VIDEO: Tramming & Squaring with Jackpot controller (LowRider v3 CNC but possibly helpful with MPCNC and others as well)

Software / Firmware Jackpot Board / FluidNC
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For more on use of the Jackpot controller with a LowRider v3 CNC, watch these other short videos:

For more on squaring (for either a Jackpot or a Marlin based board), and how software-based “pull off” is done on Marlin-based controller boards, watch this video:

Buy the Jackpot controller board from V1 Engineering here:

Buy the Tiny Touchplate (for probing) from V1 Engineering here:

Download the printable “magnetic tip for touch plate wire” (v1.0) for CNC machines here:
https://www.printables.com/model/446174-for-cnc-machines-magnetic-tip-for-touch-plate-wire

V1E’s documentation for the Jackpot board is available here:
https://docs.v1e.com/electronics/jackpot/

…and if you search that page for instances of the word “probe” you will see several mentions. Among them is the fact that a probe routine is present in the “Lowrider Starting Gcode” — which by the way, if you have probing scripted in that way, the gcode outputted by whichever CAM software you use (ESTLcam etc) will account for probing as part of each job. The “Lowrider Starting Gcode” is below, and it can be used for creating your own Probe Macro button on the Jackpot. Below, I have added “remarks” (commented out so they don’t get acted on) to explain what the result of each gcode command would be:

G21 ; (assume part programs are Metric, as opposed to Imperial, which would have been G20.)
G90 ; (absolute positioning, as opposed to incremental, which would have been G91.)
G94 ; (interpret feed commands as inches/min or mm/min for linear moves.)
G92 X0 Y0 ; (set current position to values specified — and there are other code options for this.)
M0 (MSG Attach probe) ; (issue a message to operator to attach probe.)
G38.2 Z-80 F200 P0.5 ; (probe down to get thickness, allowing 80mm travel, speed 200, plate thickness 0.5 mm.)
G1 Z10 F900 ; (move upward in Z axis by 10mm at a speed of 900)
M0 (MSG Remove probe) ; (issue a message to operator to remove probe.)
M62 P1 (If used start spindle pin27 )

For clarity and convenience, I’m using my Jackpot with hard limits enabled and soft limits enabled, and my table size included in my config.yaml file, and the following is the exact script I’m using for my Probe macro (except I have the M0 commands commented out by starting those lines with a semi-colon, and I also don’t use the last line for spindle start):

G21 (MSG G21: Metric mode)
G90 (MSG G90: Switching to absolute positioning)
G94 (MSG G94: Feed = per minute)
G92 X0 Y0 (MSG G92: Setting current XY position as workspace origin 0,0)
M0 (MSG Attach probe)
G38.2 G91 Z-124.9 F400 (MSG G38.2: Fast probing to material)
G1 Z5 F400 (MSG G1 move Z up by 5mm, speed 400)
G38.2 G91 Z-6 F100 P0.34 (MSG G38.2: Slow probing to material. Plate thickness: 0.34)
G90 (MSG G90: Switching to absolute positioning)
G1 Z30 F900 (MSG G1: go to Z30, speed 900)
M0 (MSG Remove probe)
M62 P1 (If used start spindle pin27)

A huge “shout out” and thank you to Bart Dring & Mitch Bradley & Michael Melancon of the Fluid NC dev team, and also to Ryan Zeller @vicious1 over at V1 Engineering Inc, and all the helpful crew at the V1E forum!

3 Likes
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Hey guys,

So I just probe my LR3 (jackpot).
Z1 = -53.857 average
Z2 = -63.377 average
difference = 9.52

now, in the config.yaml, the pulloff_mm is 4. I have a nasty 9.52 hahaha (I use the touch plate by the way)

In this scenario, what do I have to do exactly?

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OK, so since Z2 is higher, you need more pull off there, by an addition 9.52 mm. So the pull off value for Z2 axis should be 13.52 mm.

That would get you trammed.

Re. “nasty 9.52 hahaha”

That is a considerable difference. It’s possible that shimming one side of the table or raising the “riding bar” on the Z1 side of the table maybe advisable!

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It really should not be more than 1-2mm, 9mm is a sign that something is drastically wrong.

The Z endstop mounts are adjustable. Before you fix things in software it is a good idea to make sure your hardware is adjusted right. If you only do it in software you are throwing away Z travel. Set your Z endstop so your Lead screw stubs are very close to the very top of the YZ plate stop. Then adjust them so they are within a 1mm or two then use the software to dial it in precisely.

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Will do! Currently just trying to cut my Strut & plate (got a plate that kinda burned a bit)

Afterwards, parametric table! :smiley:

Thanks Doug!

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OK, keep us updated. Also, as Ryan @vicious1 has mentioned, there are other ways to get a usable table besides CNC cutting a torsion box. Depending on your skill level with the LowRider, the CNC cut torsion box may be easy or a challenge.

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Based on your situation, I’m guessing any offset you do now is only temporary, and could be a valid stop-gap measure only for the time being, until you get a new table built. That’s probably a tolerable thing, even though not desirable for the long term.

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That gap must go! :smiley:

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Somehow I did not realize this before. When I put these pieces on, I didn’t make the connection. I’m only off by 2mm which I changed the pulloff numbers for. I also changed the defaults from 4 to 2mm since the switch trigger range is short enough. I could probably get a couple more mm by moving the endstop mounts.

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@DougJoseph I thought it was interesting that you chose to manually edit the config.yaml file and upload instead of changing it on the FluidNC tab under Config Items. I guess when I originally set it up, I had it in AP mode so modifying it from my computer (away from the LowRider) instead of my phone/tablet would have been a pain. I’m a big fan of STA mode. I like that videos give more detail on what a person’s workflow for different things look like.

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It is a little odd that you have to use the Save macro on the first tab to store these changes but it’s simple enough.

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Yes I learned how to edit and upload before I learned it could be edited in the WebUI and saved! I know that way now.

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I also like knowing I have a solid, updated backup on my laptop in case I should ever somehow lose the one on the board. That’s also doable by downloading the “Saved” one if you edit on the WebUI.

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That hints (I think) at the dev’s intimate knowledge of the handtyped save code and affinity for using it, and perhaps at an early concept of editing the config elsewhere and uploading it.

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Hi Doug - thanks for posting this probe script and the helpful videos on squaring up. One thing that bit me until I figured it out was the “G92 X0 Y0” line. I was homing Y then X then Z, and then I manually moved the tool over to the area of the board I was going to work on and probed there for what I thought was maximum accuracy. But that line resets X and Y to wherever you probe. So basically I just want to point out that to use the script as written you have to probe Z when the tool is at 0/0 from homing X and Y. Otherwise you can get your tool trying to drive off the table…

I realized there is a built-in probe routine in the firmware (third tab in the middle) - it seems to work but I haven’t tested yet what behavior it uses.

Also for anyone using Doug’s script and the V1E probe kit don’t forget to change the plate thickness to 0.5.

A couple other notes regarding the Jackpot board - I had no problems switching to station mode for wifi - seems to work fine and much faster than reconnecting all the time. I gave it a static address but it should work on dhcp, and then you just go to fluidnc.local to get the interface.

I did however run out of memory several times, apparently (from other posts I found) due to having multiple interface tabs open at the same time from both my laptop and my phone. Having only one screen open seemed to fix that

Thank you!

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Glad you got that sorted out. I left that line in because it it’s in the script from the docs. I also prefer to do my X and Y zeroing separately from my probing step.