I’m shopping for a laser engraver, and one has limit switches. Will those prevent the head from crashing, or are they only used for homing?
Limit switches set the 0,0 of your build area and with settings about how wide and deep your build area is, you can get representations of your area when laying down a design.
Some CNC machines don’e have limit switches and you need to know more about the size of your material, its position and the size of your design or else. But in CNC’ing there’s a maturity and knowledge base required to no do bad things to your machine. Like hitting clamps, digging into your bed, etc.
Since you are asking, it would be a good idea to start with a machine with limit switches.
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Ok, I guess they’ll make it a little harder to screw up. Thanks.
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not to mention that the homing cycle also ends up being a diagnostic tool for worn motion bearings, worn stepper motors, bad wiring and even failed controller board. Lots of benefits to having end stops.
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It simplifies the machine operation. At least it knows where it is with home/limit switches. That puts you ahead of the curve.
Home switches allow the controller to know which quadrant the machine is operating within.
The coordinate system… all machines home at the 0, 0 location marked by the arrow.
If the machine homes in back/left it’s operating in quadrant IV.
Homes in the front/right, it’s quadrant II
Hope this make sense?
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That makes sense. I wouldn’t necessarily have to measure the material every time, just run the homing cycle before sending a file.
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I don’t know of any that have home switches that don’t home when you power it up.
You shouldn’t have to re-home after an operation. Mine homes once and I use for the day.
Glad it makes sense, have fun.