How to get Mach3 to measure billet depth with Z touchplate?

[shobley]

I've been struggling to find a way with the standard Mach3 Mill setup to probe the billet height using Z touchplates.

I have a thin foil plate on my spoilboard, and another on the plywood I'm cutting from. I can get Mach3 to probe both heights, but I can't seem to get it to show the second height reading long enough for me to record it.

The trouble is, the Z ref option seems to always reset the Z DRO to 0.000 the moment the plates are touched.

Is there a way to do this, or will I need to write a script?

Steve

[saghirecho]

Reset it with any metal mean you can switch zero to solve this problem

[shobley]

Thanks for the reply...

Can you explain the solution a little more, I don't quite follow you.

[ger21]

You'll need to write some vb script to do the calculations and display them somewhere.

[idahoflyfisher]

not really sure if this will help, but can't you disable the auto-zero on homing by going to menu config...Homing/limits and unchecking AutoZero? I may be wrong, but wouldn't that display your height for you? I've never tried it myself, just remember seeing it in the menus.

[saghirecho]

Originally Posted by shobley Thanks for the reply... Can you explain the solution a little more, I don't quite follow you.

It is very easy no complexed job only set with reference point with any
metal touch it set backlash.

[CambiumMachines]

Steve,
This is a pretty simple script (assuming I understand your issue correctly), so I've written it for you and posted it on my web site with some instructions. If you need any clarification, please ask.

Cambium Machines - Machine Setup