Introduction to Work Offsets (0:00-1:51)
0:00-1:51: “Hey, hey, welcome back to another legacy training video. Now, in this sequence of videos, we’re going to specifically show you how to set up what is called a work offset position. And there’s a series of steps in order to do that and we’ll get to that again in all the videos here in in in this group. Now, in this video specifically we’re gonna answer the first question is, what is a work offset and how do we control it and make sure we understand the relationship between the work offset on the machine versus the work offset in our designing and programming software, our CAD cam software. So answering what is a work offset? A work offset is a zero position on our machine specifically for three axes. It’s a zero position for an x, a y, and a Z axis parameter. And we get to choose where that x, Y, Z zero zero point gets to B within the work envelope of the machine itself. And this makes more sense if I actually have a blank to, to represent what we’re talking about. So if I place this blank, let’s say right here and we mounted it and we want to machine something on that surface, at this point, the machine has no idea where that part is located because x, y and Z zero has not been set up to the blank. And so that’s part of the steps that we’re gonna be covering throughout these videos is how to set up x, y, z zeros, uh, for this work offset. Um, and so we can use the machine to then move manually and locate this part to zero out our XRY and RZ axis and that will then be recorded and memorized in the system. That which also means that if we were able to take this part and put it in the exact same spot every single time, the machine already knows where that part’s located because we have already set up x, y, Z zero in the past.”
Setting Up CAD/CAM Software (1:51-5:25)
1:47-5:26: “because we have already set up x, y, Z zero in the past. But until we’ve done that, we can’t take advantage of that repeatability. Okay? So we need to know how to set up a work offset position and we’re gonna get to that in future videos. The other thing that we need to understand that I mentioned earlier is the relationship of when you’re setting up an XYZ zero. Um, we can control that in our cad cam software and why it’s important to make sure that both of them match that our x, y, Z zeros match between our cad cam software and our machine and what can happen if we don’t do so. So let’s go check out the cad cam software to see how we can control that. So this is the CAD cam software we’re gonna be using to demonstrate this. And this is the tric CAD cam software. And the first thing we do when we’re actually setting up a part that we want to produce with the software is we need to determine the blank size and where XY, Z zero needs to be located. So here I have a job size, this is the size of the blank that’s going to go on the machine. And so if I want to say the width or the x axis, uh, parameter of this blank, I’m gonna make 13 inches to match the same MDF blank I was using earlier and then three Inches along my Y axis. And the thickness of that was 0.75 inches thick, um, as three quarter MDF. So this gives us a layout of the actual blank size, um, oriented along the X or Y axis based on the length and width parameters. Uh, so we’re gonna be making sure that we place the part on the machine to match that orientation. So whatever we decide here, we have to match that same thing on the machine. Now the next thing we get to control is the Z zero position. So we get to choose where we want Z zero to be, um, the surface that we want to make Z zero. So we can choose the top of our material and we can choose the bottom of our material. Now that doesn’t change anything visually here in the, in the center view, but it changes this icon. So you can see how the software is going to be, um, thinking about parameters for the Z axis relative to the top or bottom of the part. Okay? So let’s say we just make the top our ZZ zero for this, uh, little demonstration. And the next thing we get to choose is where XY date position, this is the XY zero position that we get to set up for the graph. And you can see that this, um, corner here has already been highlighted. We can click quickly reference to any of these other corners and it will update that to the, to the corner of the blank. Based on that quick reference, theoretically we can place XY zero anywhere we want on the blank, but we’re just gonna use these corners as a an example today. So if I choose one of these corners just to understand the terms that the software and our setup sheets are gonna be using so that we know where to place x, y zero is the software gives the names of edges. So for example, this is the right edge of the blank. This is the left, this is the top edge, and this is the bottom edge. Uh, so, um, when we take, when we say top edge and bottom edge, we’re not referencing to the top surface and bottom surface, but to the edges of the blank themselves. And so this, for example, is the top right corner of our material. Now, let’s say as for this example that we decided that we wanted to drill a, uh, circle or just drill a hole in the center of this blank. Now this is not gonna be a how to on how to design our program, anything in the software. This is just to understand the concepts of how the software is gonna write parameters based on X, y, z zero positions. Okay? So if we zoom out, we can actually see the graph that was created. So that’s the center origin of the graph. XY zero is right there in the top right corner of our blank.”
