Increase travel speed between cuts?

CrossFire ® XR
1

i Have alot of same copy and paste cuts that have long travel distances between next cut (12”) is there any way to boost travel speed to next cut i have over and hour long production time. using fusion 360

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2

You don’t state what table you have, but doesn’t the Crossfire and Crossfire pro travel at max speed during the rapids?

You can’t travel faster than the table’s max travel speed.

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i have the XR, i forgot to mention that i havent recieved it yet, its on its way. i just assumed in the fusion 360 tool simulation when previewing my cut that the table will be the same speed…. i didnt think about the table will read the g code differently in actual operation.

4

If the XR is like the other crossfire tables, it will travel at max speed on the rapids. I believe the max speed for the XR is 400 IPM.

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5

On the upper right of fire control there’s options to cap out your maximum speed of the rapids. I’ve capped my XR at 350. It didn’t make sense to me to always run up the maximum possible speed.

The difference in time would be 1.8 seconds to travel 12 in at 400 IPM

Vs 2.01 seconds @ 350 IPM

This obviously doesn’t take into account acceleration and deceleration which adds a bit to those times.

There was a topic a while ago where we were talking about the deceleration the acceleration times. I’ll see if I can find it.

I believe the torch does about a quarter inch of travel to reach 300 to 400 inches per minute.

If you’re trying to run super fast speeds 300-400 IPM cutting thin material smaller elements like very short lines and circles under a half inch you’ll never actually achieve your cutting speed before you’re done that element because of the acceleration decceleration time. You would be deaccelerating before ever achieving full cut speed.m

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6

Well OP was observing Fusion’s simulation speed, not actual speed, and I have no idea what it’s Rapid model is set to… So this could be a Red Herring…

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On the autodesk forum we were talking about making it so the cutting speed on the simulation should be real time but it seems like they’re never going to do that.

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Thank yall all for yall’s help!

9

I don’t know if the XR is also running a grbl controller like the Pro. If it is, you can change, here’s some info.

In GRBL firmware, “Rapid” speed refers to how fast the machine moves when it isn’t cutting (a G0 command).1 This is controlled by the Maximum Rate settings for each axis.

The Key Settings

You can access these by typing $$ into your console.2 Look for the following values:

  • $110: X-axis maximum rate (mm/min)

  • $111: Y-axis maximum rate (mm/min)

  • $120: X-axis acceleration (3$mm/sec^2$)4

  • $121: Y-axis acceleration (5$mm/sec^2$)6

Why Acceleration ($120, $121) Matters

Even if you set your maximum rate ($110) very high, your machine might never reach that speed if the acceleration is too low, or it might lose steps (stall) if the acceleration is too high.

How to Find Your Ideal Speed

There isn’t one “perfect” number because it depends on your specific hardware (motors, lead screws vs. belts, and machine weight). Here is a simple way to tune it:

  1. Check current values: Type $$ and write down your current $110 and $111.

  2. Increase incrementally: Raise the value by 10-20% (e.g., if it’s 5000, try 5500).

  3. Test: Move the axis a long distance using a G0 command.

  4. Listen for stalling: If the motor makes a grinding or “screeching” noise and doesn’t move, you’ve gone too fast.

  5. Back off: Once you find the failure point, set the value to about 80% of that speed for reliability.

Common Defaults

  • Small Desktop CNCs (like 3018): Usually around 1000–2000 mm/min.

  • Belt-driven Lasers: Can often handle 5000–10,000+ mm/min.

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Here’s the topic on the Autodesk forum about requests for the simulation speed to be able to be real time speed.

Apparently it’s too hard for them to program which makes no sense at all.

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11

When I a running simulations, I usually slow it down…FWIW. And besides not simulating to actual speeds, fusion generally sucks at estimating the time for a tool path too…so there’s that.

One thing you do need to be aware of for rapids, is fusion slows down rapids on the free/hobbyist license. Don’t know if that pertains to your license or not, just be aware.

BTW I fairly certain it does this via the postprocessor, so you can still get around it if your comfortable editing the PP.

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How does it do this? The Rapid speed is set by the CNC system, the GCode uses a G0 command in all cases.

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“ AI Overview

Yes, Fusion 360’s Personal Use (hobbyist) license can throttle or restrict rapid (G0) feed rates and potentially other advanced features compared to paid licenses, often by

modifying the post-processor to output feed moves (G1) at lower speeds instead of true rapids

, creating a slowdown for hobbyists, though this can sometimes be adjusted or worked around by modifying the post-processor settings or removing specific comments. “

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Ah, that would do it, however, strictly speaking, Fusion doesn’t USE Rapids in this case.

This could actually screw up some CNC systems that rely on G0 commands to turn off cutters, mister, etc during Rapid moves. Fortunately FireControl isn’t one of these.

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15

I have an OG crossfire that has had the upgraded THC and box so I can run firecontrol. In Firecontrol I have the max speed set at 300 IPM. Cut speeds are around 30 IPM on 1/4 inch steel. I am trying to also figure out why it will not move faster in between cuts. I thought Firecontrol would command the movements overall but it appears that it isn’t so far… I mean , I am not sitting there with a stop watch, but there is a big difference between 30 and 300 IPM. When I jog the torch head it definitely moves at the 300 IPM. Is there a setting I am missing overall?