Frage What's the machine zero??

I see that the Y-axis home switch is in the back of the machine.

This means that homing all axis will move them to (relative to front):

X -> left
Z -> above
Y -> bottom

But the manual says that the Zero is this:

X -> left
Z -> above
Y -> front

So, do I have to put a home offset once homed??

And another question:

Is the homing really useful?? Since you move the tool to a starting position and then zero all the axis, what's home used for? For parking?

Didn`t find that in my SC1 manual. Haven`t used homing once yet, if I understand correctly then some people set soft limits in relation to the homing position. I don`t always move the tool to the starting or zero position either. Seems easier to divide different work across the work table when using other reference points (a bit more even wear too I hope) and to avoid crashes against machine parts.

Thanks, that's what I thought too, it's good for calibrating soft-limits and parking positions.

Totally agree with you on this, jvalencia.

It's very confusing.

I use Mach 3 and now that I have left, front, top (x, y, z) as my starting position it all makes sense and the Table Display agrees with what I see looking down the table (from E-Stop end).

It may (or may not) be standard but my sanity was in jeopardy here...

It's not only for soft limits (not that important) but in case you have fixed and saved working points it is crucial to home your machine on every run. If I don't do it, it would not find its heating bed for 3D prints automatically (only one example)

btw, when the machine is on its home point it stands at the coordinates X=0 / Y=415 / Z=0 (true for a SC420 with 415mm Y axis)

MikeRD03

"btw, when the machine is on its home point it stands at the coordinates X=0 / Y=415 / Z=0 (true for a SC420 with 415mm Y axis)"

That makes sense as it's where the stop buttons are.

But I could never get that to work as I expected it to for the Mach 3 Table Display.

So, I use X=0, Y=0 and Z=0. It works for me (so far)...

I've also noticed that whenever I start Mach 3, the Machine coordinates are zeroed at wherever the tool was at start up. Is that normal or is it down to one of the zillions of settings in Mach 3?

Anyone got any ideates on this?

Not a good idea, through. Here this is a working Mach3 configuration for a SC420 machine including correct Softlimits (don't forget to turn on softlimits). In case u have a bigger or smaller one, adjust the values (415mm/Y) and (298mm/X). This should give you a functional table display.



And regarding the zero in all axis - this is perfectly normal since Mach3 has no idea where your machine is until it is homed. Don't mix up working coordinates and machine coordinates!

And btw, without homing - no softlimits and no stepper protection! So home the machine on every run!