Ok, so I just took the test5 pp and loaded that up. the resulting gcode is very similar to that of the normal gcode it was producing before… better spaced and a few extra comments. initial movement speeds that I like to see in there.
All in all, seems like it should work
@vicious1 Ive read through most of the stuff I can find about the PP file for Vcarve. The output is solid. My only concern is that the Z move command between movements (cuts) is 2540 which is simply too fast, and my Z steppers grind a bit. I bet 1500 would be fine for me.
How would I go about changing that value in the PP file?
thank you
I made adjustments to the “test 5” VCarve post-processor to set max Z acceleration and max Z travel. Doing so fixed my Z-axis issues.
I had read their PP manual and made that with no testing. You paid $2k for it I think it is fair to ask them to have a look and let you set a Z rapid. I think I got it 99% of the way. I would hope with all the new users that are popping up in here they would have a look for you/us.
Well, I only actually paid $350, but yes, I agree with you Ryan…
Matticustard, I will give that a try… thanks
Well that is a lot more reasonable for our machines! Well if Matticustard’s fix works for you as well maybe we should swap the links to include that one.
Yeah the biggest problem by far with all the others is the Z hop speed is way too high… Testing momentarily
You’re certainly welcome to link it, but please note that I haven’t done any optimizations. This was quick and dirty to get things working. The values may be more conservative than necessary. I just punched a few values into my terminal and tested some moves until I found something that seemed stable.
@vicious1 and @Matticustard I would prefer this one over the other one (test 5 i think?) for sure. Your Z movements are conservative yet necessary. I am now cutting my spoil board without issue and with no missed steps.
Also @vicious1 Holy sh*t is your vac duct a thing of beauty. Im cutting an MDF spoilboard and there is hardly ANY wood bits or powder being missed by my vac. Granted I have a fairly powerful vac, but still. It does a great job.
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That is nice work. Not as many people as you think use the CNC to make the spoil board.
Probably the same people who use laser cut acrylic for the wooden pieces haha.
Just FYI, I was working on a new project tonight with multiple deeper cuts, trying to cut several parts from 3/4 MDF at the same time, and the Z-axis issue reared its head again. After some trial and error, I ended up backing the acceleration down some more and got things working again. So, my concern for being too conservative may have been premature. But it may be that each machine has its own limits as well.
“M201 Z10”
It didn’t feel like it slowed things down too much overall. The Z-axis moves are pleasantly deliberate. I have updated the Dropbox file to reflect this change, so any previous links I posted will also be up to date.
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Nice… ill go ahead and modify mine too .
question @Matticustard . I tried to modify the footer to include “G0 X0 Y0” or “G1 X0 Y0” and it always just hung the machine and had commands waiting… Basically wouldnt run them.
I also had a “M107” command to shut off my vac and spindle. Also wouldnt work.
Is there something else I need to do above, outside of the footer to get that to work?
thanks
Maybe aspire is doing things in relative coordinates?
Does your gcode start with G90, or G91
Yeah this is the PP that matti posted…
Im not familiar with what all the commands mean for future commands 
begin HEADER
“; [TP_FILENAME]”
“; Safe Z height: [SAFEZ]”
“; Tools: [TOOLS_USED]”
“; Notes: [FILE_NOTES]”
“; Generated [DATE] [TIME]”
" "
“G90”
“M84 S0”
“M03 [S]”
“M201 Z10”
“M203 Z180”
“G21”
“G00 X0.000 Y0.000 Z0.000”
“G1 Z[SAFEZ] F500”
“G1 [XH] [YH] [F]”
" "
“; Tool [T]: [TOOLNAME]”
“; Path: [TOOLPATH_NAME] [PATHNAME]”
“; [TOOLPATH_NOTES]”
I just looked through that PP, I do not remember doing that at all. but I also do not see anything wrong. For end moves you need to get them just after the last moves but before the end stuff that is already in there.
So adding G0 X0 Y0 F1800
Would go right after the last “Z”+ move. Before anything else. Check to see if aspire lets you specify end position, estlcam does. Look for end Above home, or something like that.
Ill try to add them in here, between
Begin footer and G1 Safez
So
±--------------------------------------------------
- Commands output at the end of the file
±--------------------------------------------------
begin FOOTER
“M107”
“G0 X0 Y0 F1000”
“G1 [SAFEZ] F180 ;goto safe z”
so this is the resulting code, and it stalled out after initiating the G0 X17.668 Y38.089 Z5.080 F960.0
G1 X17.250 Y38.076 Z-2.540 F480.0
G1 X17.460 Y38.086 Z-2.540 F480.0
G1 X17.668 Y38.089 Z-2.540 F480.0
G0 X17.668 Y38.089 Z5.080 F960.0
M107
G0 X0 Y0 F1000
G1 5.080 F180 ;goto safe z
Odd because If i just leave the M107 etc out of the File and run it manually it works fine.