Binding two axis on a 4 axis machine

[Jason_Amodea]

I have a file that cuts using x,y and z axis but I have a second head next to the z head that could be used to cut two parts at once. My question is if there is an easy way to have the z and w heads act together without editing the whole g-code file so that there is a w move for every z move. Thanks in advance for your help.

[joneg]

you could maybe steal the encoder signals off the z axis or add a dedicated encoder to drive a third party servo drive used in a follower type mode, i.e. the pulse train from the encoder would drive the servo drive to mimic the z axis.

[Jason_Amodea]

Is there no way to do this with a simple g-code or M-code? It seems like other people must want to do something similar on occasion.

[cncsnw]

If the axis setup -- encoder counts/rev, motor revs/inch, and direction reversal Y/N -- are identical, then you could use the axis pairing feature to do it.

It would run as if the two motors were sharing the load of carrying one Z axis.

You would need to do a little careful macro programming to manage homing, pairing, and unpairing the axes when needed.

Depending on the software version on your control, you may need to purchase the axis pairing option, or update your software to CNC12 v4.18+ and purchase a "Pro" license.

[Jason_Amodea]

That sounds like it might do the trick. I would need to set the tool height individually then tie the two identical axis together so that z and w would act on a G01 move for Z. I have always had to edit the g code files to accomplish this task but on big gcode programs it can be quite a bit of work.

[Jason_Amodea]

By the way it looks like my current software is CNC 11-D Mill v3.14

[Jason_Amodea]

Would M333 help me with this issue? And what's the syntax, I can't find it anywhere.

[cncsnw]

I think that M333 would allow you to use W in place of Z. It would not make W work in tandem with Z.