Setting up shopbot link

[cradke0419]

I am trying to setup my shopbot link for cutting 1/2" plywood and 3/4" plywood. I have 2 spindles the z has a 3/8" spiral and the a has a 5mm for drilling. I am lost right now and could use some help. Also where do I tell it if I want to zero off the material or the bed. Thanks much for any help

[cradke0419]

I'm also wondering how to post pictures on here

[cradke0419]

Sorry for all the questions but I have a couple more now. I want to do 2 passes on all of the cuts. Do I set that up by choosing max penetration less than my materials or will that set how deep that cutter will only go? I read in the manual about a double pass but I don't have that option on the screen. I also see the skin pass option has max part size which I have set to 10"^2 for area and 3" for max part width or length.

[Tim Lucas]

Good morning,
I am not at my system right now but will try to remember.
The max penetration is how deep it should cut in one pass.

Tim

[cradke0419]

Sounds good thanks Tim

[dlcw]

If you go into Settings in SBLink you will see a section titles Perimeter Cut (Outline). This is where you will set your cutout parameters.

Mine are set to Climb
Checked Perform all through cuts last
Checked Run opposite direction

These will interact with your tool parameters to determine how far the initial cutout pass (chain) is done. It normally leaves about 1/32" for the final cutout. I set my initial cuts to be climb cuts. This pushes the bit AWAY from your cut line. The final Conventional cut pull the bit to the line. Since the final pass is cutting so little material, the bit and machine flex is very minimal making your final pass very accurate.

I cut all my plywood with a 1/4" compression bit. Max depth per pass in my tool database is .375". So for plywood 1/2" and thicker, the machine will take two climb cut passes and then the conventional cut path.

SBLink sets zero from the table surface. I've got SBLink running right now and I can't see anywhere you can tell it to ZZero to something other then the machine bed. This method makes joinery much more accurate since material thickness can vary. I have a location on my table with a piece of aluminum (a small piece of the ZZero plate that came with my machine) that the spindle jumps to to Z zero the bit automatically after each manual tool change. I have some code to have the spindle move to a specified location so I can change the bit. Once the bit is changed I hit enter and walk away. The code has my Z Zero routine in it. Works great since I can't afford an ATC.

[cradke0419]

Thanks that helps to see what other people do. I use a 3/8" bit for outline and dadoes in the z axis and have a 5mm in the a axis.

[cradke0419]

Right now I'm setup to zero off top of material. I am wondering how to change that to go off the bed so I don't have to rezero when I change material thickness. Does it have something to do with the spoilboard thickness. I have that set to 0

[Tim Lucas]

I don't think you can set it to zero from the spoil board just the material

[coryatjohn]

You really should get into the habit of always zeroing anytime you start a new job and certainly anytime you change bits. The only exception is if you have an automatic tool changer, in which case the machine zeros for you.

It's really simple to zero to the top of material. I never use the plate method. That's too cumbersome and often leads to chaos (forget the clip ever?). Instead, I have a bright light mounted on a wall near the machine and use the light to determine when I've lowered the bit to the material. I use the "K" to get it close, then "D" of .01 to bring it the rest of the way. Been doing that for years and have never lost a clip! The only time I have trouble using this method is with clear plastic. In that case, I put a sticky note on the material and zero to that.

You can zero to the spoil board, no problem. Where you zero is controlled by the program that generates the toolpath. I virtually always zero from the material. That way, I never get confused as to which method I'm using. Start mixing them up and you'll end up with a large gouge in your spoil board and probably a broken bit or two as well.

[dlcw]

Right now I'm setup to zero off top of material. I am wondering how to change that to go off the bed so I don't have to rezero when I change material thickness. Does it have something to do with the spoilboard thickness. I have that set to 0

The reason SBLink likes to zero from the spoilboard is because plywood varies in thickness. When doing joinery, this variance can have a big effect on joinery fit. When zeroing from the spoilboard, the tolerances you've set in the tools database and eCabs can be much better achieved. Plus if you are cutting plywood with eCabs, if you have a common place it can always go to to zzero, you don't have to be there with the zero plate to get it to zero out. But, I guess if you want to zero from the top of the material, I'd be interested how the joinery works with that method, as I've never zeroed that way.