The diameter has nothing to do with the positioning of the holes. It would still drill the holes in the correct spot.
You have to choose helical drilling (I think that’s the English name) for those holes in Estlcam. 
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Oh, that must have been it with the size yep. The annoying thing is for every failed cut attempt I’m pretty sure I used helical when generating the gcode but made other mistakes or just had settinsg wrong, and the final one that did actually cut well with correct settings for everything else (e.g previously I forgot to use peel and used linear), I must have used the standard drill option. 
Any idea why the position changed though?
Did you do this as one gcode file,? Was there a pause to change tools? Or did you do this as two separate files?
Possible causes (I’m spitballing here…)
- the origin between the two cuts was different
- the core moved during the tool change
- skipped steps somewhere in the process
- failure to re-home between cuts
- strut was flipped end to end during the process
- error in the path definition
Maybe you can post the zipped gcode file (don’t post the text, it will be too long) and we can check it out, or you could review it yourself and see if the notch locations are consistent with the hole locations.
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It was a single file, one time cut for both struts in one go, no tool change. All the holes were drilled first, then the outline was cut (no pauses anywhere)
I uploaded it here if it helps.
Philipp was correct with the hole sizing mistake I think, but I’m stumped with the positioning errors.
I opened it in an online gcode viewer to see like the paths etc and it looks normal, holes in correct place.
The very first holes in the first strut at origin were correct, and it just got further and further from tab center as it went, to the point that there were no final holes on the end of strut 2 because the position had moved past the strut outline.
So many things could explain it if the tabs and strut itself also was out of position, but it’s just the holes. Both struts are a perfect fit.
STRUTPEEL.zip (3.0 KB)
Measure them and see if the holes are wrong or the strut length.
Your gcode has holes first, so they should be right.
The struts are using arcs so maybe the arc math is off somehow.
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The strut length is perfect, beautiful fit. I wondered if it might be that the tabs that are wrong, so I checked but the tabs all line up on both struts. When laid side by side like in the gcode drawing the tabs on each struct match position too. It’s puzzling.
I’ll check again in the morning and measure hole to hole, see if that shows anything.
Wow what a puzzle. The holes are drilled first so it could not be lost steps if the struts are the right length. It has to be your CAM in some way. There is no way the machine could miss steps and perfectly come back to the right dimensions after.
Wild, I need to know how this happened.
It has to be CAM right? Otherwise other sections would be off. But if it is CAM, why does it not show up when viewing the gcode, only when cutting?
It’s a longshot, but could anyone test the file I uploaded above if they have scrap wood lying around?
Here’s the strut measured where you can see the length is spot on.
Here’s the tool settings:
Basic settings:
Values:
Small update - the strange drill position in the above post is still a mystery, but now I have struts on (I paid a local CNC shop to cut them.. I know.. I know.. but I was so tired of assembling and disassembling) the lowrider is fully assembled, small issues are ironed out, and I think I’m finally ready to get busy cutting, so will re-try the same gcode tomorrow maybe and see if the drill positions are messed up again or not.
If anyone else wants to try and solve the mystery you can try the same gcode, cut or pen etc. it’s in the post 4 or 5 replies above
It’s been a while - I took a month or so off after getting frazzled by constant troubleshooting.
Came back to it this week and have been trying to fix the issues with a clearer head.
Essentially I would have a few pieces cut well, then others where it would just randomly veer off. Probably like 1/3 jobs would fail like this.
Both times shown I was babying it - 2mm DOC, 13mm/s feed rate.
Slight loose core - tightened.
Grub screws - all tight.
Endmill - changed to a fresh one multiple times.
Couldn’t for the life of me figure out what was happening and why it was losing steps.
Then after yet another failure, I was about to throw in the towel, and figured I’d home everything - X didn’t move. Strange, what’s up here? Wait.. this has to be wiring.. Checked the wiring, and after some deep inspection I noticed one stepper wire was loose inside a connector. Stripped it and reconnected - cut the next piece without issue.
That was today, so I’m hoping and praying I’ve finally found the cause of these endless problems - a slightly loose wire that I guess might have been just not passing current at a certain point or due to vibrations etc causing random missed steps and the machine veering off.
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Heck yeah! Good work on taking a little break from the frustrations. Finding a loose connection is the second-hardest thing you could have dealt with. (first hardest was a refrigerator on the same power circuit causing board resets)…
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Ooof 
How long did that take you?
I need to find that thread. I didn’t solve it, the owner of the machine did, but we were all trying to figure out what the heck was going on.
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I had that happen i was standing there watching and beverage cooler came on and presto instant chaos 
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That one is stuck in my head as by far the most random issue ever!
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Quick follow up, hopefully not jinxing myself now, but have had two basic but large cuts without any issues - I think that loose wire was indeed the cause of everything.
Also shout-out @Jim or @Tokoloshe (I forget) for an old thread I found the other day recommending using round tabs - great little time saver
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That would be @Tokoloshe .
Yes, great advice there.
I’m really happy to see you’re having repeatable good results. That how it should work.
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This looks great!
And yeah, round tabs on long jobs make ~1/3 that you can shave off the time, still love it.
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