Hi guys. So I was trying now to follow the ESTL Cam basics tutorial to get the drawing of the crown and I encountered some issues/problems that Im not very sure if its because of my short understanding or if I did something wrong.
First of all I configured the CNC program settings/post processor in ESTLCam, with the little gcode pieces that the tutorial states for LR4/GBRL. I understand this code pieces are bits of code that are inserted at the start of the work/after a tool change or at the end on every gcode we create
Specifically my program start is as the tutorial states: G21 G90 G94 G10 L20 P0 X0 Y0 Z0 (set current location to zero, survives reboot) G0 X10 Y10 F2000 (move to probing location) M0 (MSG Attach probe) G38.2 Z-110 F200 P0.5 (probe down set thickness ) G1 Z10 F900 M0 (MSG Remove probe) M62 P1 (If used start spindle pin27 )
Then in the crown tutorial states that once we have the gcode, I quote:
Power up your machine and drive the pen or router to surface of your material. Drive the tip of the pen (or tool) a hair above where you want it to start and start the file you just created.
It should pick up, move to the start, move down and start drawing/cutting.
So I understand that I need to move my pen tip to what i want to be my work origin (blue cross in estlcam) and in Z be touching my paper/surface or at least be very close. I assume this is because were doing a G10 L20 p0 x0 y0 z0 that will set that as the zero in all coordinates including Z, as part of the “Program start” sequence.
But here comes the first strange bit for me: Then will move it to the probe location, but it doesnt raise the tool at all, that was already touching or almost touching the paper surface. In my case I got a line drawn from the work origin to the probe location XD
Also I thought the the z probing was precisely to set the Z =0, so I was puzzled by why I needed to set the tip of the tool touching the surface prior to start the job
The instruction G38.2 Z-110 F200 P0.5lowers the tool until the probe is detected, but after that I dont see any gcode instruction that sets the Z position as the new Z =0. It directly goes to raising the tool. Am I missing something? I was expecting something similar to
G10 L2 P0 Z0 to set the probe position as zero before raising the tool again
Then I understand that M0 is some sort of wait for user input where a message should be displayed to the user. In the mobile web ui interface though i dont seem to get any popup, but maybe thats just because Im in mobile and I should use a laptop or something
Did I understand something wrong with regards to the probing?
the crown first draw is a gcode file. you literally put the machine where you want it to start, turn the machine on and run the code. Estlcam isn’t part of it… at least it wasn’t when I did it. If you want to probe, you do that before you run the crown gcode.
if you follow the instructions, you turn on the machine, home xyz, then manually move the pen (drive the machine) to where you want it to start. zero the axis, so that becomes the drawing origin and have it go.
Normally I would home x, y, z then move to the cut or draw area then zero x and y to make the lower left corner of the cut piece “home/zero”, then probe z to get the correct height and then run the code. Some folks have the z probe as part of the gcode file, with a pause so you have to press a continue button after you get the probe set, then continue again after you stow it. That prompting in the file doesn’t suit me, so I don’t include it, but you can do what works for you.
I didnt download the gcode straightaway. I just followed the tutorial in
To see if I could load up the crown dxf and generate gcode for it. So I learn how the whole process works
I still dont know what suits me cause Im so new to this I was just trying to see if following those steps I get the cnc tow ork and draw the crown for me. But I understood well then what you say is that you move to your x0 y0 and set those as zero with probably something like
g10 l20 p0 x0 y0
and then set the Z by probing I guess with something in the lines of
G38.2 Z-110 F100 P0.5 (probe down set thickness )
g10 l20 p0 z0
oh, sorry I understand what you were trying to do now.
Yes, you have your origin for your cut set, cutter/marker height is correct and that is where the estlcam lower left dot will start the operation from. When you generate gcode code in estlcam it puts you into the simulator and you can play the cut on the screen. This should be exactly what it does on the machine. Typically the default origin is the lower left of the workpiece unless you purposely move it. You can put it anywhere and on occasion I have. you should be good to go assuming all your gcodes above are correct.
I still dont understand what exactly is the difference between P0 or P1 and L2 or L20 in this instruction
G10 L20 P0 X0 Y0
According to ChatGPT P0 deisgnates the coordinate system for which we want to set the x= 0 and y=0 but apparently P0 is invalid? Can anybody confirm cause I see this a lot in the tutorials.
Then it says also that L20 is for the controller to adjust the offsets so the current location ends up being the x=0 y=0, while L2 is for us to set directly those offsets to that value. So in theory L2 is not what we want no?
I use 11. if you go into setup → controller commands
you can see the post processor and look at all the functions it puts in. If you are using a jackpot, you will want to look at the grbl. make sure that one is highlighted anyway or you’ll generate code for the wrong machine.
when done, you can save the settings as a file and then select that file for your post processor with “open settings” if you change it. I have 2 different cncs and have to use 2 different post processors. one is stock and is selected in the list, the other is custom and I have to open it. Once you select, it will stay with that one until you select another. if you only have one setup, you should only need to do this once.
Those two post are so clear. Thank you for that. I have to look it up all the time, I think the way you explained it might have actually made it stick. Thank you!!
These codes were not recognized by the jackpot and an error was issued and the program stopped. I just cleared those coolant fields and now theyre not output to the gcode file
As a curiosity at the end instead of a pen attachment I got the ballpoint pen refill of one of my old pens, cut it and use it straight into the 1/8” collet adapter of the Makita and fit perfectly. In case is useful for anybody
I was just trying to see if following those steps I get the cnc tow ork and draw the crown for me. But I understood well then what you say is that you move to your x0 y0 and set those as zero with probably something like
