Paired Axes Acorn User Guide

Acorn CNC12
Axis Pairing and Squaring
Centroid Acorn CNC12 Axis Paring and Squaring

CNC Software version: CNC12 V.4.14+
Models: Acorn CNC
Hardware Pairing vs Software Pairing 2
Hardware Pairing and Axis Squaring 4
Software Pairing and Axis Squaring 7
paired_axes_acorn_users_guide.pdf rev12 10-7-19 Copyright © 2018-2019 CENTROID

www.centroidcnc.com Page 1
Acorn Paired Axes Homing and Squaring CNC12 v4.14+
Paired Axes are two axis motors that move as one. Commonly found in CNC routers and Bridge Mills that have a moving
gantry machine tool configuration. The moving gantry employs two axis motors one on each side that work in unison to
move the gantry axis.
There are two ways to pair two axis motors together to move in unison as one axis motor.
1.) Software Pairing and 2.) Hardware Pairing
Software Pairing: Software Pairing is when the Centroid CNC software is used to send one axis movement com-
mands to two axes of outputs on the Acorn CNC controller. For example, If the user chooses to pair the Y axis motor with
the 4th axis motor (using the Acorn setup Wizard), the Y axis step and direction signals are sent to both the Y and the 4th
axis output connections on the Acorn CNC control board. The same Y axis motion control signal is sent to both the Y axis
and 4th axis drive connections on the Acorn board therefore both motors move in unison following any Y axis commands.
There are some basic requirements for Software Pairing. Both motors should have the same basic parameters such as
“Steps per revolution” and “Overall Turns Ratio” For example: you can not pair two motors that have different “Overall
Turns Ratios”.
It is common that paired motors are mounted on the machine tool in such a way (typically facing each other) that they
don’t spin the same direction when paired. In this case, the direction of rotation will need to be reversed on the “slave”
motor (4th axis) this is easy to do using the Acorn Wizard, select that the Paired motor rotation direction is reversed and
the motors will spin the same direction at the same time when facing each other. Note: always bench test paired axis
motors before connecting to the machine tool. When Software Pairing is implemented the Acorn CNC controller effectively
becomes a 3 axis CNC controller as the 4th axis is used to command the slaved motor (4th axis).
Software Axis Pairing
Master Axis
Slave Axis
Software Pairing Homing and Squaring with Software Pairing methods.
With Software Pairing there are several ways to both home and square the paired axis machine tool.
a.) Auto Homing and Auto Squaring: Auto Home to switch is used in conjunction with Auto Squaring. This is fully automatic
method to both home and square up the machine tool.
b.) Auto Homing with Manual Squaring: Operator manually squares the gantry axis then “Auto Home to Switch” is used to
home automatically. The auto homing cycle seeks the home switches and sets the home position automatically.
c.) Manual homing with Manual Squaring: Operator manually squares the gantry axis and then Jogs machine to the home
position, presses cycle start and then the control sets home at this position.
Page 2
Hardware Pairing: Hardware Pairing is when two drives are physically connected to the same single axis command
signal from the Acorn CNC control board. For example, the Y axis Acorn output is wired to two motor drives in parallel.
Hardware Pairing is typically used when it is not desired to ‘use up’ the 4th axis drive output on the Acorn board to com-
mand the slaved gantry motor. For example on a CNC router with a two motor moving gantry that is also equipped with a
4th axis rotary table. In this case, Hardware Pairing of the two gantry axis motors allows the 4th axis output on the Acorn
to be used for the rotary table axis. Hardware Pairing has similar requirements, both motors need to have the same “steps
per rev” and “overall turns ratio” and should be the same size and type of motors and drives. If needed motor direction
reversals will also be done with hardware by using the drive software or hardware direction reversal facility, note on very
simple drives often used for small open loop steppers the drive has no software or hardware facility to switch directions of
the motor, in this case the motor wiring can be flipped to change the direction of the motor.
Hardware Axis Pairing
Master Axis
Slave Axis
Hardware Pairing Homing and Squaring Methods
With Hardware Pairing, Auto Squaring is not possible but, Auto homing is possible... There are two ways to home and
square axes that are Hardware paired.
a.) Manual homing with Manual Squaring: Operator manually squares the axis and Jogs machine to home position.
b.) Auto Homing with Manual Squaring: Operator manually squares the axis then Auto Home to Switch is used to seek
home switches and set home position automatically.
Page 3
Homing and Squaring with Hardware Pairing
Manual Homing with Manual Squaring with Hardware Pairing.
By far the simplest and initially the quickest way to home a machine tool is with “Manual Homing with Manual Squaring”.
Requirements: No home/limit switches are required. Choose “Simple Home” in the Acorn Wizard setup.
and In the Wizard Axes Pairing Menu choose: Not Paired and Manual squaring and alignment
“Not Paired” = no Software axis pairing, choose this when motors are hardware paired.
Note: After pressing “Write
Settings to CNC Control
Configuration” in the wizard,
CNC12 requires a restart
when changing Axis Pairing
Settings
Manual Homing with Manual Squaring Procedure using Hardware Pairing
First time setup

