[dmcgarry]

I have created what i thought was a simple engraving in VCarve Pro... But when i save it as G-Code for Mach3 it seems to want to engrave it from the underside of the workpiece?? i'm sure i'm doing something simple wrong but just cant figure it out. Here's the vcarve file and the gcode.

[alan_3301]

I didn't look at the file, but are you setting the z zero at the material top or bottom?
They must match in vcarve and when you set your z offset in mach3

[dmcgarry]

Thanks for the quick reply... I have Z set to top in vcarve, i then bring the cnc to my starting point and set them to x y z zero and then click start and it wants to drive pretty much through the whole piece... if i take the piece away and set the z zero alot higher it seems to go down and engrave the first pass deep down then goes deeper to go back for the 2nd pass then comes up a little deeper then the first pass as if it's doing the 2nd pass. it's nearly like it's imagining the spindle is on the underside of the workpiece

[alan_3301]

what does vcarve tell you is the max depth of the feature?
You have a 30 degree tool, if the vector is 0.5 inches wide, it will try to cut 0.9 inches deep.

In that case you need a very wide tool, or to set and stepdown value that is very small (long toolpath), or set a max cut depth that is reasonable for your tool width (very long toolpath, unless roughing tool is used)

[Mike 1948]

Could your Z axis be reversed? If you raise the Z up it should be going Positive +, down should be negative - .
Just a thought.

Mike

[mactec54]

dmcgarry

How deep did you want to engrave, -.999 I guess is mm, so did you, Zero your tool to the top of your part

[dmcgarry]

Hey thanks everyone for the quick reply. The z axis in mach3 was set to reverse for some reason so switched that and it's working perfect.