My holes are not round

[deemon328]

Check your Y-belt plastic gears for built-up deposits. I use an old dental pick to keep them cleaned out.

I'd scuff the MDF in one of two ways. First, if you have a drum sander, run it through with 36 grit to create a uniform pattern. Second, if you don't have a drum sander, cut light kerfs on the table saw in a grid pattern every half inch or so. Either one of those options may help with getting the mdf to grip better.

FWIW, I never got a round hole out of the CW with the standard QC. The rock chuck makes a big difference reducing bit runout.

[Digitalwoodshop]

That is confusing.... Vacuum the sand paper belts, clean the y rails....

What direction is the error in? Y or X?

I would pull the cover off the X Gear box... You might have a single broken tooth.....

AL

[glassocean]

Check your Y-belt plastic gears for built-up deposits. I use an old dental pick to keep them cleaned out.

I'd scuff the MDF in one of two ways. First, if you have a drum sander, run it through with 36 grit to create a uniform pattern. Second, if you don't have a drum sander, cut light kerfs on the table saw in a grid pattern every half inch or so. Either one of those options may help with getting the mdf to grip better.

FWIW, I never got a round hole out of the CW with the standard QC. The rock chuck makes a big difference reducing bit runout.

Deemon, Thanks for the tips, I'll look at the possible gear jam issue first.

I really didn't seem to have these egg shaped holes and circles like I'm producing now (with the beastly sled). I have to believe something is a bit off.

Jeff

[glassocean]

That is confusing.... Vacuum the sand paper belts, clean the y rails....

What direction is the error in? Y or X?

I would pull the cover off the X Gear box... You might have a single broken tooth.....

AL

Al, not a problem with dusty sand belts or rails. I'll look at, and clean the gear teeth.

As far as the direction of miscuts, I don't know. It would help to narrow it down somewhat, wouldn't it?

Jeff

[Digitalwoodshop]

A picture of the hole with a line drawn for board length and width.

To do a circle it must move X and Y equal....

Have you changed to rubber belts?

Have you ever done calibration? Calibration converts rotation of the motor shaft and pulsed of the encoder into a scale factor number.... Converting that in the computer into real world board.....

It is possible with the scale factor number being wrong for some reason to have it think it is cutting a circle correctly by pulses of the encoder but the real world board is cut oval....

Think of it like this.... I see the 2 wheel Wheel barrels at the home center.... Picture one with 2 different size wheels..... It would only make right turns or left turns.... Never able to go in a strait line.... Scale Factor..... 20 years in the Navy dealing with Scale Factor in aiming the Guns and Missiles..... Fire Control Tech....

AL

[glassocean]

A picture of the hole with a line drawn for board length and width.

To do a circle it must move X and Y equal....

Have you changed to rubber belts?

Have you ever done calibration? Calibration converts rotation of the motor shaft and pulsed of the encoder into a scale factor number.... Converting that in the computer into real world board.....

It is possible with the scale factor number being wrong for some reason to have it think it is cutting a circle correctly by pulses of the encoder but the real world board is cut oval....

Think of it like this.... I see the 2 wheel Wheel barrels at the home center.... Picture one with 2 different size wheels..... It would only make right turns or left turns.... Never able to go in a strait line.... Scale Factor..... 20 years in the Navy dealing with Scale Factor in aiming the Guns and Missiles..... Fire Control Tech....

AL

Al, I'm going to give the machine a good cleaning/inspection this weekend. I'm waiting for the Rock to come in, and I want to see if this new chuck will make a difference, before I get really deep into ths issue.

As far as the rubber belts go, I wasn't aware of these, and just saw a pic of liquidguitars machine with groovy belts. Are they a big improvement, and where do you get them?

Thanks
Jeff

[Digitalwoodshop]

Order the belts from LHR. Be sure to do the calibration and drill out the holes to move the brass wheel away from the belt.

AL

[glassocean]

Well, after getting the stuck bit adapter out of the chuck, I think I figured out the problem with non-round holes. I believe the bit was loose in the adapter, since the set screw backed out. I inspected and cleaned everything I could, then did a test 3" circle cut, which came out perfect.



Jeff