When activating probing on Mach3( touching plate to tool) it won't start with the first pass but jumps to the second pass and instead of going down to plate it retracts and states that "Z axis is now zeroed" I checked the script and did not find anyting different from your script. BR Thomas
    Hi Peter, next problem :) when activating probing ( touching plate to tool) it won't start with the first pass but jumps to the second pass and instead of going down to plate it retracts and states that "Z axis is now zeroed" I checked the script and did not find anyting different from your script.
    Probing was working last time I used it, so it has worked before,once

    BR Thomas

    ReplyDelete
  12. hello. i find you in youtube. i'm from portugal and i have trying to use probe sensor. when i press the probe button, Z axis come down, touch one time, retract, come down again, retract and after that come down without stop, until the end of Z axis limit. can you help me? i'm using AXBB-E from UCCNC.

    ReplyDelete