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I have come across something I think is very odd, hopefully someone can explain it to me. I had to adjust my belts, so I am rechecking my calibrations. X and Y worked fine and I could calculate my adjustment.
The Z was odd however. I checked the movement at two locations. Front/Left and Front/Right. Both locations are clean with no cuts in the board.
I used a .05mm thick piece of paper to set the point at the waistboard. I used an inside telescoping gauge and a digital micrometer to check the distance traveled
Steps
move to Left/Front
set bit to waistboard with slip of paper.
raise bit 85mm using easel jog function
set telscope gauge into the space
measured guage…85.20mm
moved to Right/Front
set bit to waistboard with slip same slip of paper
raised bit 85mm with jog function
set telescope gauge.
measured guage…84.92mm
I redid this three times, because it made no sense. I got the same results each time.
I plan on working with aluminum, so I am trying to tweek my machine as well as I can. 0.28mm (.011") to me is a lot. With the two different measurements, it makes it hard to know how much to adjust the steps.
Why would the movement be different on the right side, from the left. To be clear, I am not checking parallelism of my X. I am checking Z travel, for stepper calibration.
I am fairly new to CNC, but I am quite mechanically inclined. I cannot wrap my head around how this could happen. Does anyone have an idea, or can explain it to me.
Do you know the concept of backlash? (Just trying to determine what you know, not trying to be smart )
Another possible component of your discrepancy may be the wheels, if they are not 100% true the Z-position may shift ever so slightly when the wheels turn and stop at a different place on their circumference.
He is correct for the procedure he is following. The wasteboard could be radically twisted and he should get the same travel distance on both sides, as he is essentially resetting work zero prior to each test.
Assumes a point contact with the wasteboard and measuring device.
The suggestion of wasteboard level may not be entirely off the mark… if the z is traveling a different portion of it’s length in both tests a burr/gunk on the track or an irregularity in the belt in a different position might affect one measure but not the other. surfacing to a fixed depth between both points could eliminate that as a factor.
assuming all machine squaring and leveling has already been checked to tolerance…
you can also change up your testing order to see where backlash might be affecting measures
Test 1: (should equalize any z backlash effects on testing)
set unit above left side test point by hand
jog to top of z limit
run Z zero
execute move up, and measure
repeat steps for right side
if unequal your problem probably isn’t in z backlash. If equal, check belts/pulleys track on Z
Test 2: (this should equalize jerk effects of X travel on Z axis)
Starting over the left test position
Run Z zero
execute move up, and measure ( A )
Jog to the top of the Z limit
execute move of HALF the board Right
Run Z zero
execute move up, measure ( B )
jog to the top of the Z limit
execute move of HALF the board Right (should now be above right test point)
Run Z zero
execute move up, measure ( C )
If B and C are the same but A is different, jerk motion is affecting Z in +X moves. check tensioning and maybe adjust the stepper speed profile.
Repeat above steps starting on the right and going left, same principles apply
What you describe in Test 1, I believe, is exactly what I did.
I did Test 2 this morning, and all 3 measurements; left, middle, right, and all came out within .01mm of each other.
I tried redoing the test exactly as I did it yesterday, and both measurements came out the same.
I have no explanation. The only thing I did when I stopped yesterday, is turn off my controller, closed my browser with easel and turned off my monitor. This morning I started the controller, homed the machine and ran the tests.
Barring other evidence, I have to put it down to user error, although I can’t for the life of me figure what I did wrong.
Next time, if it occurs again, I’ll be back and I will video it.
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