1.) With the power off, manually move the gantry axis to square it up to the axis that it sits on. Once the square position is
determined, place marks on the machine tool so that it is easy to realign the gantry axis manually to the square position in
the future.
2.) Power up the Acorn CNC controller, (since the two gantry motors are hardware paired on power up so gantry motors
move in unison)
3.) Jog all axes to the desired home position and press cycle start to set home at that position. Machine is ready to use.
4.) Proper shut down: Once the machine has been homed and is square be sure to “Park” the machine tool at the home
position before powering off. This leaves the gantry in the Squared position and the axes in the home position ready to
home out for when the next time power is applied saving the work of having to manually re-square the gantry axis. The
G53 command can be used to Park the machine at the home position. For example “G53 X0Y0Z0 L100” moves all axes
to the machine home position at 100 ipm. (G53 uses the Machine Coordinate system not the WCS (part zero) position.) In
CNC12 v4.14 and higher the CNC12 Park Button (found in the F10 Shutdown menu) can be edited with the Wizard and
the user can easily customize the functionality of the Park button to the machine tools requirements.
Subsequent homing procedure.

1.) If the machine was properly Parked: Power on the Acorn CNC Controller and press cycle start to Home the machine
at its current position, the machine is homed and square ready to use.
Discussion: In the event of power failure during machine tool movement or lost steps, follow the First Time homing
procedure. Simple Home with Manual Axis Squaring has its advantages. There are no limit/home switches to purchase
and install. There are no long home switch cables to flex, break and go bad over time, there are no limit/home switches to
come loose or fail. With a little attention to detail Simple Home with Manual Axis Squaring can be quite reliable and accu-
rate enough for most wood working/plasma/flame machine tools. The only con is that it is up to the operator to remember
to Park the machine at the home position when they are done so the machine is ready to set home at that position the
next time power is applied. If the machine was not parked at home or if the machine was moved out of square for any
reason (bumped when off, lost steps , power loss during operation etc) its no big deal. To recover from such events, the
operator simply jogs the machine tool to the home position, powers off, and manually realigns the gantry axis to be square
using the marks made in the first time setup, powers back up and presses cycle start to reset the home position and the
machine is ready to use. Be sure to setup the machine tool travel limits in the Wizard as they work from the home position
and will stop the machine from over-traveling in each direction without limit/home switches.
Page 4
Auto Homing with Manual Squaring with Hardware Pairing
Auto Homing with Manual Squaring.

Requirements: Three Home Switches for Axes 1,2,3 wired into one input called “HomeAll”. In this example Axes 1,2,3 are
labeled X,Y,Z respectively. Wire all home switches to input 1 (or any input of your choosing) using the “HomeAll” selection
in the Wizard I/O drop down menu.
24VDC IN
XYZ home switches

IN1: Set to “Homeall”
X Y Z
COM
24 VDC
Choose “Home to Switch” in the Acorn Wizard homing menu and configure Homing Directions, Sequence and Travel Limits.
Page 5
Auto Homing and Manual Squaring with Hardware Pairing Wizard configuration
Axis to Pair with 4th Axis: Choose “Not Paired”. Since the two axis motors are paired using hardware method. Choos-
ing “Not Paired” disables software pairing of two axis motors.
Auto Homing and Manual Squaring with Hardware Pairing requires the operator to square the gantry/paired axis man-
ually before running the Automatic homing cycle. The Auto Homing cycle moves each axis of the machine tool to their
respective Home switches, backs off to clear the switch and sets home at that location. The home program can be auto-
matically generated by the Wizard or Customized by the user/installer. In this example we are using the Wizard generated
home program using the settings shown.
Auto Homing and Manual Squaring with Hardware Pairing Procedure.
First time setup (or in the event of power failure during movement or lost steps)
1.) With the power off, manually move the gantry axis to square up the gantry axis to the axis that it sits on. Once the
square position is determined, place marks on the machine tool so that it is easy to realign the gantry axis manually to the
square position in the future.
2.) Power up the Acorn CNC controller. (using hardware pairing, the gantry motors are paired on power up so the gantry
motors move in unison)
3.) Jog all axes close to home switches and press cycle start to seek the home switches automatically. Acorn will trigger
each of the three home switches one axis at a time, back off to clear the switch and set home for all three axis at that posi-
tion. The machine is ready to use.
4.) Proper Shut down: “Park” the machine tool near the home position before powering off using the G53 command. This
leaves the gantry in the squared position and the axes near the home position ready to home out for when the next time
power is applied saving the work of having to manually re-square the gantry axis in preparation for Automatic Homing.
To setup a Park position, use the G53 move to a location just about an inch from home. For example: G53 X1Y1Z-1 L100
this will park the machine 1” away from the HOME position (for our example the machine travel away from the X and Y
home switch is positive and away from the Z switch is negative). The gantry is square so Mark the Park position so its
easy to see if the gantry is square prior to homing before subsequent homing cycles. In CNC12 v4.14 and higher the
CNC12 Park Button (found in the F10 Shutdown menu) can be edited with the Wizard and the user can easily customize
the functionality of the Park button to the machine tools requirements. For example the park button can easily be edited to
run this command. G53 X1Y1Z-1 L100
Subsequent homing procedure .

