Surfacing Macro

CthulhuLabs

I wrote a Macro for surfacing stock and figured I should share:

; Constants
var Debug = false;
var ProbeThickness = 15.5;
var CoordSystem	= 20;
var StepOver = 10;
var DepthOfCut = 0.2;
var FeedRate = 8000;
var ZClearanceHeight = 25;

; Variables
var StartX = 0;			; The X starting position
var StartY = 0;			; The Y starting position
var EndX = 0;			; The X ending position
var EndY = 0;			; The Y ending position
var YDir = 0;			; The direction to go in Y
var YDist = 0;			; The distance to go in Y
var YPos = 0;			; The position in Y to move to
var YDistLeft = 0;		; How much we have left to move in Y
var ZDepth = 0;			; How far down we should be in Z
var XSorE = "End"		; Whether X should move towards the start or the end position

; If the printer hasn't been homed, home it
if !move.axes[0].homed || !move.axes[1].homed || !move.axes[2].homed
	G28

; Adjust probe for low speed probing
M558 K0 P8 C"!io3.in" H20 F120 T300					; Z probe number - Z probe switch type - probe recovery 1s probe speed and travel speed
G31 K0 P500 X0 Y0 Z0								; Set trigger value - set offset and trigger height - Z probe number

M291 P"Insert your surfacing bit into your spindle and position it above the probe plate" R"Probing" S3 X1 Y1 Z1

; Set bit above center of probe
G91																			; relative positioning

; Probe Z component
G38.2 Z{move.axes[2].userPosition - (var.ProbeThickness + 2.25)}			; seek until the probe circuit is closed Z-axis 25 mm
G0 Z{var.ZClearanceHeight}													; rapid move Z axis 5 mm

G10 P1 L{var.CoordSystem} Z{var.ProbeThickness + var.ZClearanceHeight}		; store relative probe offset for coordinates system 1

G90																			; Absolute positioning

M291 P"Move to the starting X Y position for surfacing" R"Start Position" S3 X1 Y1 Z0
set var.StartX = move.axes[0].userPosition;
set var.StartY = move.axes[1].userPosition;

if var.Debug
	M118 P0 S{"StartX = " ^ var.StartX} L2
	M118 P0 S{"StartY = " ^ var.StartY} L2

M291 P"Move to the ending X Y position for surfacing" R"End Position" S3 X1 Y1 Z0
set var.EndX = move.axes[0].userPosition;
set var.EndY = move.axes[1].userPosition;

if var.Debug
	M118 P0 S{"EndX = " ^ var.EndX} L2
	M118 P0 S{"EndY = " ^ var.EndY} L2

M291 P"Are you ready to begin surfacing?" S3 X0 Y0 Z0

; Figure out which direction in Y we are going
if var.EndY < var.StartY
	set var.YDir = -1;
elif var.EndY > var.StartY
	set var.YDir = 1;
else
	set var.YDir = 0;

if var.Debug
	M118 P0 S{"YDir = " ^ var.YDir} L2


set var.YDist = {abs(var.StartY - var.EndY)};
if var.Debug
	M118 P0 S{"YDist = " ^ var.YDist} L2

; Begin surfacing loop
while true
	if var.Debug
		M118 P0 S"Begin Layer Loop" L2;

	set var.ZDepth = {var.ZDepth - var.DepthOfCut};
	set var.YDistLeft = {var.YDist};

	; go to the start X and Y position then down to Z Depth
	if var.Debug
		M118 P0 S{"Move to start X" ^ var.StartX ^ ",Y" ^ var.StartY} L2
	G0 X{var.StartX} Y{var.StartY}
	if var.Debug
		M118 P0 S{"Move to start Z" ^ var.ZDepth} L2
	G1 Z{var.ZDepth}

