How to set current machine position manually?

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15 Jan 2026 00:30 #341394 by WobblyZ
Hello, I have a machine with handwheels that can be moved with the power off. For reasons that I won't get into, I want to be able to set everything up manually, move the tool to the part origin and then directly tell linux CNC that my tool is at X0 Y0 Z0.25" from home and then touch off the part.

I don't see a shortcut in AXIS to do this? Is there g code that I can put in the MDI to tell it where the current machine position is?

Thanks.

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15 Jan 2026 01:17 #341398 by rodw
Axis has a touch off features for each axis. Its not really any different to a manual mill when you set up your DR0. Use a edgefinder to locate X0 and  then touch off with an offset of 0.5 x radius. eg for a 6 mm dia edge finder, touch off at x -3 and repeat for Y axis y -3 (for top left hand corner)
then roll a drill or milling cutter (say 10mm dia) under the tool until you feel you have light drag. Then touch off Z +10
There are cheap Chinese edge finders but the Starrett is a class on its own by comparison

www.amazon.com/Edge-Finder-Single-End-0-...ps%2C474&sr=8-3&th=1

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15 Jan 2026 02:14 #341402 by WobblyZ
Replied by WobblyZ on topic How to set current machine position manually?
From what I can see, touch off sets the part origin relative to the current position, but linuxCNC doesn't know what the real current position is because I moved it with the handwheels and not the jog function. So when I touch off, it thinks I'm still at home position and sets the part origin relative to home which causes the tool paths to be outside the machine limits.

Is there no way to set the current position relative to home directly? I can't use the jog function because my computer is too slow and the machine keeps moving long after I've let go of the mouse.

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15 Jan 2026 02:48 #341403 by rodw
if you expect a CNC machine to be able to be moved without using the CNC control to move it you are outside the normal paradigm.
You could try immediate homing without limit switches but I think that may restrict you motion to just one quadrant.
Try changing the jog scale when jogging in the gui.
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