1.) Verify machine is at the Park position and gantry is square
2.) Power on the Acorn CNC Controller and press Cycle Start to Home the machine, the machine will seek out the home
switches and set home automatically, the machine is then homed and square ready to use.
Discussion: Auto Home with Manual Axis Squaring. Has the convenience of Auto Homing but still requires the operator to
make sure the Pair axis is square before starting the homing cycle. Auto Home with Manual Axis Squaring can be quite
reliable and accurate enough for most wood working/plasma/flame machine tools. The only con with this method is that it
is up to the operator to remember to make sure the Paired axis is square before homing the machine. If the machine was
moved out of square for any reason (bumped when off, lost steps , power loss during operation etc) its no big deal, To
recover from such events, the operator powers off, manually realigns the gantry axis to be square using the marks made
in the first time setup, powers back up and presses cycle start to reset the home position and the machine is ready to use.
Page 6
Auto Homing and Auto Squaring with Software axis motor Pairing
Auto Square Homing will perfectly square a paired axis Gantry automatically upon power up or when operator is required
to “reset home”. Auto Square Homing saves the operator time, makes the machine easier to use and provides consisten-
cy in part geometry day in a day out. For Auto Square to work these conditions must be met.
Rules for Auto Square Homing:
1.) Auto Square Homing does not compensate for mechanically out-of-square machine tools.
Integrator must “dial in” the Gantry axis so that it is MECHANICALLY SQUARE before setting up software Auto Square
Homing.
2) The Gantry must be very close to square when the Gantry is in its “relaxed” position.
Integrator must verify machine tool is very close to square when he gantry is in it “relaxed” state (no torque needed to hold
it in position) for auto square homing to function properly.
3.) The Gantry must be very close to square when the machine is powered ON.
4.) The Gantry must be very close to square before starting the Auto Square Home program.
5.) The Gantry Home Switches must not be square to the machine. The Slave side Home Switch must trigger first
when the Gantry axis begins to seek Home position. Line them up with Gantry then offset slave switch 0.025” closer to the
Gantry.
6.) CNC12 Mill version 4.14+ with Pro or Digitizing bundle. (Software Axis Pairing is not available with the Free version
of CNC12)
Gantry Home Switch Installation and Master Axis Alignment Distance adjustment
Step 1. With the power off, measure how much play the gantry has from side to side. This is the distance one side can
move before dragging the other side along.
Step 2. Mechanically square the gantry. (There are a number of good methods to do this, use a granite surface plate to
sweep and indicator on, make marks/hole in table in corners of large square and measure diagonals etc..
Step 3. Enter MDI and issue M26/X/Y/Z to temporarily home the machine and jog the gantry (with both gantry axis motors
paired) to the extreme end of travel where you want to install the home switches.
Step 4. Install home switches on both sides of the now square gantry...One is called the master, one is called the slave.
Put the master switch on the master side with the master motor put the slave switch on the slave side with the slave mo-
tor. Install the switches perfectly in-line with the gantry which is currently now very close to square.
Step 5. Unbolt the master home switch and offset it AWAY from the gantry .025” (this distance can typically be up to two
thirds of the measurement made in step one, bigger machines can usually have bigger distances).
Step 6. In the Wizard set the Master Axis Alignment distance equal to the amount you moved the master switch away
from the Gantry. In our example set the Master Axis Alignment distance equal to .025”
Step 7. Run the Wizard generated home program, check gantry for square. Add or subtract any adjustment amount need-
ed to perfectly square the gantry from the Master Axis Alignment distance. For example.. If i needed to pair the Master
axis .005” closer to the Master Switch to make the Gantry square... .025” - .005” = .020” Set the Master Axis Alignment
distance to .020” Or If i needed to pair the Master axis 005” further away from the Master Switch to make the Gantry
square... .025”+ .005” = .030” Set the Master Axis Alignment distance to .030” etc..
Note: When mounting the Gantrty/Y axis Master home switch and the Y axis slave home switch you might be inclined to
leave the home switches perfectly lined up and square to the machine. In practice the Y axis Master and Slave should
be offset from one another (not in alignment with square). Acorn Wizard generated Auto Square Home program requires
The Slave switch to be installed on the machine so that is trips FIRST. So how much offset between the switches to use?
The offset amount varies per machine tool but typically anywhere from 0.025” to 0.15”. Twenty Five Thousandths of an
inch is a common value for a Gantry that is considered “tight”. The Offset amount depends on how big the machine is,
how tight the gantry axis is and how consistent the home switches are. Which side to add the offset to? The Master axis
switch is offset further away from the gantry (when it is square) so the Slave triggers first.
Page 7
Master and Slave Home Switch Mounting on a Paired Axes CNC Gantry
Step 1 Mechanically square the gantry.
Step 2 Jog the gantry (with both gantry axis motors paired) to the extreme end of travel where you want to install the
home switches.
Step 3 Install home switches on both sides of the gantry...one is called the master one is called the slave. put the master
switch on the master side with the master motor put the slave switch on the slave side with the slave motor. Install the
switches perfectly in line with the gantry which is currently now very close to square.
Step 4. Unbolt the master home switch and offset it AWAY from the gantry .025”
4th axis motor,

