KSA FAB LAB > CNC Routers

MOVING THE SHOPBOT MANUALLY

In the course of using the ShopBot there will be several times when you will need to move the cutting head manually. This document describes how you can do this.

Basics

ShopBot motion takes place at one of two speeds, and using one of two coordinate systems. The two speeds are referred to as Move and Jog:

• Move operations are intended to be made through a material, and are performed at a slower speed (depending on the material, between 0.5 and 4 inches per second).
• Jog operations are intended to transition between move operations, and are performed at a significantly faster speed (in the neighborhood of 12 inches per second).

The possible coordinate systems are Absolute and Relative.

• Absolute coordinates refer to all points in terms of their absolute position (that is, their distance from the current origin point).
• Relative coordinates refer to all points in terms of their position relative to the tool's current location.

You can tell which coordinate system is active by looking at the ShopBot Position window, pictured at right. In this example, you are in Absolute mode.

The image at right helps illustrate the difference between these two modes. The ShopBot's current location is the red dot, located 36" from the origin in the X axis and 12" from the origin in the Y axis. The goal is to move to the green dot, located at 12" in the X axis and 24" in the Y axis. In an absolute coordinate system, this command would be entered as "m2,12,24". This indicates that you wish to perform a Move operation (i.e. through material), in 2 dimensions, to the absolute location 12",24".

In relative mode, the command syntax is very similar: "m2,-24,12". This also indicates a 2-dimensional Move operation, but in this example the numbers refer to the distance to be travelled, not the desired ending position.

Move commands can be done in one axis at a time (MX, MY, or MZ for moves in the X, Y, or Z axes), in the X & Y axes simultaneously (M2), or in all three axes simultaneously (M3). The same options exist for Jog commands.

Executing Your Part File

ShopBot Overview