When I Convert a dxf file to gcode using Kcam all the Z axis movements are positve (+) and the cutter misses the piece . I zero Z at the top of the piece. What am I doing wrong?
I have a stepperworld FET 3 and so far I'm happy with it. I just started test cutting styrofoam with my 1st homebuilt router.
The computer I'm using is a 233 mhz running Windows 98, so that means Mach2 is out of the question for now. But I do have a Dell-Intel Centrino laptop I'm thinking about hooklng up to my machine if Kcam is unsatisfactory.

You might be able to switch some wiring on your stepper motor to reverse its direction.

Or use Wordpad and do a FIND and REPLACE in your G code for "Z" and replace it with "Z-". That will reverse all the motions.

I haven't used Kcam so that's all the ideas I have.

Good luck.

Thanks for the suggestion buscht I appreciate them. When I jog the Z axis they go in the right direction so don't want to switch the wires. What I did for now is I jogged the cutter to the depth I wanted it to cut and told Kcam that was the depth that the program called for. When the program started it G00'ed to 1.0 went to its X and Y starting position then fed Z down to the spot I fooled it to go.

Go to Setup>table setup. On the axis setup tab, there is a depths section. Travel is your rapid height (default is 1). Change the Normal Cut to a negative number (the depth you want). If you want to use different depths, set the Deep Cut as well. You'll have to use a layer name for deep cuts and specify the layer in the .dxf options. These settings control your cutting depths.

I don't use KCAM, I just have a copy of the Demo. But, I found what you're looking for in the help file, just had to dig around a little.

Thanks Ger, that helped.

Jer