Y axis motor paired to the Y axis,
“Y Master” “Y axis Slave motor”.
Y axis Gantry
X axis
Typical homing in Y negative direction
= Sqaure
Y axis Slave home switch

Slave Switch hits first
.025” away from square
Y axis Master home switch

mounted .025” away from
square alingment
Offsetting the Y axis Master and Y axis Slave home switch is required for Auto Square Homing to function.
When re-homing, the Y axis gantry is typically is very close to square. The Slave Switch is offset closer to the Gantry so
it will trigger FIRST so both switches will not be triggered at the same time. Slave Switch triggering first is a requirement
for the Acorn Wizard generated Auto Square Homing program. Setup of the switches is simple, the integrator typically me-
chanically squares the Gantry then uses the Gantry to align the switches square to the machine and then simply offsets
the Master switch about 0.025” away from Gantry so the Slave trips first the during the auto homing/squaring cycle.
Page 8
Auto Homing and Auto Squaring with Software Pairing ACTION
The Wizard will automatically generate the Auto Home program with the Auto squaring moves based on your Wizard
selections and will function follows:
Auto Squaring Home Program works like this:

1.) Upon initial power up, Operator presses “cycle start” to begin the machine tool automatic homing cycle.
2.) Machine moves Z axis first to seek the positive Z axis home switch, detects home switch and backs off to clear and
holds position.
3.) Machine moves X axis next to seek the (typically) negative X axis home switch, detects the home switch and backs off
to clear and holds position.
4.) Machine moves the Gantry with both motors paired (typically Y on a Gantry machine) moving in unison in the (typical-
ly) negative direction until the Slave Home Switch is detected, backs off the Slave Switch to clear.
5.) UnPairs the Y axis motors, and moves the Master motor independently of the Slave until Master home switch is
tripped, backs off to clear Master home switch, then moves (in the same direction away from the switch) the “squaring
distance” specified by the user to square the Gantry, then RePairs the Master motor with the Slave motor and then sets
Machine Home for X,Y and Z at this position.
Typical Paired Axes CNC Gantry Router Example
Y axis Gantry
X axis
Y axis motor 4th axis motor,
“Y Master” paired to the Y axis,
“Y axis Slave motor”.
Y axis Slave home switch

Y axis Master home switch
Slave Switch is
offset to hit first.
Page 9
Auto Homing and Auto Squaring with Software Pairing
1.) Auto Homing and Auto Squaring with Software Pairing with normally closed (NC) home switches
Auto Homing and Auto Squaring as the name implies will Automatically Home and Square up the paired axis.
Requirements: 4 Home switches, Axis 1,2,3 Home Switches wired into the “HomeAll” input and Axis 4 Home switch wired
into the “SlavedHomeInput” input. (use the Wizard i/o menu to configure the inputs)
Home Switch setup example..

For the purpose of this example Axis 1,2,3 are labeled X,Y,Z respectively.
Axis 4 is the slave axis which has no label and does not appear on the DRO display
Axis 4 is Paired to the Y axis. (the Y axis is also referred to as the Master axis.)
The Slave home switch must be installed on the machine so that is trips BEFORE the master switch.
Install the X,Y and Z normally closed home switches onto the machine so they trigger at the home position and wire them
into the “HomeAll” input. In this example we have chosen Input 1 as the HomeAll input using the Acorn setup Wizard i/o
setup menu. Wire all three X,Y,Z home switches in series into Input 1 as see by the schematic below.
24VDC IN
Y Slave
IN2: “SlavedHomeInput”
IN1: “HomeAll”
X Y Master Z
Normally Closed Home Switches

