bit depth error

[gman]

On 8/29/2012 in reply to a Z axis stall err. E06-0313 Al who wrote to check for a worn hole in the plastic that the bit references from on the key board side. I am having bit depth problems when I change bits from carving to 90 degree vector bit. I tried again after reading said thread and during initial setup my carving bit doesn't touch anything when lowering on the keypad side. It lowers into the open space to the near side of the rail. There is no plastic that I can see. (In the thumbnail accompanying the thread it shows the bit touching down on the rail itself.) When the truck goes to the far side it always touches the bit plate ok. Am I missing a piece of plastic? There was mention of adding a dime to the area but in my case I don't know where I'd put it.

[bergerud]

There should be a little metal clip that the bit touches. (Older A machines just have the plastic with no metal clip over it I think.) If your board is much thicker than 1", the bit cannot reach it anyway. See the pictures. If that clip in the triangle is gone as well as the plastic under it, then you have the problem the people solve with the dime trick.

If that clip is there then your z stall is due to something else and you will have to explain just how and when the stall happens as well as what software version you are using.

[want2b]

There should be a little metal clip that the bit touches. (Older A machines just have the plastic with no metal clip over it I think.) If your board is much thicker than 1", the bit cannot reach it anyway. See the pictures. If that clip in the triangle is gone as well as the plastic under it, then you have the problem the people solve with the dime trick.

If that clip is there then your z stall is due to something else and you will have to explain just how and when the stall happens as well as what software version you are using.

Have a B machine but have the plastic button. Had a hole drilled into it by an early software version when the bit didn't stop spinning before it touched down.. Filled the hole with Locktite gel super glue. Haven't had any error message but have wondered how important/critical the touch down is for depth somewhere on the process. The pic you posted seems to show the 'clip' from beneath. Am 'assuming' the clip covers the spot where the plastic button was but want to know if it has a part number and if it is depth critical. My machine works ok but have occasionally wondered if it affects the depth on carves, especially on centerline runs.

Thx, Rick H

[bergerud]

I do not know what you mean by plastic button. The picture is not from the bottom. I have tracking sensors from B machines and C machines and they both have the triangle with the clip.

As far as I know, the touch at the keypad is only to get a first approximation of the board thickness and determine whether the firmware is going to do the more accurate bob on the sliding plate side.

[gman]

I just checked and on my 7-8 year old A model, there is no clip. I am going to glue a dime onto that spot and try it, but as want2b inferred is this an answer? in my case there has not been a stall problem but instead, after the change to the 90 degree bit and starting the centerline portion of the carve the bit does not touch the board. The pattern has worked in the past so something has changed. I did have a similar problem a while back where the 90 degree bit didn't touch the bit plate but that turned out to be a really gummed up z-truck. Cleaning seemed to cure that. I'll let you know what the dime does.

[bergerud]

When a board is to be carved at a depth of more than 1/2", the firmware attempts to go through a board thickness check. It first tries to touch the clip on the keypad side. If it does not touch, the check is aborted. If it does touch, then it goes to the other side of the board and does the bobs at the sliding plate.

If the clip is missing on the keypad side and a hole is drilled through the plastic below, the bit goes deeper before it hits and the firmware estimates the board to be thicker than it is. When it bobs for the sliding plate, it hits it too soon and stalls. This is the problem that the dime trick solves.

I think this is the only problem which has to do with the keypad side touch. Other z stalls or bit length problems have other causes.

[gman]

Thanks much for the timely replies. I'll try later today with the dime and a more accurate board settings thickness entry in the designer pattern. I'll let you know.

[Digitalwoodshop]

Like posted above, the Z Truck Rails and Belt can come into play as part of your error.... As in when you installed the SHORTER V90 Bit the Z Truck now needs to go into a new area of the Z Rails and Z Belt that it did not with the Carving Bit and is running into DIRTY RAILS and the encoder readings are messed up... If you ever see the bit over at the bit plate do the touch THREE times it is an indicator that you have trouble.... 2 times normal, 3 Times the machine is NOT HAPPY.... SO it could be the left side brass roller plate or what I posted above.... A Clean Machine is a Happy Machine..... Shop Temp may come into play too.... TOO COLD.... Belt Cogs can fill with sawdust and act as a speed bump.

AL

[gman]

Just for feedback: I have version 1.180, the board is 6.5 inches square, plus the 7 inches, my pattern is 2 sided with a 1/8 inch deep round circle on the bottom, and a 5 inch approximately 1/4 inch deep carve region on top into which is placed a picture and around that picture is the centerline text that doesn't always carve.
The dime trick in this case doesn't help because the bits don't even get close to the dime during measure-up, it always stops short above it.
The last run went perfectly and the only real change was to reenter a more accurate board thickness into the designer setup. I had it as 3/4 inch and the wood was more like 7/8 plus.
(I thought I had read somewhere that that discrepancy was overlooked when the machine actually measured the board.)
I'll know if the problem is solved after another piece or 2.
My question now is I have 2 boards that because of the afore mentioned problem are done except for the final centerline text part. How and can I reload those and just carve that final part of the pattern?

[fwharris]

Delete everything except the centerline text and resave and reload to the card.