Keep in mind that the lowest setting on the 611 in about 16,000 rpm which is already much higher than the recommended cutting speeds for most bits.
Now, this might sound crazy, but having carved in a variety of hardwoods including oak, I wouldnāt try 30ipm with a 1/8" bit. Iāve gone as low as 20ipm to save the bit. Rather than continue practicing in oak, why not use mdf since itās cheaper and softer. After you get the feel of the machine operating, then start slow on your oak.
I understand the speed and feed issues and the type of material and size of bits that have been mentioned and can adjust as I go along but why is it cutting so deep? None of those things have anything to do with depth of cut. On my first attempt at the default setting of .125 depth of cut, the actual cut was .50 or 1/2" and the .035 depth of cut setting gave an actual cut depth of .25 or 1/4". The settings I input and the output results arenāt even in proportion to each other. I wonāt be able to do anything if I canāt control the depth.
have you done a height calibration ? your telling me that the cutter dose not know where z zero (z-0) is, do your testing with cheap pine
Did you set your machine up using easel before starting to UGS, I ask because of the z-screw. I donāt know if it would be that far off but is the machine is thinking its using M8 screw and you actually have the ACME screw your movements will be much exaggerated.
I did set my machine up in Easel, choosing the Acme screw but Iām going to go through the whole process again and re-calibrate everything and then try again. This time Iām going to use MDF or Pine. No more hard wood until it works right.
May be a good idea to go ahead and post your GRBL settings once you get it re-setup. Just to confirm everything looks good.
I think I have the problem solved. I failed to realize that I have to set up the machine in Easel, choosing the Acme rod every time. I thought once the machine was initially set up, it would hold that setting but apparently not. I have to remember to do that each time I start a new project. You would think that the software would remember such a basic setting since you log in. Most people probably donāt have more than one machine.
It is actually stored in the memory of the Arduinoā¦it is $102, and you are correct, you should only have to do this once.
Well if itās supposed to hold that setting, then I have another problem. If I turn everything off (Laptop and X-Carve power supply), the next time I turn everything on, and log in to Easel, I have to do the machine setup again.
I have solved my problem with the help of a guy on the Vectric forum. After trying a new file with 3/4" material as the material of choice, I opened Universal Gcode Sender 2.0, I jogged the machine to material zero. I did this using both the inches and millimeter options to get as close to the material corner as I could. Because setting the Z-axis is the last step I would do before entering the G92 X0 Y0 Z0 command, I would use millimeters to get the endmill as close to the material as I could. I did this today and had been asked to try another command that solved the problem. He asked me to enter the command and check the results. G0 X0 Y0 Z0.5. Is the spindle now 1.25" above the table (3/4" + 1/2")?. The endmill only raised .5mm. It was dumb luck that I thought about what option I used to jog the machine to material zero. I changed the setting in UGS 2.0 to inches and then ran the command again. This time it did raise the endmill 1.25" (3/4" + 1/2"). Since the Gcode is created within VCarve, using the X-Carve PostP, it never dawned on me that the Universal Gcode Sender would mess things up. I thought it was just the vehicle to send the Gcode to the machine. I never would have thought that would have caused my issue of the endmill plunging too deep on the first pass. So from now on, if Iām using the X-Carve inches PostP, Iāll jog the machine with the inches option. If I use the X_Carve millimeter PostP, Iāll jog with the millimeter option. A huge Thank You to everyone that commented and tried to help me. Now I can continue learning how to do everything that VCarve has to offer!