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One of the recent updates I did to my CNC is automated zero of the Z axis. It's a fairly simple process and I finally took time to get it done.
I planned to use a cutout from a PC board blank as the conducting part and place it in a 1/2" piece of wood. The hole at the peak of the piece is for hanging the assembly on the wall. The small hole in the pocket is for a wire that is soldered to the bottom of the PC board.
To operate the function, one lead is connected to pin A5 of the Arduino; the other to ground. In my case, the alligator clip goes to ground and the red wire to pin A5. A series of commands is then sent to the system to lower the bit to the plate. As soon as it touches, it stops and the position is stored in the system. I added a command to raise the bit 1/4" above the plate for clearance.
I use UGS for most of my projects, so I set up a macro to send the commands to zero the Z-axis.
Here's a short video of it doing its thing:
[video]https://www.dropbox.com/s/7vy0brmq6spc337/Z-Zero_a.wmv?dl=0[/video]
I planned to use a cutout from a PC board blank as the conducting part and place it in a 1/2" piece of wood. The hole at the peak of the piece is for hanging the assembly on the wall. The small hole in the pocket is for a wire that is soldered to the bottom of the PC board.
To operate the function, one lead is connected to pin A5 of the Arduino; the other to ground. In my case, the alligator clip goes to ground and the red wire to pin A5. A series of commands is then sent to the system to lower the bit to the plate. As soon as it touches, it stops and the position is stored in the system. I added a command to raise the bit 1/4" above the plate for clearance.
I use UGS for most of my projects, so I set up a macro to send the commands to zero the Z-axis.
Here's a short video of it doing its thing:
[video]https://www.dropbox.com/s/7vy0brmq6spc337/Z-Zero_a.wmv?dl=0[/video]