# How to re-zero the Z axis with next bit once most of the material is milled away.  

**URL:** <https://forum.avidcnc.com/t/how-to-re-zero-the-z-axis-with-next-bit-once-most-of-the-material-is-milled-away/1470>\
**Category:** General Chat\
**Created:** [December 20, 2022, 4:46pm UTC](https://forum.avidcnc.com/t/how-to-re-zero-the-z-axis-with-next-bit-once-most-of-the-material-is-milled-away/1470 "2022-12-20T16:46:55Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![robert.g.miller2025](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bbce88/32.png) [@robert.g.miller2025](https://forum.avidcnc.com/u/robert.g.miller2025)\
**Post date:** [December 20, 2022, 4:46pm UTC](https://forum.avidcnc.com/t/how-to-re-zero-the-z-axis-with-next-bit-once-most-of-the-material-is-milled-away/1470/1 "2022-12-20T16:46:55Z")

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Would anyone know how to re-zero the Z axis with the next bit when there isn’t any original material left from the origin Z axis zero?

Thanks.

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**Author:** ![subnoize](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex027/user_avatar/forum.avidcnc.com/subnoize/32/2197_2.png) [@subnoize](https://forum.avidcnc.com/u/subnoize)\
**Post date:** [December 20, 2022, 4:58pm UTC](https://forum.avidcnc.com/t/how-to-re-zero-the-z-axis-with-next-bit-once-most-of-the-material-is-milled-away/1470/2 "2022-12-20T16:58:47Z")

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Always zero to the spoilboard. Your cuts should all be in the positive. This will save wear on your spoilboard and allow you to have a reliable Z axis reference.

The trick is in your CAM package, set the origin for the model at the bottom when calculating your tool paths.

I use Fusion 360, not the other packages so its a matter of clicking the bottom point on the stock.

Of course you can also make a known touch off point somewhere else on the machine and use that but that can be difficult getting calibrated correctly.

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**Author:** ![robert.g.miller2025](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bbce88/32.png) [@robert.g.miller2025](https://forum.avidcnc.com/u/robert.g.miller2025)\
**Post date:** [December 21, 2022, 2:11pm UTC](https://forum.avidcnc.com/t/how-to-re-zero-the-z-axis-with-next-bit-once-most-of-the-material-is-milled-away/1470/3 "2022-12-21T14:11:14Z")

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Thank you for the info.

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**Author:** ![davidcnc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@davidcnc](https://forum.avidcnc.com/u/davidcnc)\
**Post date:** [December 21, 2022, 4:04pm UTC](https://forum.avidcnc.com/t/how-to-re-zero-the-z-axis-with-next-bit-once-most-of-the-material-is-milled-away/1470/4 "2022-12-21T16:04:17Z")

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Solid advice. There are other options, but require some pre-planning. You can find a litany of discussions and videos covering this topic, but the tier 1 solution is ‘zero to base of work’.