PRIME MOTIONSetting work zero
Work zero is the point on your stock that the program treats as X0 Y0 Z0. Setting it records where your stock is, in the active work coordinate system. Everything on this page is a way of doing that accurately.
Zero is set where the tool is
The Location card on Control has a Zero button for each axis and Zero All for all three. Each sets that axis's work coordinate to zero at the tool's current position: the centre of the tool in X and Y, and its tip in Z.
- Jog the tool to the point you want as zero.
- Tap Zero X, Zero Y, Zero Z, or Zero All.
- The drawer, such as Zero all axes, shows the bed with the tool's position. Tap Zero.
- The work coordinates of those axes now read zero. ZEROING NOTES in the drawer records, for example, G54 zero set at this position.
With Confirm Zero Setting off in Settings → Safety, the zero is set as soon as the drawer opens.
Zeroing refuses, and says why in ZEROING NOTES, when the controller has not reported which work system is active (the chip shows WPOS), or when the controller rejects the command. Nothing is changed in either case.
When Z is zeroed with a toolsetter
On a machine with a toolsetter (BitSetter or Automatic Tool Measurement in Settings → Connection), zeroing Z also measures the tool on the toolsetter, so later tool changes can keep Z right. The drawer waits for the measurement and reports Tool length measured with the length, or Tool measurement failed.
By eye, on the top of the stock
For Z, a slip of paper under the tool is the classic gauge. Lower in small steps until the paper just drags, then zero Z. That leaves you about a sheet's thickness high, around 0.1 mm, which is usually closer than you can judge by eye.
By hand, from an edge: allow for the radius
Zero X and Zero Y set zero at the tool's centre. If you jog until the side of the tool touches the stock's edge and zero there, the origin lands one tool radius outside the stock: 3.175 mm with a ¼″ tool.
To put zero on the edge itself:
- Jog the tool's side against the stock's outside face, by eye or with a slip of paper.
- Raise Z clear of the stock.
- Move one tool radius toward the stock, so the tool's centre is over the edge. With a 6 mm tool, that is 3 mm: tap the step column's 1 and press the jog direction three times.
- Tap Zero X (or Zero Y) and Zero.
With a touch plate
A touch plate lets the machine find the surface, and with a corner plate the edges too, more accurately and repeatably than by eye. Probe in the command rail runs the cycle your plate supports. See Probing.
Recalling a zero you saved
If your work sits in a fixture that holds every piece in the same place, you need not find zero each time:
- Fixtures in Settings → Work Offsets store a named zero and apply it into any work system.
- A separate work system per fixture (G55, G56 …) keeps several zeros live at once; switch with the work system chip. See Work coordinates.
Moving to zero
The 0 X, 0 Y, 0 Z buttons and 0 XYZ move the tool to work zero on that axis, or on all three, through a Go to drawer. To move to any other work coordinate, tap the axis field, type the value and tap Go. See The Control screen.
After a tool change
A different tool is a different length, so Z zero is no longer right even though X and Y are fine.
| Your machine | What to do |
|---|---|
| Has a toolsetter, with Measure on tool change set to Every tool change | Nothing: each new tool is measured and Z follows |
| Has none | Set Z again with the new tool before continuing |