(opens circuit when switch is triggered)
COM
24 VDC
Install the Slave Axis Home Switch and wire into its own dedicated input as seen in the schematic above, use the Wizard
i/o table and assign this input to “SlavedHomeInput” input definition. For this example we have set the “SlavedHomeInput”
to use Input 2 using the Acorn setup Wizard i/o setup menu as seen below. The Slave switch must be installed on the
machine so that is trips FIRST.
Page 10
Homing and Squaring with Software Pairing
Auto Homing and Auto Squaring with Software Pairing Wizard configuration
0.025
Note: After pressing “Write Settings to CNC Control Configuration” in the wizard, CNC12 requires a restart when changing
Axis Pairing Settings
Axis to Pair with 4th Axis: In our example Axis 2 is the Y axis and the 4th axis is paired to the Y.
Reverse direction of 4th axis motor?: Depends on machine mechanical configuration. Typically a rack and pinion paired
gantry requires a direction reversal of the paired motor as seen in our example since the motors are facing each other. In
other cases such as a ballscrew driven gantry axis direction reverse would not be required.
Paired Axis Alignment type? : Choose “Automatic Axis Squaring/Alignment” and the home program will square up the
machine automatically using the master and slave switches mounted to either side of the gantry axis.
Master Axis Squaring/Alignment Distance: The amount of independent movement from the master axis home switch
that the home program will move the master axis to square up the gantry axis. This squaring movement is ALWAYS AWAY
from the Master Switch and is typically close in vaule to the amoutn the slave switch has been offset from square.
Feedrate of Homing Movements: The speed in which the home program will move the Gantry axis to seek the home
switches.
Home Switch Deadband Distance: The amount of travel the home program will move into the home switch once the
home switch has been triggered to eliminate switch flicker (deadband). note: cheap switches have more deadband.
Master Axis Home Switch PLC Input: A courtesy display to show the user which input they have set for HomeAll
Slave Axis Home Switch PLC Input: A courtesy display to show the user which input they have set for SlavedHomeIn-
put. The Master and Slave Axis Home Switch PLC inputs are set in the Primary System Configuration screen using the
Input Output Map drop down boxes and are echoed here for convenience.
Page 11
2.) Auto Homing and Auto Squaring with Software Pairing with normally open (NO) home switches.
Requirements: 4 Home switches, Axis 1,2,3 Home Switches wired in parallel to the “HomeAll” input and Axis 4 Home
switch wired into the “SlavedHomeInput” input. (use the Wizard i/o menu to configure the inputs)
Home Switch setup example..

Install the X,Y and Z home switches onto the machine so they trigger at the home position and wire them into the “Ho-
meAll” input. In this example we have chosen Input 1 as the HomeAll input using the Acorn setup Wizard i/o setup menu.
Wire all three X,Y,Z home switches in parallel into Input 1 as see by the schematic below.
24VDC IN
Y Slave
IN1: “HomeAll”
X
Y Master
Normally Open Home Switches

(closes circuit when switch is triggered)
COM
24 VDC
Page 12
3.) Auto Homing and Auto Squaring with Software Pairing with NPN normally open (NO) proximity switches.
Requirements: 4 NPN normally open Prox switches, Axis 1,2,3 Home Prox Switches wired in parallel to the “HomeAll”
input and Axis 4 Home switch wired directly into the “SlavedHomeInput” input. (use the Wizard i/o menu to configure the
inputs)
Install the X,Y and Z home prox switches onto the machine to trigger at the home position and wire them into the “Ho-
Wire all three X,Y,Z home switches in parallel into Input 1 as see by the schematic below.
NPN (NO) Prox

switches 24VDC IN
Y Slave IN2: “SlavedHomeInput”

IN1: “HomeAll”
Y Master
COM
24 VDC
Page 13
3.) Auto Homing and Auto Squaring with Software Pairing with NPN normally closed (NC) proximity switches
Requirements: 4 NPN normally open Prox switches, Axis 1,2,3 Home Prox Switches wired in series to the “HomeAll”
input and Axis 4 Home switch wired directly into the “SlavedHomeInput” input. (use the Wizard i/o menu to configure the
inputs)
Install the X,Y and Z home prox switches onto the machine to trigger at the home position and wire them into the “Ho-
Wire all three X,Y,Z home switches in series into Input 1 as see by the schematic below.
NPN (NC) Prox

