I was wondering if you can use the z-min probe to get the 0 coordinates of your stock in XY as well? I know these exist for other machines, but I’m not sure how to implement it on the lowrider.
Has anyone done this?
Problem is that the machine has too much flex, so when I switch out the endmill, the zero isn’t always identical. I know I should just try and fix the flex in the machine, but I don’t know enough about that to know where to begin. Zeroing on every bit using the z probe would also negate the effect.
I am not sure that you have given enough information for anyone to be helpful. Is this first gen or 2nd, do you have a pic of your machine or the process you use to do the tool change? anything that someone can look at and say, oh yeah, if you do this it will help?
There are some ways to make an XY touch plate. I haven’t really looked that closely, because I personally don’t see the advantage. Homing X and Y against the stock doesn’t account for the angle of the stock, so you need multiple touch points, which isn’t in the firmware.
I would instead look at homing the machine with dual endstops in XY. That will bring the machine back to square. If you then have a set offset to your workpiece (you are doing G92 in the same location), you can get repeatable XY locations.
Even with a rigid machine, you will have to reset the Z=0. But you should be able to trust the X,Y aren’t moving when you change bits.