tinyG flashing SpDir led

So, if I have wired it correctly as you say, then the board is not functioning correctly, righ? Where do I go from here?

You need to set them as homing and limit, as the wiki article states:

https://github.com/synthetos/TinyG/wiki/Homing-and-Limits-Description-and-Operation

The following switch settings are supported:

0=Disabled - Switch closures will have no effect. All unused switch pins must be set to Disabled.
1=Homing-only - Switch is active during homing but has no effect otherwise
2=Limits-only - Switch is not active in homing but will act as a kill switch during normal operation.
3=Homing-and-limits - Switch is active during homing and acts as kill switch during normal operation.
The following settings are used for switch configuration.

OK, then I am truly lost. I am from the world of 3D printing, and when I would home all the axis (or any of the axis), the motors stayed function. My reason for homing these was to test that the switches were working correctly and that the coordinates were z'ed out. I expected that after I did that, I could still jog the motors if I wanted to. In this case, though, the motors become unresponsive.

I admit I don't know what I am doing.

Do you not home all the axis in preparation for starting the job, or am I jumping way ahead of my knowledge.

Zootalaws: Thanks for the link. I will read this and try to fill the holes. From what you all are saying, the continuously flashing SpDir led and the unresponsive motors after a limit switch is triggered is NOT an indication of a problem. If that's the case, I am very much relieved. I would defiantly rather that the problem was my not knowing what I am doing that to think the board has a problem.

Reading now.

Boy is my face red. You'all were right. The CNC was behaving as designed. I have a lot to learn, but maybe at the top of the list, now not to panic.

Thanks for your import. The document link was great and I know much more to be confused by now.

Thanks

"What you quote is correct. What did you expect? Think of hitting a limit switch as a fatal, non-recoverable error."

While your reply was technically correct for general operation, it isn't for homing and it wasn't exactly the kind of help we would expect from a mod, nor was it any sort of help to a novice stuck on a problem.

I understood perfectly what his problem was and how to fix it, what you did was to confuse and be a bit pedantic.

Switches are switches and can be used both as limit and homing switches, depending on mode of operation. If you're not aware of that, you might want to reconsider your role as an expert. It was bloody clear from his post what he was trying to do, yet you talked down to him and actually pointed him in the least helpful direction you could.

Many questions are asked on here that I don't respond to, feeling there are more experienced members able to better answer them, working on the premise that if I can't give an informed answer that helps, wait and see if someone else can.

Maybe you should think about what value you are adding before you post?

"Boy is my face red. You’all were right. The CNC was behaving as designed. I have a lot to learn, but maybe at the top of the list, now not to panic."

No reasons to be embarrassed, there's a shed load of documentation, but it's not necessarily organised in an easily-accessible way.

Like a lot of the controllers in the 3D printing world, this one is extremely configurable and the developers have put a lot of thought into functionality, but you need to dig it out :)

Don't hesitate to ask, there's plenty of people willing to lend a hand and we've all been through the same sort of problems.

Speaking of the spindle, I just got the PWM contron hooked up and working. The spindle starts up automatically when I power up the tinyG (hopefully I will be able have it not do that when I know more). I put a couple mill bits (6mm and 3mm) in with their respective collets..I'm using the 400W spindle and noticed a slight wobble. On a 3mm bit, the wobble was probably not more than a couple tenths of a mm. Not really very visible, but if I place the a piece of thin metal against the a smooth part of the shaft, it is evident by the noise. I bought the bits and collets on Amazon and admittedly, I took the best deal. My questions are...

1) Am I being idealistic to think there should be absolutely no wobble on this type of machine?
2) Is a wobble like this even usable?
3) If my problem is that I got too cheap on the tool, where is a good place to buy bits and collets?. One person recommended ToolsToday.com. Are they pretty good?

if this is not cool to expand the original question to another topic, let me know and I will post a new message.

You can check runout off the machine - it may be that your 'wobble' is coming from any or all of a number of places: the bearings in the spindle, a cheap collet or a less-than-straight bit. Wobble isn't really an artefact of the router gantry, unless the gantry is loose or the spindle mount is loose.

If the spindle isn't straight in its mount, or if the gantry isn't square, there won't necessarily be any wobble, but the cut won't be 100% perpendicular. My first build didn't exhibit unacceptable runout at the tip of the bit, but it was clear that the cut wasn't 100% perpendicular - easy enough to check, just plunge some holes using a small bit and the hole, viewed from above, will be slightly oval.

With runout, the hole will be larger than the bit, as the runout will be likely to be equal throughout 360deg. Easily checked by pushing the bit through the hole by hand - it should be a friction fit.

If the runout is more to one side, that's more indicative of a problem with accuracy of the mount.

Does that make sense?

You don't mention what spindle you are using.

I've used a few, from a cheap Chinese air-cooled to a more expensive Chinese water-cooled with Japanese bearings to a German air-cooled. They all exhibit 'some' runout, but the water-cooled and German spindles were negligible for my application, which was cutting ply and mdf - I got more tear-out from the bit than I got inaccuracy from the runout.

I make audio devices and have been contracting out the cutting of my faceplates (by laser), but with more practice cutting alloy (to get the rate and feed right), I would be confident that my German spindle, with the right bit, would give me an acceptable result.

But, I would be wary of cutting precision-fit components down to small fractions of a mm. Within half a mm is well within spec of what I need.

If your runout is less than the accuracy you need, it's acceptable.

Zootalaws: Alas, the spindle was part of the package deal for the CNC kit. It doesn't have brand markings on it, but evident by the label it's Chinese. Here's the link...
https://www.smw3d.com/quiet-cut-spindle/

It's the 400 watt version.

Since i'm not entirely certain if the problem lies with the spindle, collet or bit, I ordered what I think is a much better quality collet and bit from ToolsToDay. The spindle I have is air cooled. The thought of going to a water cooled spindle scares me a bit. I work in a single car garage where space is at a premium and I envision much more equipment for water cooled.

I am a hobbiest. Retired and fulfilling a life long dream of being able to design and build things to aide me in my pursuit of robotics. In other words, I make things that ONLY have importance to me.

Yes, your descripton made sense and is very helpful.

cmcgrath5035: thank you for that info. I knew it was something like that, but have been so wrapped up in this runout issue that I hadn't had a chance to research.