	; we should be at the Start X position so move to the End X position
	if var.Debug
		M118 P0 S{"Move to X" ^ var.EndX} L2
	G1 X{var.EndX} F{var.FeedRate}
	set var.XSorE = "Start"

	while var.YDistLeft > var.StepOver
		if var.Debug
			M118 P0 S"Begin Y Loop" L2

		; move in Y by StepOver
		set var.YPos = {move.axes[1].userPosition + (var.StepOver * var.YDir)}
		if var.Debug
			M118 P0 S{"Move to Y" ^ var.YPos} L2
		G1 Y{var.YPos} F{var.FeedRate}
		set var.YDistLeft = {var.YDistLeft - var.StepOver}

		if var.XSorE == "Start"
			; move X to the start position
			if var.Debug
				M118 P0 S{"Move to X" ^ var.StartX} L2
			G1 X{var.StartX} F{var.FeedRate}
			set var.XSorE = "End"
		else
			; move X to the end position
			if var.Debug
				M118 P0 S{"Move to X" ^ var.EndX} L2
			G1 X{var.EndX} F{var.FeedRate}
			set var.XSorE = "Start"

	; move in Y the rest of the distance left
	set var.YPos = {move.axes[1].userPosition + (var.YDistLeft * var.YDir)}
	if var.Debug
		M118 P0 S{"Move to Y" ^ var.YPos} L2
	G1 Y{var.YPos} F{var.FeedRate}

	; one last move in X
	if var.XSorE == "Start"
		; move X to the start position
		if var.Debug
			M118 P0 S{"Move to X" ^ var.StartX} L2
		G1 X{var.StartX} F{var.FeedRate}
		set var.XSorE = "End"
	else
		; move X to the end position
		if var.Debug
			M118 P0 S{"Move to X" ^ var.EndX} L2
		G1 X{var.EndX} F{var.FeedRate}
		set var.XSorE = "Start"

	G0 Z{var.ZClearanceHeight}					; get out of the way
	M400 										; wait for the movement buffer to catch up
	M291 P"Surface another layer?" S3 X0 Y0 Z0	; then prompt the user if they want to do another layer

It is working really well so far, but I cannot promise it is perfect. It is designed to be used with a Z Probe like this:

https://openbuildspartstore.com/xyz-touch-probe-plus/

Once the top surface of the piece is determined it will then have you jog to the X / Y start position and press Ok. Next it will have you jog to the X / Y end position and press Ok. Then it will ask you if you are ready. Press Ok and it will begin surfacing your part. Once it has made a pass it will prompt you if you want to surface another layer. If you say Ok it will move back to the X / Y start position and go down in Z by the DepthOfCut variable and continue surfacing. It will keep going till you cancel at the end of a pass.

There are several constants you can set at the top:

Debug - Determines if it should spit out the M118 debug output. (Will probably switch this over to echos to a file once 3.4 is finally released)
ProbeThickness - How thick your XYZ probe is.
CoordSystem - The coordinate system to save the top of your piece in as Z0
StepOver - The step over in MM for each pass of your cutter
DepthOfCut - The depth of cut that will be taken off with each pass
FeedRate - The feed rate used when cutting
ZClearanceHeight - How high to retract in Z when moving to the Start Point

Would love your feedback.

EDIT: So I forgot to mention that the Start and End points define two opposite corners of the rectangle to be surfaced.

jay_s_uk

@cthulhulabs wow, thats really nice.
how is the cutter diameter set so each movement in Y isn't too large/too small?

CthulhuLabs

@jay_s_uk you just adjust the step over. So if you were using a 1/4in end mill you'd set the step over to like 2mm. I'm using a 1" surfacing bit so I set it to 10mm. Seems to leave a nice finish.

jay_s_uk

@cthulhulabs fantastic! I look forward to trying this when I next need it

Sindarius

@cthulhulabs This is really impressive! Thanks for sharing. I plan on trying it out soon myself!

CthulhuLabs

@sindarius / @jay_s_uk
Get a chance to try this out? Trying to see if there are any ways to improve it.