Visualizing the Work Offset Setup (5:25-8:15)
5:23-8:14: “XY zero is right there in the top right corner of our blank. And because we want the cutter to go here to the center of the blank to drill this hole, the software is going to create the coordinates necessary to move it to that position. In this case, if this is gonna be X zero, it has to go in the negative X direction, um, which is half of the length of the material, six and a half inches in the negative X direction. And then we have to go in the negative y direction, um, an inch and a half, which is half the width of the part to get to the center of this blank. Uh, thank goodness we don’t have to do these, um, coordinates ourselves or hand write the program. The software will do this for us. But it’s, it’s good to understand that the software is going to be writing a sequence of coordinates, of coordinates to get to where it needs to be for cutting. Now, if we change that XY zero position, okay, if we come back here and say, what if I want the bottom left corner okay to be XY zero, now it’s gonna write a completely different set of coordinates to get to that circle. It’s now gonna, um, move in a positive X direction and a positive Y direction, whereas originally it was moving in the negative X direction and the negative y direction. Okay? So depending on where you place your xy, obviously the software will accommodate and create the correct parameters. Thank goodness we don’t have to worry about that. Um, however, if we make the mistake on the machine of choosing an incorrect corner when the software is assigned to a certain one, there can be some problems. Let’s go back to the machine to kind of visualize what that would look like. So again, if we, if we place this blank here on the table, um, based on that information that we just set up, I want it to have the 13 inches go along the x axis, which is again, from left to right, from your point of view, you’re at the front of the machine. And so if you’re looking at this, this is left to right, which is X axis, this is the y axis and Z axis up and down. And so from that point of view, we’re able to see where we need to make x, y, z zero for the part if it was mounted in at this position on the, again, the table fixture. So if we needed XY zero to be the bottom left corner, this is the, again, the bottom edge and the left edge. So this corner closest to you guys is the XY zero position that we would need to set up. And then the top surface of the part would then be our Z zero that we need to set up. Here’s a common mistake that can happen, okay? I’ve seen this many times is when you’re first getting started, uh, you may forget that that is the front of the machine, okay? Right there because this is X, this is Y. And so if I’m standing here at the operator, um, on the left side of the machine looking down my part, if I forget to reorient myself according to the front of the machine and I say, okay, from this point of view, this is the bottom left corner here.”
Conclusion and Next Steps (8:15-9:29)
8:15-9:29: “That is incorrect. However, if I still make this my XY, um, zero, but I run the program, we know that from, again, the original XY zero is supposed to be in the bottom left corner and it was gonna move six and a half inches in the x and an inch and a half in the Y, um, both positive direction to get to the middle of the blank to drill that hole, right? But if I made this XY zero and run that same program, the cutter is still gonna travel in the positive X direction, six and a half inches, and still a positive, an inch and a half in the Y and start drilling over here. So we’re now completely missing the part. And to make matters worse, we’re praying that there’s not a clamp or something here holding the part down that we’re accidentally running into with our, with our drill bit. So this is why we need to match the x, y, Z zeros to be the same as what is in the software. So in this scenario, the bottom left corner is this corner and the top is the top surface. Other scenarios will include any other corner or even the center of our blank, and the Z zero can be made the top of our part or even the bottom of our part, which is the tabletop surface that this part is resting on. So in the next videos, we’re gonna be showing how to actually set up the, um, work off set in a series of steps. And so we’ll see you guys in that next video.”
