Second this. My work occasionally deals with Gcode files. The coding is simple, knowing what to do (or not to do!) is harder. My first foray into the world of Gcode I named "Smokey" because it was a quick fix for another program generating bad Gcode that quite literally caused smoking on the work surface and could have lead to a fire had the operator not been paying attention.
And note that while Gcode is consistent it's meaning isn't always--is Z positive going into the work surface or going away from the work surface?
Z in a positive direction should always be up on a 3-axis machine --- the only time it might even appear not would be if the machine was already even higher than that position.
One would think so, but apparently it varies between manufacturers. Our machines are all carving up a flat surface resting on a table. I think what's going on is that functionally that means that the working head is permanently upside-down. Is Z measured in the context of the whole machine, or is Z measured in the context of the cutting assembly?
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Second this. My work occasionally deals with Gcode files. The coding is simple, knowing what to do (or not to do!) is harder. My first foray into the world of Gcode I named "Smokey" because it was a quick fix for another program generating bad Gcode that quite literally caused smoking on the work surface and could have lead to a fire had the operator not been paying attention.
And note that while Gcode is consistent it's meaning isn't always--is Z positive going into the work surface or going away from the work surface?
Z in a positive direction should always be up on a 3-axis machine --- the only time it might even appear not would be if the machine was already even higher than that position.
One would think so, but apparently it varies between manufacturers. Our machines are all carving up a flat surface resting on a table. I think what's going on is that functionally that means that the working head is permanently upside-down. Is Z measured in the context of the whole machine, or is Z measured in the context of the cutting assembly?