OK then you are not having the problem with the stock spindle. I’m at a lose to know why the machine acted the way it did.
Dave
@DavidSohlstrom Thanks for all your help Dave!
And yeah i actually will start again from scratch in a few minutes, giving @picengravertoo software another chance.
- Redone the same job in VCarve
- set the G0Z0.6000 instead of 8000 before, that should mean the position to return and start the job from is 0.5 inches above the stock (which is 0.5inch thick itself)
- I will then open up his software, and place the endmill on the top of the 0.5inch stock, on the corner.
- i will then set that point to be the 0 0 0
- i will then start the job
Here are the first lines of the new job:
T1
G17
G20
G0Z0.6000
G0X0.0000Y0.0000S20000M3
G0X0.7440Y0.7305Z0.2000
G1Z-0.0630F18.8
G1X11.2475F80.0
G1X11.3434Z-0.0577
G1X11.4633Z-0.0491
G1X11.6791Z-0.0251
G1X11.8710Z-0.0074
G1X11.9429Z-0.0030
G1X11.9669Z-0.0030
G1X12.0628Z-0.0079
G1X12.1588Z-0.0160
G1X12.2547Z-0.0227
G1X12.3506Z-0.0241
G1X12.4225Z-0.0231
G1X12.4705Z-0.0206
Lets see if that works…
Update: It kind of worked.
Here is my setup:
Here a screenshot before I hit SEND:
And here is it after the first few minutes:
It didn’t run into anything at the beginning this time, but it seemed like the movement on the X axis was jerking and not smooth, so i lost steps on X i believe. When i send the Cancel command, i got 2 message boxes, after i clicked them away with OK, it tried to move to 0 0 0 which was off, it didn’t lift the mill either on Z which was rather strange so it plunged through the wood sideways until i cut the power to it.
Not sure if the jerky stuttery movement is from the software, but i almost doubt its from the machine because i was able to cut through the same MDF with the DEWALT and the 0.125 carbide ball mill in way bigger chunks than i did here.
So while this was better than the first try, i still need to figure out:
- Why is the movement so jerky?
- Why did it try to go back to 0 0 0 after i hit cancel, and why did it not lift the drill but instead just plunged through the wood sideways to get back to 0 0 0?
The movement you are seeing may be caused by all the small vectors you have in the gcode, instead of smooth arcs it is making lots and lots of small vector movements and the result is the “jerking” motion you see. Just a guess.
Also you’re trying to cut particle board. Lots of gunky stuff in it. If you have little bit loose belt, this will happen. MDF is the easiest material you can cut. If you want to see if there is something wrong with your setup, particle board is good challenge. Like Allen says, vectors makes jerks but if this jerk comes from vectors, you must be able to see stepper movements in same time. If these jerks more likely shakes, I suggest you to take belts more seriously.
Please set a Safe Z distance, and check the box to enable it. Then the Z will lift when you cancel sending.
John
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Hi Guys
I just ran that job and it went well. I saw that the jerking move is only on the X axis when it goes to the left, moving right is buttery smooth. I thought it might be because it takes a deeper bite out of the wood moving left, but when i looked at it from the side it looks the same. So maybe it is from a different stepping on left movements than on the right ones.
I also set my safe height this time and after i cancelled the job it raised Z first:
It returned to a little bit left of my original set 0 0 0 but thats maybe because i cancelled the job and it didnt know exaclty where it currently is?
OR it lost some steps inbetween which could be since it seemed like the whole carving was skewed to the left, like it was approaching the left side of the material the more it carved away on Y.
If that’s the case i need to find out WHY its loosing the steps, it might have to do with the jerky movement.
Hi Oliver,
Thank you for the report, and please accept my apology for your problems. I am presently adding some improvements to PicSender after reading your posts, and an update will be available to download soon. I will ask Jeff to contact you via email when it is available.
I have been examining PicSender source code and can find no programming reason why your Z axis slammed into the Z axis switch. Do you have hard limits enabled in GRBL ($21=1)? I have read posts here that x-carve switches are normally set for homing only, and not as limit switches.
It does appear that you maybe are losing X steps. Hopefully it will just be a simple matter to fix as slightly readjusting the driver current setting.
Regards,
John
@JohnChamplain Hi John!
no problem, looking forward to the new version!
If i can make a suggestion, please maybe look at how Easel does it. It should be fairly easy to create a ‘Assistant’ button, that if clicked, it opens another window that just tells the user what to do, for example in the first window it asks the user if the job is metric or imperial. once the user picks, the program makes the change. Then click on the next button. The program can then show the jogging arrows and in which increments (0.1 inch, 0.1mm etc) it will jog). Tell the user where to jog to as well. Things like that will make your program way more user friendly for beginners and it doesnt take much time to implement. Just take the user by their hand and guide them through it, step by step (Easel is a good example like i said).
Just an idea 
I will try another job soon on smaller stock (but hardwood). I will keep a low feedrate and depth per pass to rule out too big bites that the dwalt cannot handle (although that dewalt spindle is very powerfull).
Anyways, looking forward to testing the new software
Oliver
Thank you Oliver. I’m glad things are working out better.
Jeff and I take pride in our software offerings, and we work hard to give good and timely customer support.
PicSender was a result of my frustrations when trying to laser engrave large image files, and not happy with other sender programs I tried. My largest project with it was last week, and took seven hours of non-stop engraving. The file had 2.16 million lines of gcode.
We also appreciate improvement suggestions from our users, and I will add your recommendations to my list.
All the Best,
John
Thanks @JohnChamplain I aprreciate it!
I just started another try, but I still have the issue that the X axis stutters on the way back to the right, left is always fine.
Really not sure why that would be… I added a link to a video to this post.
Its hard to see because I think the phone camera tries to correct for the stuttering, but look at the power cable from the DEWALT, or listen to the audio and you can hear that stutter.
[Video][1]Dropbox - Error - Simplify your life
Can you reduce the amount of bit extending from the collet. The shorter the better.
Oliver,
To try and narrow that down a bit, can you swap the X and Y stepper wiring at the gshield. If it is a driver issue, the stutter should transfer to the Y axis stepper. It doesn’t seem likely to me that short moves would only cause a stutter in one direction and not the other, but I suppose it might be possible. Sorry, but I can not review the video as I do not have Flash player installed.
John
@AllenMassey I couldnt make it shorter because the stock was around 1 inch thick 
@JohnChamplain I tried another job via Easel and it does not seem to have the issue there.
If other jobs don’t have the same issue then it is more likely that the small vectors are causing it.
Also, If your overlap is set incorrectly then it it is possible that moving in one direction is taking out more material than the other direction.
FYI, grbl does not support arcs.
Oliver, if the same gcode file, I can’t understand how any sender can cause a one-way stutter. Can you run the file cutting air with the spindle off to see if the stutter disappears? Allen’s diagnose may be correct.
John
Vcarve sure creates a lot of G2 arc commands using the X-Carve post processor. Are you saying that Grbl is ignoring them all?
Hi,
yeah when i jog on x or y its all smooth, so maybe it is the VCarve? I just ran another job via easel and that came out fine without hicups, and no stuttering either. Maybe i run a test job tomorrow that just has straight lines on the X axis at a very low speed and low depth just to see whats up.
Good idea
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