Chinese cnc not happy

So I’m running a budget Chinese device whisky I continue to condition my wife to accept the inevitable purchase of an x carve.

The issue I’m having is the depth setting per pass. It’s set as 0.7mm per pass but with some it seems to be doing 2-4mm per pass and that’s causing the x motor to pop off the railing leaving only y&z to carve so getting half a carve and some cracking straight lines to finish.

Is it just the Chinese machine isn’t listening to easel or is it a message to my lovely wife that I need to have the x carve immediately if not sooner.

My first guess is a calibration issue, specifically your GRBL $102 setting.

When you’re just jogging the Z-axis, does it move the proper distance?

If it is inconsistently 2-4mm then it sounds like you have severe mechanical issues on hand - provided you have calibrated the steps /mm like @cg49me suggest.

A video of when it is failing would be very descriptive, with audio! :slight_smile:

You get what you pay for !

I’m carving straight through easel and running the recommended settings.

I fear it may be just the machine is not up to the job

What I’m asking is, when you just jog the machine (in Easel) with the jog distance set to, say, 0.1", does the Z-axis actually move by 0.1"?

If so, your calibration is probably fine, and you have other mechanical/electrical issues affecting your Z-axis. If it moves by more than 0.1" (in your case, with your cited distances, it might move by around half an inch), your calibration (GRBL $102 setting) is off.

Generally, with the X-Carve, if you’re attempting something that “the machine is not up to” (especially only using Easel), you’ll have problems in the X- and Y-axes, but not the Z.

I found the problem. The screw rod on the X & Y were loose on the motor shaft. Tightened everything up and all seems ok now