jdh
07-31-2010, 08:22 PM
I have a used PRS Alpha (07 or 08....not sure which) which has been retrofitted with an air drill and an aluminum block installed beyond the cutting area which is to be used to zero the Z axis. I purchased a shopbot link and intend to use the machine to mill cabinet parts.
My questions are:
1: the Z-zero plate
While I do understand that using the top of the material (3/4" plywood in my case) as a reference of origin is a bad idea given the tolerances of plywood, I do not understand why using the top of the spoilboard should not be just as good or better than using the remote z-zero block. The top of the spoil board is my Z zero, correct? So why go through the extra step of having to define the height of the spoilboard in relation to the height of the Z-zero block rather than simply using the spoilboard itself?
Also, if I am to use the remote aluminum block to zero my tooling is there a custom program required or do I use the program that shopbot wrote with the exceptioon that I center the tool over my aluminum block when prompted to center my tool over my ride-along z-zero plate?
Now, assuming that this is the proper method of using the aluminum block, how do I then define the top of my table relative to the top of the aluminum block? The block is not installed immediately adjacent to the cutting surface which leads me to believe a caliper is not involved.
Also, how and where does the program account for the X offset between the spindle and the air drill?......and how do I zero these tools independently of one another such that the software understands the height of each?
I tried to "air cut" a cabinet and had the following issues:
After the "write to shopbot" button is pressed there is a prompt to start the spindle, and if you do so the spindle is turned off by the "enter sheet 1 prompt".....I must be doing something wrong there because that step makes no sense.
After "ok" to "enter sheet 1" then "ok" to "locate 3/4 generic then click ok to start operation" machine moves to 12,12,0 and prompts me to "change to next bit and hit ok when ready" which is NOT OK because I do not need this step as I am only using two tools both of which are riding on the gantry and thus DO NOT need to perform a tool change.
The next prompt is "open keyboard" and "hit yes to change zero location".....why would I want to change the zero location? My zero location is at the extreme bottom left of the table (i.e. X = 0 and Y = 0) which is, coincidentally, where I intend to place the bottom left corner of my 96 x 48 sheet of material so I DO NOT want to change my damn zero location.
When I hit "no" to the change zero location question I am prompted to "place zero plate under bit".......which does not jive with the fact that I have an ALUMINUM BLOCK BEYOND THE CUTTING AREA. :mad:
Even if this did mention something about the aluminum block rather than the Z-zero plate it still makes no sense that there is a zero operation inherent to every sheet that I cut because the height of my spoil board is not changing per sheet of cut material.
Now, if the machine knows the height of the spoilboard and is using this step to measure my material for me, then that makes a little more sense.....but I still don't know what to do with the aluminum block.
If you can't tell I have been wrestling with this machine for some while now. Any help would be appreciated.
Jimmie
My questions are:
1: the Z-zero plate
While I do understand that using the top of the material (3/4" plywood in my case) as a reference of origin is a bad idea given the tolerances of plywood, I do not understand why using the top of the spoilboard should not be just as good or better than using the remote z-zero block. The top of the spoil board is my Z zero, correct? So why go through the extra step of having to define the height of the spoilboard in relation to the height of the Z-zero block rather than simply using the spoilboard itself?
Also, if I am to use the remote aluminum block to zero my tooling is there a custom program required or do I use the program that shopbot wrote with the exceptioon that I center the tool over my aluminum block when prompted to center my tool over my ride-along z-zero plate?
Now, assuming that this is the proper method of using the aluminum block, how do I then define the top of my table relative to the top of the aluminum block? The block is not installed immediately adjacent to the cutting surface which leads me to believe a caliper is not involved.
Also, how and where does the program account for the X offset between the spindle and the air drill?......and how do I zero these tools independently of one another such that the software understands the height of each?
I tried to "air cut" a cabinet and had the following issues:
After the "write to shopbot" button is pressed there is a prompt to start the spindle, and if you do so the spindle is turned off by the "enter sheet 1 prompt".....I must be doing something wrong there because that step makes no sense.
After "ok" to "enter sheet 1" then "ok" to "locate 3/4 generic then click ok to start operation" machine moves to 12,12,0 and prompts me to "change to next bit and hit ok when ready" which is NOT OK because I do not need this step as I am only using two tools both of which are riding on the gantry and thus DO NOT need to perform a tool change.
The next prompt is "open keyboard" and "hit yes to change zero location".....why would I want to change the zero location? My zero location is at the extreme bottom left of the table (i.e. X = 0 and Y = 0) which is, coincidentally, where I intend to place the bottom left corner of my 96 x 48 sheet of material so I DO NOT want to change my damn zero location.
When I hit "no" to the change zero location question I am prompted to "place zero plate under bit".......which does not jive with the fact that I have an ALUMINUM BLOCK BEYOND THE CUTTING AREA. :mad:
Even if this did mention something about the aluminum block rather than the Z-zero plate it still makes no sense that there is a zero operation inherent to every sheet that I cut because the height of my spoil board is not changing per sheet of cut material.
Now, if the machine knows the height of the spoilboard and is using this step to measure my material for me, then that makes a little more sense.....but I still don't know what to do with the aluminum block.
If you can't tell I have been wrestling with this machine for some while now. Any help would be appreciated.
Jimmie