Doddy

Thanks for the input.

Up to now I have been using offsets to position the spindle home adjacent to where I want to start cutting. I then unplug and reconnect the USB cable to reset the machine co-ordinates to that position. That way I can clamp the stock where I like. For the few jobs I have done so far this has worked, but it includes a lot of jogging with the corresponding risk of running out of space. Hence my desire for limit switches to stop hitting the buffers when jogging.

I have read about setting up a fixed "home" position and including line of Gcode in a standard "footer" to make the spindle to return to that home position at the end of every job, so it becomes the machine coordinate origin every time the machine is reconnected, but felt that at this stage of my learning to speak CNC there was enough to be getting on with.

I kind of get the concepts behind setting up a home at one end of the axes and using soft limits for the other ends, so I will spend some more time as you suggest and see if I can use just 3 switches - which I have enough connectors on the board to accommodate.

Thanks again for your help.