Sindarius

@cthulhulabs It's been too cold in my garage to want to do any woodworking at the moment

I do have the macro copied over to my machine once it warms up enough to be in there.

chimaeragh

It would be nice if this macro could be made into a plugin. Then you wouldn't have to edit the macro to change parameters. Something like the CNC touchprobe plugin by @raymondstone

psychotik2k3

damn that would be another reason for me to update my old duet2w from RRF2.1 to 3.3
no build another cnc first

chimaeragh

I tested this macro today. Works nicely, had to edit some parameters for my Ooznest touchprobe input. Thanks a lot

; Adjust probe for low speed probing
M558 K0 P8 C"!e0stop" H20 F120 T300					; Z probe number - Z probe switch type - probe recovery 1s probe speed and travel speed

sinned6915

@cthulhulabs i like this macro! I am trying ot use it by I am encountering a couple of hiccups. I know this is an older thread, but I am hoping you might see this reply.

Are you using a PanelDue in conjunction with your machine?
Where/how are you controlling your spindle?
I am getting funny outputs with the move command prompts on PanelDue. I get the first one for probing Z. but not for any of the other ones. M291 Syntax looks correct. I am trying to get a PC near the machine to see what the console looks like.

M291 P"Insert your surfacing bit into your spindle and position it above the probe plate" R"Probing" S3 X1 Y1 Z1
 
; Set bit above center of probe
G91																			; relative positioning
 
; Probe Z component
G38.2 Z{move.axes[2].userPosition - (var.ProbeThickness + 2.25)}			; seek until the probe circuit is closed Z-axis 25 mm
G0 Z{var.ZClearanceHeight}													; rapid move Z axis 5 mm
 
G10 P1 L{var.CoordSystem} Z{var.ProbeThickness + var.ZClearanceHeight}		; store relative probe offset for coordinates system 1
 
G90																			; Absolute positioning
 
M291 P"Move to the starting X Y position for surfacing" R"Start Position" S3 X1 Y1 Z0
set var.StartX = move.axes[0].userPosition;
set var.StartY = move.axes[1].userPosition;

if var.Debug
	M118 P0 S{"StartX = " ^ var.StartX} L2
	M118 P0 S{"StartY = " ^ var.StartY} L2
 
M291 P"Move to the ending X Y position for surfacing" R"End Position" S3 X1 Y1 Z0
set var.EndX = move.axes[0].userPosition;
set var.EndY = move.axes[1].userPosition;

How or where are you turning your spindle on? As mine is controlled through RRF, I need to insert the tokens to turn off/on. I am thjnking before and after the while loop?

T1 

G90
M03 S5000
G04 S1
G0 X0.0000 Y0.0000 Z3.0000

; Begin surfacing loop
while true

...
...
	M291 P"Surface another layer?" S3 X0 Y0 Z0	; then prompt the user if they want to do another layer

M03 S3500          ; ramp spindle speed down
G04 S1
M03 S1500
G04 S1
M05
G04 S1
G90
G0 X0.0000 Y0.0000 Z3.0000

chimaeragh

@sinned6915 I have modified the macro for an Ooznest Workbee with their latest Firmware (RRF3.3). M3 starts the router and M5 stops it.

; Constants
var Debug = false;
var ProbeThickness = 5;
var CoordSystem	= 20;
var StepOver = 10;
var DepthOfCut = 0.2;
var FeedRate = 8000;
var ZClearanceHeight = 25;

; Variables
var StartX = 0;			; The X starting position
var StartY = 0;			; The Y starting position
var EndX = 0;			; The X ending position
var EndY = 0;			; The Y ending position
var YDir = 0;			; The direction to go in Y
var YDist = 0;			; The distance to go in Y
var YPos = 0;			; The position in Y to move to
var YDistLeft = 0;		; How much we have left to move in Y
var ZDepth = 0;			; How far down we should be in Z
var XSorE = "End"		; Whether X should move towards the start or the end position

