About homing and switches...

[Neale]

Yes, i got the IP-M controller.
Are you saying that i can use one sensor /axis that doubles as limit switch and homing switch or do i need one homing sensor + one limit switch /axis?
Btw im using a driver by the name 2HSS86H.

You can use one sensor on the moving part and two targets, one at each end. In normal operation, this acts as the limit switch but during homing, Mach3 and the IP-M know that it is being used for homing and it does not act as a limit switch. As soon as the homing operation is complete, the switch becomes a limit switch again.

I use Mach3 and IP-M. I use a proximity switch at each end (so two swtiches on X, two on Y, and one on Z as it is difficult to use a limit switch for the bottom of Z travel). It is easy to wire the switches on one axis in series so that upper and lower limit switches are connected to one IP-M input. This means that you can home X and Y at the same time. My machine is configured to home Z first (to get the spindle to the highest point to clear anything on the machine), then X and Y together. This saves a little bit of time on a bigger machine and works well.

If you just use one sensor per axis with a target at each end, then you can still wire each sensor to a separate IP-M input channel, obviously, and get the advantage of homing two axes at the same time.

I had one small problem with my Z axis homing. As I said, my machine first homes Z, then the other two axes. However, these proximity switches sometimes have their on and off trigger points very close together. What this meant was that when my Z axis was homed, the switch was so close to the target that a tiny amount of vibration could cause the switch to trigger accidentally and this often happened while X and Y were moving. The answer is to configure Mach3 so that the home position is very slightly offset from the actual switching position - I use about 1mm. This avoids accidental triggering.