[aseylys]

Hey guys,

First time poster and CNC-er here. I just bought my first CNC to help my knickknacks I make have more precision and I set it up using LinuxCNC. Anyways, my first project was just a simple engraving. After fussing around with the software and hardware I got it to work. When it finished the design was compressed. It was supposed to be almost 9 inches and only ended up being around 6ish.

Does anyone have a general clue as to what happened?

Thanks guys!

[Spk64]

Sounds like your steps per unit is off.

[aseylys]

How would I go about fixing that if my CNC didn't come with a user manual?

[Spk64]

Did you have any sort of setup files or information to use LinuxCnc?
I am a Mach3 user so not real sure how to make changes in LinuxCnc setup.

[urbnsr]

I would check your scale setting against real world movements. Look for your .ini file in a directory something like /home/(login name)/linuxcnc/config/(table name)/(table name).ini. Each axis will have a section for settings. Look for a line starting our with "Scale". I bet that line needs adjusted, but that's off quite a bit. Anyways, on your machine, you should mark 0.00 and then move an axis close to as far as the table allows and mark that position. So, if you told the machine to move 48", you should then measure your two marks (0.00 and 48.00). Ideally, you should measure 48" in this example. If not, you can change the scale figure. Restart LinuxCNC and retest. Also after moving 48", tell the machine to move back to 0.00 - Your machine should return to that start position. If not, your .ini file *might* have a line in each axis section named backlash. This setting takes into account any slack an axis has when going from one direction to the other.

Here is a link to some manuals:
Documentation

HTH
Paul