switches 24VDC IN
Y Slave
IN1: “HomeAll”
Y Master
COM
24 VDC
Page 14
Auto Homing and Auto Squaring with Software Pairing: Axis Motor Enable Signal configuration.
Enable signal discussion: There are axis motor drives that use an enable signal and ones that don’t. Some are even user
programmable to either make use of the enable signal or ignore it. If you are using an axis drive that doesn’t use the
enable signal from the Acorn board then you can stop right here, you have nothing further to do.
If using an axis motor drive that makes use of the enable signal then read on.....
The axis drive enable signal is used to tell an axis motor DRIVE to put power to the motor whether that be to hold position
or move, without the enable signal the axis drive will free the motor. If the axis drive is ‘enabled’ then the drive is ready to
take step and direction commands and while it is enabled, if its not receiving any step and direction commands it HOLDS
the motor position so the axis won’t move.
Some axis drives don’t use or have an enable input, in these cases the drive is always enabled so, if the drive has power
to it the drive is enabled and the motors will hold position until the drive receives step and direction command(s) to move.
Other drives like Yaskawa, Estun, Delta, have an enable input and look to that input to keep the drive active (enabled) to
hold position or move. When CNC12 runs the auto squaring home program at some point it has to un-pair the two axis
motors on the gantry and move them independently. While the two motors are un paired it is usually necessary to keep
one of the motors holding position while the other moves independently so the non moving side of the gantry doesn’t
get dragged along by the independent movements. When Acorn issues an independent move, the enable signal for the
non moving motor is removed, this will cause the motor to NOT hold position and if the gantry is tight or the independent
movement is large the independent move will drag the non moving side of the gantry out of position. To prevent this we
need the non moving motor during an independent move to HOLD position, to accomplish this we simply jumper the
paired axis Enable signals. In our examples: Axis 4 is paired to Axis 2 (the Y axis). In order for Axis 4 to hold position
during an independent move of Axis 2 ( Y axis) simply jumper the enable signal between the two drives. This can be done
at the drive or at the Acorn board. See example below.
Y axis Master (Axis 2) Enable
Y axis Slave (Axis 4) Enable
Auto Square
Enable Jumper
EN2: Y Master Enable
EN4: Axis 4 Enable
Page 15
Auto Homing and Auto Squaring with Software Pairing Procedure.
First time setup
1.) With the power off, manually move the gantry axis to roughly square it up.
2.) Power up the Acorn CNC controller.
3.) Jog all axes close to home switches and press cycle start to seek the home switches automatically.
4.) In our example the machine will home the Z axis first, the X axis second and then move the Y gantry axis until the
Slave switch is triggered. The slave axis switch will hit first, clear the switch and then the master axis will move inde-
pendently to seek the master switch, trigger the switch and then back off the switch to the master axis squaring amount
set in the wizard.
5.) Now check for squareness of the machine using any method feasible and adjust the master axis squaring amount if
needed to tweak in the gantry axis squareness. re-home and check squareness again and adjust value until machine is
satisfactory square.
power is applied.
To setup a Park position, use G53 to command a move to a location just about an inch from home. For example: G53
X1Y1Z-1 L100 this will park the machine 1” away from the HOME position (for our example the machine travel away from
the X and Y home switch is positive and away from the Z switch is negative) moving at 100 ipm (inch per minute). While
not necessary its nice to mark the Park position so its easy to see if the gantry is square prior to homing before subse-
quent homing cycles. In CNC12 v4.14 and higher the CNC12 Park Button (found in the F10 Shutdown menu) can be
edited with the Wizard and the user can easily customize the functionality of the Park button to the machine tools require-
ments. For example the park button can easily be edited to run this command. G53 X1Y1Z-1 L100
Subsequent Auto Homing and Auto Squaring procedure.
switches, square the gantry automatically and then set home automatically, the machine is then homed and square ready
to use.
Discussion: Auto Home and Auto Axis Squaring with Software Pairing will automatically home and square a machine
tool with a paired axes. Auto Home with Auto Axis Squaring is the most reliable and accurate way to home and square a
machine tool with paired axes. While initially more work to setup than other methods the pay back in saved time exceeds
the initial setup effort in a short amount of time. For example: If the machine was moved out of square for any reason
(bumped when off, lost steps , power loss during operation etc) To recover from such events, the operator simply power
cycles the machine or presses “reset home” on the VCP and the machine tool will Automatically square the paired axis
and re find home just by pressing Cycle Start. No need for the operator to manually realigns the gantry axis to be square
before homing like with the other methods shown in this document.
Notes:
1.) The Master Axis Squaring/Alignment Distance can be used to fine tune the Gantry squareness by trial and error.
During initial setup by entering a value to get the machine in the ballpark square, then home out, sweep a dialindicator
on a large square or do a test cut and checking for square and then make adjustments to the Master Axis Squaring/Align-
ment Distance based on the check for square results..re-home, etc... Then after a few go arounds you can tweak in the
squaring distance so that the machine home out square every time. Obviously if either the gantry axis home switches are
moved then the squaring distance would have to be redetermined.
2.) Type of Home switches. Most any reliable and repeatable mechanical or NPN proximatey switches can be used as a
home switch. One consideration is that to pick a configuration that allows the machine to over-travel the switch without
damaging the switch. Good quality roller plunger switches and proximatey switches allow the machine to over travel the
switch without damaging the switch. Its is common to install a hard rubber/polyurethane bumper on the machine mechan-
icals so that if the switch has been over-traveled the machine will not be damaged. Remember the home location re-
peatability is only as good as the home switches themselves so use high quality switches if the machine requires precise
repeatable homing.
3.) While not required, “LimitAll” can be used in conjunction with “HomeAll” and “SlavedHomeInput” if the machine tool
is equipped with over-travel limit switches and it is desired to put them to use. Limit Switches are NOT used to home off
of or use in Auto Squaring. They are used solely for gross over-travel as a last ditch effort to stop an axis drive runaway.
Normal travel limits are handled by Acorn Software Travel limits.
Page 16
Auto Homing and Manual Squaring with Software Pairing wiring of home switches
Requirements: Three Home Switches for Axes 1,2,3 typically wired into one input called “HomeAll”. In this example Axes
1,2,3 are labeled X,Y,Z respectively. Wire all home switches to input 1 (or any input of your choosing) using the “HomeAll”
selection in the Wizard I/O drop down menu.
24VDC IN
XYZ home switches

