Hello friends. I am installing butcher block counters, and the sink section has a 22.5 degree angle on each end. I want to cut the sink out in the middle with my 4848 Pro. Any suggestions on how to zero my axis’s on just the middle. I hope I explained this correctly.
You might do well to find the centerpoint on one of the parallel edges and then just draw a line straight up to the other one (with a pencil). Then measure to the middle of that line and mark it. You can then put a V bit in your CNC and zero your XY right there.
Thank you. That’s what I was thinking but I wasn’t 100% sure. Should I zero the z there as well? Or Use the flip side of my Zero Z plate and go Z only for that axis?
It really depends on how you have your CAM setup. If that were me I’d zero to the top of the material and just make sure my cut depth was a little more than the thickness of what you’re trying to cut.
As a precaution you can always to an “air pass” to see where it’s going to cut:
Thank you my friend!! It worked. Perhaps a little too much for a dewalt router, but I’ll save up for a spindle some day. A year in with this machine, and I learn something new every day!!
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Wanted to share another feature rarely used, the Mach4 DRO Auto Calc. I posted about it a while back, here.
One way to use it would be to touch a tool at the near edge, set X zero, move the tool and touch the far parallel edge - now you have the distance between the two edges. Using the DRO Auto Calc feature, you just divide by two! I’m not replicating it at the moment, but if I’m right that should put your X zero dead center of the piece, in that axis.
Repeat the process for Y. While those edges aren’t parallel on your counter top at least they’re equal angles with respect to the parallel ones. All you want is to find the mid-point, and this method can do that - within reason using a fluted tool or pretty darn accurate using a solid dowel. Since the machine’s motion can be limited to a single, accurate axis, you can basically trust its measurement when you know at least one work piece side is parallel to an axis.
You could also just use a handheld calculator, but that’s no fun - you have to type all the numbers in, and not fudge it up!