Apologies if this has been addressed. I haven’t been able to find anything by searching.
I am looking for advice on how to set up my CAM for double sided milling. Specifically, I want to be able to cut some table legs out of walnut stock that is more than an inch thick. I understand that I have to use dowels or some other means of registering the stock on the table, but I’m having trouble wrapping my mind around how to set up the toolpaths in EstlCAM.
If I flip the DXF/toolpath to make the “back side,” how do I ensure that it somehow remains aligned with the “front side” when cutting, since the shapes will not be symmetrical? Does 0,0,0 have to be set for each “side,” or should it be independent of the toolpaths (e.g., referenced to a corner of the stock)?
Sorry if I’m not even asking the questions correctly. This is turning out to be a mind bender for me, for some reason.
I don’t think 0,0,0 can ever be independent of the toolpath. How would you reference to a corner of the stock without knowing where the origin is? The corner may not be 0,0,0 but you at least need to know where it lies in relation to 0,0,0. Remember, the machine will do what you tell it to do, not what you thought you told it to do.
Of course I don’t have dual end stops set up so I’m unsure if that creates a fixed 0,0,0? My 0,0,0 is where the gantry happens to be when I turn on the power. YMMV
Yeah, “independent” wasn’t a good choice of words. I was trying to ask if, for instance the origin/0,0,0 should be a point on the toolpath itself (and therefore, moved to the other side of the toolpath for the “back side,” flipped path) or should be assigned to, say, the top left corner of the stock piece. Tough when you don’t even have the right vocabulary!
This is where if I’m doing something similar I often have to take the piece and pencil sketch on it where I want the cuts to be. For myself at any rate it makes it much easier to visualize what I’m trying to do and where I should locate 0,0,0. Maybe I’m slowing down with age but I know it can be confusing so I’d likely save the first toolpath, then reload the .dxf and look at the sketch on the the piece in my hand to help me locate where I want to set 0,0,0 for that cut. and save it separately.
Surely not the most elegant solution but if it gives me what I want, I’m happy. And personally, knowing how easily I might confuse left/up with right/down, before I put that nice walnut on the table I’d do a run through with foam, it’s inexpensive and you can run thru it quickly.
As you can probably tell, I’m still a toddler when it comes to setting up a job in Estlcam.
Oh, absolutely. Foam first! I just need to get my head around the flipping of the stock and how to get front and backside cuts to line up using EstlCAM.
I cut a lot of foam when starting to use a new technique save on frustration of hold down and other torque problems then to pine and poplar if I feel the need to test further but not to often
One thing I learned years ago fooling with a friend’s CNC mill, there are many routes to the same place in CNC, over time you find what works best for you. As I’ve said, sometimes I find taking the stock in hand and sketching on it helps me a lot, you may well find something else works better for you. If it gets the machine to do what you want it to safely, whatever it is, it’s the correct way.
I have some notes on coordinates in the docs (learning/coordinates). You can define it where you want, but I would probably put it somewhere you can find on the mirror. If you were using dowels on the left and right to align the flip, the left dowel is probably where I would do the origin. I would also draw the dowel locations in cad so I can have precise control.
