I installed the rubber belts over the past few days and went through the belt calibration routines (firmware 1.153). Below are my results after calibration (fractions of an inch represented in decimal for easy comparison to CW values):
By tape measure:
Board1: 23.9375 L x 3.515625 W x 0.750 D
Board2: 48.03125 L x 3.50 W x 0.750 D
Board3: 35.00 L x 3.46875 W x 0.734 D
CW measurements:
Board1: 24.040 L x 3.521 W x 0.750 D
Board2: 48.045 L x 3.524 W x 0.755 D
Board3: 35.186 L x 3.497 W x 0.745 D
The width seems to be the most consistent measurement from run to run and the depth usually works pretty well too. The length will vary a bit (+/- 1/32 - 1/16") from run to run.
I calculate the length measurement error as:
Board1: 0.43%
Board2: 0.03%
Board3: 0.53%
Board2 was the calibration board, so no surprise it's the closest. I can't say I'm satisfied with the overall results though, particularly where Board3 is off in measurement by 1/8"+.
So I really have three questions:
1) Anyone with sandpaper belts out there which can do some similar tests on measurement to see how much it varies from the rubber belts.
2) Are these within the tolerances expected (i.e., should I be happy with the results)?
3) What's the overall impact of the length measurement being incorrect in this kind of an instance. Does one assume that it's off by a similarly small fraction across the entire board and distort the carving by extremely small amounts?
Thoughts on this and any similar data is much appreciated.