UCCNC is the machine control software that moves your STEPCRAFT machine and interprets G-Code. In order to use your STEPCRAFT machine, you will need the UCCNC software as well as the STEPCRAFT machine-specific profiles. You can download and install both from the STEPCRAFT Multi-Installer that comes on your orange USB flash drive, please email [email protected] to get a copy.  STEPCRAFT will always have the latest compatible version of UCCNC included in the Multi-Installer. 

Understanding the Homing Procedure

Whenever you open UCCNC, the very first movement you should make with your machine is "Home All". On a STEPCRAFT, the homing procedure begins with the Z-Axis, then the X-Axis and finally the Y-Axis. Each axis will run towards its limit switch until it engages the switch, then will run the opposite way until the switch disengages. Once all three axis have hit their limit switch, your machine is now ready to travel the full length of each axis!

This is known as a reference movement for the machine. Without this reference movement, the machine has no idea where it is along its axis and may not travel the full length back and forth. If your machine is stopping short of the full length of travel and you aren't noticing any binding, make sure to "Home All" and try running again.

One important thing to note is that if any axis ever travels in the opposite direction of its limit switch when homing, check to make sure a limit switch is not engaged somewhere on the machine. All of the limit switches are on the same circuit, so if you tried to home your machine and the Y-Axis limit switch was pressed, the Z-Axis would travel in the OPPOSITE direction. This happens because the machine is going through the stage of homing when it backs away from the switch until it disengages. Because the Y-Axis switch was pressed, the Z-Axis will infinitely try to move away but it will never disengage.

Some virus protection software companies have flagged the UCCNC installer as possibly containing a "trojan virus". Rest assured, there is absolutly ZERO threat of a virus contained within the UCCNC installer. We are working diligently with the creators of UCCNC and companies such as Norton to have this flag removed so our customers can have a smooth installation process. For now, you may need to turn your virus protection off to install the UCCNC.exe file. You can immediately turn the software back on as soon as the program has been installed. We apologize for the inconvenience! If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to give us a call directly at (203)556-1856.

The UCR201 Jog Pendant requires the user to enable the plugin in the configuration window in UCCNC. If you are running version 1.2037 of UCCNC, you may find that the Jog Pendant does not show up in the configuration window. If this is the case, you simply need to update UCCNC to a newer version which can be found below...

UCCNC Version 1.2049 - http://www.cncdrive.com/UCCNC/download_UCCNC.php

After downloading and installing version 1.2049 of UCCNC, the Jog Pendant should now be visible in the configuration window and you can proceed with the rest of the setup!

The purpose of any CAM program is to take your design file and turn it into G-Code by assigning tool paths to your project and outputting it in a format that a CNC machine can understand.

That being said, you still need a method of controlling the CNC machine, which is where programs like Mach 3 and UCCNC come in. They are designed to connect to the CNC machine and the G-Code files that you create in your CAM program are loaded into Mach 3 or UCCNC to run the machine.

With any CNC router, you have three main steps to creating a project:

1. Design your project in a CAD/Drawing program
2. Use a CAM program to assign tools and tool paths to the project
3. Use a machine control program to load the G-Code files and run the CNC machine.

How can I reset my Stepcraft UCCNC installation?

Can't seem to solve a strange bug or error? Can't find a fix here? Mismatched or changed profile settings are a very common cause, but what if you cannot locate the setting that is giving you these issues?

A fresh installation will take care of making sure your profile settings match the default ones and make sure that you are not going in circles when troubleshooting UCCNC. This short video will walk you through each step required to not only remove any trace elements of your old installation, but also covers how to re-install your profiles to reduce downtime and get your machine back up and running.

If you have misplaced or lost your UCCNC license key file, the process of recovering it is fast and easy. The serial number located on one side of your UC100 corresponds to your hard-coded license key, as shown below. Simply contact our support team and provide them with this serial number, and you will receive your recovered license file as an email attachment.