Description of Issue

The “Please Set Sliding Plate” message comes up when the machine is unable to locate the sliding plate with the tip of the bit, usually when measuring the bit before doing a cut-out operation.  The tip of the bit goes below the bottom plane of the board during the cut-out operation and uses the sliding plate as a depth reference so as not to damage the machine.

Possible Causes

The causes can be: a sliding plate that is not slid all the way over against the board, a case where the user has put the wrong bit into the machine and it is too short to reach the sliding plate, or a case where the user is using a jig on a project that has a cut-out in it and the height of the jig does not allow the bit to touch the sliding plate.

Troubleshooting Steps

  1. Check to see that the sliding plate is set up against the board.
  2. Check and double check that the bit that is inserted is in fact the bit that the machine is calling for.  As noted usually this happens when trying to do a cutout.
  3. Check to see if the user is using a jig.  Some jigs can be too high for the cutout function to work properly.
  4. If none of the above resolve the issue, set up a project and watch exactly the sequence of events and where the error occurs.  Then bring this information to a senior engineer for consultation.