Setting Z=0 on Two-Stage Carve?

I’m looking for tips on how to get Z=0 perfect (or as close as possible) between the two stages of a two-stage carve. I tried using the probe off to the side of the actual carve, but still ended up with the following…

I’d like to give it a shot “manually”, but Easel won’t let you set X/Y=0 and Z=0 separately that way.

I thought about pulling a trick by performing one last single-stage carve using the finishing bit with the depth per pass cranked up to the carve depth… Thoughts?

Thanks all!

Make sure you set z0 for both stages at the same location, when your piece is not perfectly even. When using the probe you first set z0 and the go to xy0 for the second stage go back to where measured z0 set it and use the option use last xy0.

Thanks for the reply!

Unfortunately, that’s exactly what I did (I even traced a circle around the bottom of the touch plate so I’d put it in the exact same spot before the second stage), and I still ended up with the results shown in the picture.

It is definitely possible to do this. That would probably give you a pretty clean finish.

There are a lot of things that could potentially cause this issue, including different forces on the 2 different bits, surface not completely flat, bit geometries leading to slightly different zero points, bit not tight, DEWALT 611 not tight in the mounting bracket, deflection of the material when probing. It’s hard to know exactly what the cause is.

Is it something you have seen on a repeat basis?

I’ve seen it in all of the multi-stage carves I’ve done, although admittedly that’s only three carves (still a newbie).

Deflection of the material when probing is my best guess (I can see the touch plate move just a smidge when the bit makes contact). The difference in carve depths is VERY small, maybe 1/64" at worst. I suppose it could also be a matter of bit orientation and what part of the bit is making contact with the touchplate…?

As I said, I’d really like the ability to manually re-set Z=0 without also resetting X/Y=0 in Easel, but I don’t think that’s currently a possibility.

You could try reducing the probe speed in the probe setup.

Yes, that is possible.

We have heard this request before and we will consider adding that to Easel in the future.

Jeff

That’d be something quick to try. Is there a field in Easel somewhere for adjusting this, or do I need to change one of the $ parameters?

I believe it is a setting in Easel’s z-probe setup panel in the machine setup.

Position your bit where you want it to be 0, click Machine, then Advance. In the console box, type G10 Z0

You have full control of the machine from here, so be careful what you enter.

Don’t forget the L20
G10L20Z0

But I don’t think that was the issue in this thread

Yes, I suppose going straight Gcode is an option. I’m a little intimidated by that, though, and would prefer something more UI-ish.

When you zero through Easel’s UI, it sends a G10L20