You tell the Firecontrol where to place the file on the machine by zeroing the X/Y on the spot where you want the Origin point of the drawing to be. There is no “home” position on the Crossfire and Crossfire Pro machines. Generally, you design with the Origin at the lower left corner of an imaginary square around the drawing. You can change that Origin location in Firecontrol, by using the “set program origin” button.
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Crashing the machine each and every time you want to cut a new piece of stock sounds like it’s one hell of a way to wear out your machine, has anyone been able to successfully DIY a limit switch setup? Kinda tired of waiting on Langmuir to come up with something. I have a bunch of parts I need to cut and this is a serious bottle neck in the whole operation
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It definitely is not ideal. I myself do not do any indexing like that if possible. I try to keep my shapes so it’s cutting out the whole piece and not to the edge of a piece so you don’t have to worry about indexing.
In the future I do hope they come out with a upgrade kit for the pro.
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I have home switches on my 2x2, but it’s Mach3 USB board that has extra pins & config for that. Crossfire does not.
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They did Tin, it’s the crossfire XR… Hahaha
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I hope to have one in my future. At 400 in per minute I think it would be great for cutting out some 26 gauge galvanized duct work. Which is the reason I would buy an XR.
Id imagine it be possible even on the firecontrol version. The motion control board has marking for what i believe is limit switches. Now weather or not its programed to use those inputs, who knows
Right, I am here cutting heavy duty sqaure tube to length 2.5 X 2.5 .220 wall, and then have to cut multiple .500" holes on either side of the tubing.
Currently using a band saw which can take 5 mins per cut and then manually punching, drilling and chamfering the holes. You can see where this whole process in inefficient.
Thanks, Max
I was without power for 5 days from storm, so I hope to get back to XR cutting. Just about got it all dialed in, so far, it’s a big improvement over my crossfire pro. You won’t be sorry with the XR.
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Upgrading to a new board should be easy enough, anything else needed?
Yea nah, I am not going to drop another $7000+ and have to wait weeks to months just to add 1 feature that would solve my problem with the Pro.
The Mach3 USB board is the OLD board and required Mach3, not Firecontrol. If you have THC then that would require yet another piece of electronics.
@Midnight_machinist I agree that it LOOKS like the LM pins would be limit switches, but without software they wouldn’t be any use. Odd that they have signals and no SW for that though…
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I see, they are as cheap as $10 on eBay LOLOL
Yea, I did pay extra for the THC setup already
Thanks, Max
My thinking is they planned for it ahead of time, then will probably offer an “upgrade kit”, kind of like the xl, that has new firmware and hardware. But this is all speculation of course.
Really a flatbed CNC is not the right tool for cutting profile even with limit switches.
There is specific profile cutting CNC machines if you’re looking to get efficiency and production.
You’d be looking at a profile cutting CNC machine like the one in this gif
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This new alert from when they updated fire control for the XR left the door open for a little bit of Hope on a limit switch kit.
The “or installed crossfire limit switch kit” is the line that brings hope for the future.
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Yea that looks way too expensive for what I am currently doing
I am just building parts at home for me a few buddies
I am not a business that draws in any sort of income
maybe cutting 4-12 pieces at a time
Thanks for the input though,
Max
Sounded like you were worried about inefficiencies in the operation.
I assumed you were trying to do something a little bit more of a production level.
Using your bandsaw and drill press is a way better way of going about it if you’re just doing a few parts for buddies, not for profit.
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Yea drilling .500" holes is not fun even with a decent drill press
I’d much rather have a piece of stock cut to length and a simple fixture to cut with it the touch of a button
I would think that is a reasonable ask for a CNC setup
One of those jigs like mentioned above is the best way to go about it with the pro so far.
It’s not ideal but it is an option.
With 2"*2" material you might have to remove the slats and place the tube right on the bottom of the water pan or you may run out of z-axis height