Thought I was being clever, but... offset carving?

[djarboe]

I need to carve two pieces, and wanted to carve them out of a single piece of wood. However, the total carving time was about six hours. So, I thought I would just delete one pattern. Then I could carve the first one in three hours, turn the workpiece 180 degrees and carve the second at a later time. Attached is the mpc.

So I just fired the machine up. It measured the board just fine and asked me if I wanted to center the carving on the board. Of course, I said no. Then it wanted to know if I wanted to jog to position or carve in the corner. That's what sent me here. Is there anyway to have it just carve it per my layout???

If not, what part of the pattern should I use for the jog to position?

[dbfletcher]

If you choose "place on corner", your should be fine. Looks like your mpc already has the 3.5 inches on both sides. When you turn the board, you may or may not have to put a strip of masking tape down the center when it measures the length... Sometimes I seem to have to do that and others not. and Al always loves when we use more masking tape.

I guess I also should have asked what your actual board size is compared to your project board.

Doug Fletcher

[DocWheeler]

It measured the board just fine and asked me if I wanted to center the carving on the board. Of course, I said no. Then it wanted to know if I wanted to jog to position or carve in the corner. That's what sent me here. Is there anyway to have it just carve it per my layout???

If not, what part of the pattern should I use for the jog to position?

djarboe,

This "Position in Corner" is new to me - not sure if "Place on End" is still an option.

But, "position in Corner" or "Place on End" would work if your Designer board was like the actual board and you told it to Stay under the rollers. From the sound of it, "Place in corner" might not center it in the width which should probably not bother the outcome.

Later: I have no idea why I said to Stay Under The Rollers - I really knew better since the board had the length.

Dang, Doug beat me!

[djarboe]

If you choose "place on corner", your should be fine. Looks like your mpc already has the 3.5 inches on both sides. When you turn the board, you may or may not have to put a strip of masking tape down the center when it measures the length... Sometimes I seem to have to do that and others not. and Al always loves when we use more masking tape.

I guess I also should have asked what your actual board size is compared to your project board.

Doug Fletcher

The board is the same as my project board. You will note two vertical lines that are not used. These are offset 3.5 inches from the end, and were my guide to make sure I had enough room to stay under the rollers.

[djarboe]

djarboe,

This "Position in Corner" is new to me - not sure if "Place on End" is still an option.

But, "position in Corner" or "Place on End" would work if your Designer board was like the actual board and you told it to Stay under the rollers. From the sound of it, "Place in corner" might not center it in the width which should probably not bother the outcome.

Dang, Doug beat me!

Will give that a try. Since I normally use shorter boards (also modeled short) with rails attached, I have always told it not to stay under the rollers. Of course, in that case, I also told it to center the carving on the board. I just thought this new approach would save me time attaching and replacing rails.

Thanks to both of you for the timely response! I was afraid I would have to put this on hold until after the holiday. I'll let you know how this worked.

[ChrisAlb]

This may be over simplified but, why not just use your original MPC and stop it after one is done. Then you could just turn your board around and do that again when you can?

Else, the "place on corner" as Doug said should work fine for just one on the design board.

[djarboe]

This may be over simplified but, why not just use your original MPC and stop it after one is done. Then you could just turn your board around and do that again when you can?

Else, the "place on corner" as Doug said should work fine for just one on the design board.

Unfortunately, since they both have angled edges, it would start carving a small portion of the second carving before finishing the first. I put them together fairly close.

Also, that would be too easy

[djarboe]

Will give that a try. Since I normally use shorter boards (also modeled short) with rails attached, I have always told it not to stay under the rollers. Of course, in that case, I also told it to center the carving on the board. I just thought this new approach would save me time attaching and replacing rails.

Thanks to both of you for the timely response! I was afraid I would have to put this on hold until after the holiday. I'll let you know how this worked.

Well, here's what I did, and it worked. Based on your inputs, I selected the "corner" option. I also told it not to keep the piece under the rollers... because when I selected the "keep under rollers" option, it gave a weird board measurement and then asked if I wanted to scale the carving to the board.

Anyway, it worked. Having said that, I sure wish the display on the machine was a little less cryptic. I work with a lot of software in my day-job, and they all seem to suffer from the same problem. The programmers know what they mean and assume the user will understand it also.

Thanks for your help!
DJ

[RayTrek]

Hello,
You could leave the other pattern on the MPC and set the carve region to 0 depth, I would also not have the “select bit” for your center cut out you can select no bit in the menu, the example uploaded shows the pattern you created set to 0 and no vector bit path if you put a pattern next to it you will carve just that pattern in the position you specified on the MPC, Stay under rollers (yes) keep original size (yes) center on board (yes) cut to size (no), after the other pattern is carved go back to designer and add the .250 depth carve region and the cut path, and set the pattern carved already to 0 depth and cut paths deselected, and you will carve only that pattern
Just a thought and the way I would do it so that I can keep the original MPC in tack, you will get a notification that you have zero depths when you up load to firm wear card select OK
Cheers

[dbfletcher]

The same effect can be achieved just by selecting the items you dont want to carve and selecting "hide" for the toolbar or right-click context menu in the carving list.

Doug Fletcher