; If the printer hasn't been homed, home it
if !move.axes[0].homed || !move.axes[1].homed || !move.axes[2].homed
   G28

; Adjust probe for low speed probing
M558 K0 P8 C"!e0stop" H20 F120 T300					; Z probe number - Z probe switch type - probe recovery 1s probe speed and travel speed
G31 K0 P500 X0 Y0 Z0								; Set trigger value - set offset and trigger height - Z probe number

M291 P"Insert your surfacing bit into your spindle and position it above the probe plate" R"Probing" S3 X1 Y1 Z1

; Set bit above center of probe
G91	; relative positioning

; Probe Z component
G38.2 Z{move.axes[2].userPosition - (var.ProbeThickness + 2.25)}			; seek until the probe circuit is closed Z-axis 25 mm
G0 Z{var.ZClearanceHeight}													; rapid move Z axis 5 mm

G10 P1 L{var.CoordSystem} Z{var.ProbeThickness + var.ZClearanceHeight}		; store relative probe offset for coordinates system 1

G90	; Absolute positioning

M291 P"Move to the starting X Y position for surfacing" R"Start Position" S3 X1 Y1 Z0
set var.StartX = move.axes[0].userPosition;
set var.StartY = move.axes[1].userPosition;

if var.Debug
   M118 P0 S{"StartX = " ^ var.StartX} L2
   M118 P0 S{"StartY = " ^ var.StartY} L2

M291 P"Move to the ending X Y position for surfacing" R"End Position" S3 X1 Y1 Z0
set var.EndX = move.axes[0].userPosition;
set var.EndY = move.axes[1].userPosition;

if var.Debug
   M118 P0 S{"EndX = " ^ var.EndX} L2
   M118 P0 S{"EndY = " ^ var.EndY} L2

M291 P"Are you ready to begin surfacing?" S3 X0 Y0 Z0


; Figure out which direction in Y we are going
if var.EndY < var.StartY
   set var.YDir = -1;
elif var.EndY > var.StartY
   set var.YDir = 1;
else
   set var.YDir = 0;

if var.Debug
   M118 P0 S{"YDir = " ^ var.YDir} L2


set var.YDist = {abs(var.StartY - var.EndY)};
if var.Debug
   M118 P0 S{"YDist = " ^ var.YDist} L2

; Begin surfacing loop
while true
   if var.Debug
   	M118 P0 S"Begin Layer Loop" L2;

   set var.ZDepth = {var.ZDepth - var.DepthOfCut};
   set var.YDistLeft = {var.YDist};

   ; go to the start X and Y position then down to Z Depth
   if var.Debug
   	M118 P0 S{"Move to start X" ^ var.StartX ^ ",Y" ^ var.StartY} L2
   T1
   M3 S17500 ;M42 P1 S1
   G0 X{var.StartX} Y{var.StartY}
   if var.Debug
   	M118 P0 S{"Move to start Z" ^ var.ZDepth} L2
   G1 Z{var.ZDepth}

   ; we should be at the Start X position so move to the End X position
   if var.Debug
   	M118 P0 S{"Move to X" ^ var.EndX} L2
   G1 X{var.EndX} F{var.FeedRate}
   set var.XSorE = "Start"

   while var.YDistLeft > var.StepOver
   	if var.Debug
   		M118 P0 S"Begin Y Loop" L2

   	; move in Y by StepOver
   	set var.YPos = {move.axes[1].userPosition + (var.StepOver * var.YDir)}
   	if var.Debug
   		M118 P0 S{"Move to Y" ^ var.YPos} L2
   	G1 Y{var.YPos} F{var.FeedRate}
   	set var.YDistLeft = {var.YDistLeft - var.StepOver}

   	if var.XSorE == "Start"
   		; move X to the start position
   		if var.Debug
   			M118 P0 S{"Move to X" ^ var.StartX} L2
   		G1 X{var.StartX} F{var.FeedRate}
   		set var.XSorE = "End"
   	else
   		; move X to the end position
   		if var.Debug
   			M118 P0 S{"Move to X" ^ var.EndX} L2
   		G1 X{var.EndX} F{var.FeedRate}
   		set var.XSorE = "Start"

