Understanding Safe Z and Home Position Settings in Carveco

Overview

Carveco provides precise control over your CNC machine’s movement between operations through Safe Z and Home Position settings. These define how the tool retracts and where it starts or ends a job. This tutorial shows how to adjust these parameters safely and effectively.

What Are Safe Z and Home Position?

• Safe Z: The retract height your tool moves to when traveling between cuts.
• Home Z/X/Y: The start and end location of the tool when a job begins and finishes.

Step 1: Visualizing Movement

After generating a toolpath and enabling its visibility:

• Red lines show the cutting path.
• Blue lines show safe Z travel moves and movement to/from the home position.

Step 2: Editing Safe Z

1. Edit your toolpath (e.g., Profile).
2. Scroll to the Safe Z and Home Position section.
3. Set Safe Z to a desired height — e.g., 0.2".
4. Click Calculate.

Now your tool will retract to 0.2" above the material between each operation instead of a full inch, saving time while staying clear of the workpiece.

Step 3: Adjusting Home Position

1. In the same Safe Z section, change Home Z to a custom value (e.g., 0.5").
2. Set Home X and Y to define a final parking location (e.g., X: 0, Y: 24).
3. Click Calculate.

The tool will now finish at the new park position, useful for moving the spindle clear of the job after cutting.

Important Notes

• If you restart the job, the machine will return to the same home position before cutting begins.
• If you moved the tool manually after finishing the job (e.g., to change a tool), ensure it’s safe to return to the defined home location.

Summary