I purchased my GF Plus primarily for cutting architectural model components.
99% of the time my site models are made from the same material: multiple layers of 11x17 corrugated cardboard, each individually cut following a specific topographic contour line and then assembled to create accurate, scaled topography.
I see that the GF doesn’t have an X,Y (0,0) origin for reference and I’m looking for suggestions on how to repeatedly position the 11x17 sheets in exactly the same place. I’m making an assumption that some sort of a jig might be the answer, but I’d like to hear from other’s experience before I reinvent the wheel.
Welcome to the forum - there is so much good info in here
If you make the board in your art program 20x12, then where ever you place your art on it - will be exactly where it appears on the . The system does have a (0,0), but it’s not as obvious as in some! See the placement ruler in the bottom left corner when you have a piece of art selected.
As the doesn’t actually cut a full 20x12, a simple jig that fills your bed, but has a 11x17 hole in it is the best thing to do in combo.
If you want the jig to be removable/reusable, make it so it locks against the front or back so you can guarantee placement every time. If your tray wiggles, there is a pattern for boots that will lock it into place.
If you’re ok with your jig being one time use, then when you make your art add an 11x17 hole in a different colour, cut that first, place your work piece in the hole, then turn off that command and run the rest of your art.
Personally I push it up against the front door, and on the right (where I have a bit of extra space on my crumbtray anyway) I push in a honeycomb holddown pin. There is a tiny bit of wiggle with that, so if you’re cutting right up to the edges, then making it exactly the width of your tray so it sits inside the plastic edges might work even better.
There’s also a whole grid system that removes the need for a jig, but I’ve never actually done it so someone else would need to chime in!
If you perform a good calibration, then Set Focus should match your design perfectly on your board. When highlighted a widget shows up in the corner that is 100% accurate to where the machine will cut with 0,0 in the upper left. You cannot cut except a positive number bigger than that.
I also put this beyond where I can cut on the crumb tray…
Keep in mind that the camera is a fish-eye lens and they do magic to give a proper image, However, even a 0.1 mm misread of the height above the crumb tray will make a huge difference in where the magic will calculate a location. The widget numbers however will be constant and not affected by the camera.
. The system does have a (0,0), but it’s not as obvious as in some! See the placement ruler in the bottom left corner when you have a piece of art selected.