   ; move in Y the rest of the distance left
   set var.YPos = {move.axes[1].userPosition + (var.YDistLeft * var.YDir)}
   if var.Debug
   	M118 P0 S{"Move to Y" ^ var.YPos} L2
   G1 Y{var.YPos} F{var.FeedRate}

   ; one last move in X
   if var.XSorE == "Start"
   	; move X to the start position
   	if var.Debug
   		M118 P0 S{"Move to X" ^ var.StartX} L2
   	G1 X{var.StartX} F{var.FeedRate}
   	set var.XSorE = "End"
   else
   	; move X to the end position
   	if var.Debug
   		M118 P0 S{"Move to X" ^ var.EndX} L2
   	G1 X{var.EndX} F{var.FeedRate}
   	set var.XSorE = "Start"

   G0 Z{var.ZClearanceHeight}					; get out of the way
   M400										; wait for the movement buffer to catch up
   M5 ;M42 P1 S0
   M291 P"Surface another layer?" S3 X0 Y0 Z0	; then prompt the user if they want to do another layer

sinned6915

@chimaeragh thank you. i am downloading now and will try it again.

chimaeragh

@sinned6915 Line 89 selects the tool (T1). If your spindle is set to tool 0 (T0) change it accordingly. Line 90 sends the M3 command to start the spindle.

CthulhuLabs

@sinned6915 sorry for the late reply. Have not been on this forum for a while. No I am not using a PanelDue. I am using a Pi with an HDMI touch screen monitor. As for spindle I am using a Brushless Dewalt Trim Router with the ESC replaced with an ODrive. It currently requires running commands from odrivetool on the Pi.

@chimaeragh what all did you change in your version? I just upgraded to an ODrive Pro and can finally use an ADC input to control my spindle.

chimaeragh

@cthulhulabs My DeWalt is configured as a spindle and is automated via a relay. So I can use M3 to start it and M5 to stop it. (Already modified my Vectric postprocessor for this)
I added M3 and M5 commands into the surfacing loop at line 89 and line 148 of the macro.

T1 ; selects the spindle Tool 1

M3 S17500 ; starts tool

CthulhuLabs

@chimaeragh Cool. There is a variable at the top for the spindle RPMs. Now that my spindle RPM can be controlled by the Duet I plan to add it. You should probably use that in your M3 command.

I am thinking of rewriting this Macro to only cut in one direction to give a more uniform surface finish. Basically cut from Left to Right, raise up, rapid to the next cut, lower and repeat. There would be a flag in it to change it between Left to Right and Right to Left. Might also add a flag to go from top to bottom or bottom to top.

nikki-m

@CthulhuLabs I use your surfacing.g code on a regular basis. Love it.
But is there any way to modify it so that the Depth of Cut could be adjusted by user input?

It would be nice to be able to enter a different value each time I use this macro, without having to edit the code. It would be even nicer if the DOC could be modified on each susbequent pass ("run again"). Perhaps also to limit the input value to between 0.1mm and 3.0mm?

HebigT

@nikki-m

I know you can pass parameters to a macro in the macro call itself (e.g. depth of pass)

Manually choosing this value on each run of the macro may be possible now using M291 on 3.5 beta firmware.

nikki-m

@HebigT Yes, I did look into the M291 function, but sadly, I am still on the v3.3 (awaiting any update from Ooznest)!!
Does this mean that there is no other way to program in a variable DOC? Apart from setting up numerous versions of the macro, each with a different value for the doc?