IN1: Set to “Homeall”
X Y Z
COM
24 VDC
Choose “Home to Switch” in the Acorn Wizard homing menu and configure Homing Directions, Sequence and Travel Limits.
Page 17
Auto Homing and Manual Squaring with Software Pairing
Axis to Pair with 4th Axis: In our example Axis 2 is the Y axis and the 4th axis is paired to the Y
Reverse direction of 4th axis motor?: Depends on machine mechanical configuration. Typically a rack and pinion paired
gantry requires a direction reversal of the paired motor as seen in our example since the motors are facing each other. In
other cases such as a ballscrew driven gantry axis direction reverse would not be required.
Paired Axis Alignment type? : Choose “Manual Axis Squaring/Alignment” and the home program will square up the
machine automatically.
Master Axis Squaring/Alignment Distance: Not used with manual axis squaring. grayed out, un-editable.
Feedrate of Homing Movements: The Speed in which the home program will move each axis to seek the home switch-
es
Home Switch Deadband Distance: Not used with manual axis squaring.
Master Axis Home Switch PLC Input: A courtesy display to show the user which input they have set for HomeAll
Slave Axis Home Switch PLC Input: Not used with manual axis squaring.
Note: After pressing “Write Settings to CNC Control Configuration” in the wizard, CNC12 requires a restart when changing
Axis Pairing Settings
Page 18
Auto Homing and Manual Squaring with Software Pairing
Auto Homing and Manual Squaring with Hardware Pairing requires the operator to square the gantry/paired axis man-
ually before running the Automatic homing cycle. The Auto Homing cycle moves each axis of the machine tool to their
respective Home switches, backs off to clear the switch and sets home at that location. The home program can be auto-
matically generated by the Wizard or customized by the user/installer. In this example we are using the Wizard generated
home program using the settings shown.
Auto Homing with Manual Squaring with Hardware Pairing Procedure.
First time setup or in the event of power failure during movement or lost steps
1.) With the power off, manually move the gantry axis to square up the gantry axis to the axis that it sits on. Once the
square position is determined, place marks on the machine tool so that it is easy to realign the gantry axis manually to the
square position in the future.
2.) Power up the Acorn CNC controller. (using software pairing, the gantry motors are paired on power up so the gantry
motors move in unison, in this example the Y axis is the gantry axis with two software paired motors)
3.) Jog all axes close to home switches and press cycle start to seek the home switches automatically. Acorn will trigger
each of the three home switches one axis at a time, back off to clear the switch and set home for all three axis at that posi-
tion. The machine is ready to use.
power is applied.
To setup a Park position, use G53 to command a move to a location just about an inch from home. For example: G53
X1Y1Z-1 L100 this will park the machine 1” away from the HOME position (for our example the machine travel away from
the X and Y home switch is positive and away from the Z switch is negative) moving at 100 ipm (inch per minute). While
not necessary its nice to mark the Park position so its easy to see if the gantry is square prior to homing before subse-
quent homing cycles. In CNC12 v4.14 and higher the CNC12 Park Button (found in the F10 Shutdown menu) can be
edited with the Wizard and the user can easily customize the functionality of the Park button to the machine tools require-
ments. For example the park button can easily be edited to run this command. G53 X1Y1Z-1 L100
Subsequent homing procedure .

