First test cut and a question

OK guys (and gals), my 1000x is up and running! I have a few adjustments to make, and will outline them in a build notes thread soon. In the meantime, here is the test cut from easel, done on an inexpensive acacia wood cutting board my wife grabbed from the store for me.

I also ran a few cuts doing just circles and squares to check for accuracy. A 2.5" square measured out at 2.496" on the x-axis and 2.501" on the y-axis. With a stock machine, do you guys feel that this is an acceptable level of tolerance? I’m new to CNC, so I don’t have much perspective on this. It seems that these are within Inventables’ specs, but some input from experienced users would be appreciated.

I don’t have my x-carve yet, so I haven’t done this, but I believe you can calibrate the steps/mm on all axes.

I just watched this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzkoMbb9pO8

That could be helpful.

With everything dialed in, you can probably expect about .003" accuracy from the machine. (source: a Zach Kaplan post I can’t find now LOL) That’s really about the best you’re going to get with any consumer-level machine, and it’s actually fantastically accurate for anything that’s mass-produced like these units. As you approach sub .001" tolerances, the price per unit goes up drastically. As a general rule, I just assume everything’s going to be within about .005". That’s a way tighter tolerance than I can cut by hand without possibly hours of finishing work, and the assumption has served me well so far.

Your test cut also came out really, really well! Looks like you’ve got everything tuned up and adjusted quite nicely. Be sure to check over everything periodically to make sure nothing’s come loose, and you should enjoy many more successful cuts. :smile:

Thanks @TimothyHanson. I figured I was in a really good ballpark. I need to run a fill cut tonight to see how it does cutting larger areas, and make sure that the Z-axis is aligned properly, but I suspect it is pretty close. I took my time checking everything over before I fired it up. As for checking everything over, I already am. I had 1 Z-motor screw come out, and another almost came out during cutting. I can’t imagine it completely backed out in that short of time, so I must have failed to tighten it up properly during the build. Before I get started tonight I will snug everything up again.

@StevenPaxman, thanks for the link. I watched the video and while I don’t think I’m far off, I feel compelled to check this now. But in the video, where he issues the $ commands, what software is this? So far I’ve only run 2 quick items, both using Easel.

That’s Universal GCode Sender, often referred to as UGS.

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Thanks @PeterJames. I’ll wrap my head around all this soon enough.

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