1.) Verify machine is at the Park position and gantry is square.
switches and set home automatically, the machine is then homed and square ready to use.
Discussion: Auto Home and Manual Axis Squaring using Software pairing. Has the convenience of Auto Homing but still
requires the operator to make sure the paired axis is square before starting the homing cycle. Auto Home with Manual
Axis Squaring can be quite reliable and accurate enough for most wood working/plasma/flame machine tools. The only
con with this method is that it is up to the operator to remember to make sure the paired axis is square before homing the
machine. If the machine was moved out of square for any reason (bumped when off, lost steps , power loss during op-
eration etc) its no big deal, To recover from such events, the operator powers off, manually realigns the gantry axis to be
square using the marks made in the first time setup, powers back up and presses cycle start to seek the home switches,
them machine will auto reset the home position and the machine is ready to use.
Page 19
Pitfalls: Estop, Cycle Cancel, ESC, Reset during the homing cycle.
If it is necessary to cancel the homing cycle while the homing cycle is running and depending on the point in which the
homing cycle was canceled it may be necessary for the operator to “Re-pair” the axes. This is especially important since
when the axes are not paired it is possible to cause damage to the machine when jogging since only one motor on the
paired axis will be responding to the axis jog button. For example, If Estop, Cycle Cancel, ESC, or RESET is pressed
during the independent axis movement stage of the homing cycle the two axis motors will be left UNPAIRED even after
the Estop condition is cleared. It is up to the operator to Re-pair the axes before jogging! (Note: Re-running home pro-
gram by pressing “Reset Home” will automatically re-pair the axis.) We have made this as simple as possible by adding a
“re-pair axes” button on the VCP. To re-pair the two motors press the “Re-pair Axes” button and the LED goes Green to
confirm pairing is active.
Push to “Re-Pair” the axes LED turns green and label
after an Estop condition during changes to let you know that the
homing cycle before jogging the axes are paired.
gantry!!
Travel Limit values after Estop condition during independent master/slave movement stage.
Another side effect of pressing Estop, Cycle Cancel, ESC, or RESET during the homing cycle independent master/slave
axis movement stage will result in the loss of the Software Travel Limit settings. Be sure to re-enter the software travel
limit values in the Wizard (or CNC12 menu) for each axis after an Estop condition during a homing cycle. Alternatively
“Restore Report” can be used to restore the Travel Limit values (if of course a good report.zip file is available) Restore re-
port is preferred as it takes less keystrokes to recover the lost travel limit values. While this is mildly annoying during the
setup and testing of the auto square switches it is not that common once the machine is configured and running properly.
That being said, we are planing to add the ability for CNC12 to recover the travel limit values during an Estop condition in
the upcoming next release of CNC12.
Re-enter Travel limit values or use “restore report” in CNC12 utility menu to restore values
automatically after an Estop condition during the master/slave axis independent movement
stage.
Page 20
Home programs and Axis Squaring Sub Programs
CNC12 uses a text file call “cncm.hom” for mills. The Acorn setup Wizard automatically generates the “cncm.hom” Home
Program (and the corresponding PLC program) based on the Wizard homing and pairing settings chosen by the user/inte-
grator.
cncm.hom is located in the c:\cncm directory and is simply a G&M code program and is editable. While most users will
find the automatically generated cncm.hom file works for them perfectly. In rare cases users may want to modify the home
program for special applications and circumstances. In the case of a user edited cncm.hom file, the Acorn Wizard can
be set to not overwrite the cncm.hom file each time that the user presses “Write Settings to CNC control configuration” in
the Wizard. This allows the user to make use of the Wizard to make other changes not related to the home file while not
overwriting the custom home file the user has created.
A cncm.hom Auto Homing with Auto Squaring Home program is built out of subprograms m-codes. Each subprogram han-
dles a distinct section of the auto home and auto squaring cycle. This aids in organization and programming debugging.
The Auto Square home program M-code has a debug mode which displays more information during the auto squaring
cycle to help the integrator setup the switches correctly. To activate debug mode edit “mfunc74.mac and on line 10 and
set #102 equal to 1. Save. Set = 0 to turn off debug mode. Once up and running the time to display message #101 can
be reduced as well. Keep it at least 1 second or longer.
Notes on Home and Limit Switches:
1.) While both “normally open” and “normally closed” home switches are supported.
Using normally open switches is NOT recommended for a number of reasons.
- Normally Open switches leave the system susceptible to noise and false triggers which stops the job or homes in the
wrong location.
- Normally Open switches don’t offer any protection when wiring fails and leaves the machine vulnerable to crashing.
Use Normally Closed Switches for both home and limit switch applications for reliable CNC machine tool operation.
2.) While not required, “LimitAll” can be used in conjunction with “HomeAll” and “SlavedHomeInput” if the machine tool
is equipped with over-travel limit switches and it is desired to put them to use. Limit Switches are NOT used to home off
of or use in Auto Squaring. They are used solely for gross over-travel as a last ditch effort to stop an axis drive runaway.
Normal travel limits are handled by Acorn Software Travel limits and do a great job of preventing an axis from overtravel
as long as the axis motor drive is functinal properly. Limit switches are used to prevent crashes in the case where the axis
motor drive malfunctions and runs away.
Page 21

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Acorn CNC12

Axis Pairing and Squaring

Centroid Acorn CNC12 Axis Paring and Squaring

Hardware Pairing vs Software Pairing 2

Hardware Pairing and Axis Squaring 4

Software Pairing and Axis Squaring 7

paired_axes_acorn_users_guide.pdf rev12 10-7-19 Copyright © 2018-2019 CENTROID

1.) Software Pairing and 2.) Hardware Pairing

Software Pairing Homing and Squaring with Software Pairing methods.

Hardware Axis Pairing

Hardware Pairing Homing and Squaring Methods

Manual Homing with Manual Squaring Procedure using Hardware Pairing

First time setup

Subsequent homing procedure.

Auto Homing with Manual Squaring.

XYZ home switches

Subsequent homing procedure .

4th axis motor,

Y axis Slave home switch

.025” away from square

Y axis Master home switch

Auto Squaring Home Program works like this:

Typical Paired Axes CNC Gantry Router Example

Y axis Slave home switch

Home Switch setup example..

Normally Closed Home Switches

Home Switch setup example..

Normally Open Home Switches

NPN (NO) Prox

Y Slave IN2: “SlavedHomeInput”

NPN (NC) Prox

Y axis Slave (Axis 4) Enable

EN4: Axis 4 Enable

First time setup

Subsequent Auto Homing and Auto Squaring procedure.

XYZ home switches

Auto Homing with Manual Squaring with Hardware Pairing Procedure.

Subsequent homing procedure .

Notes on Home and Limit Switches:

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