Center Line Depth

[jwhllh55]

I have a board that is 1 1/4" thick. I have carved the map of Oregon in the center. Now I want to put Center line text in the the middle of the map.
The carving depth of the map is 1/4" deep and when I tell program the centerline to carve the text it doesn't touch the board and stalls asking for the bit to be installed.
My question is can I tell the centerline to go to the depth I want? Or is there a way to lie to the machine to make it work?
Thanks,
John
Baker City, OR

[cnsranch]

Here's the problem -

The machine wants to carve the text at a depth from the surface of the board - that's a problem, because you've got an area that's balow the surface.

Here's two things to try - and in this order -

First, during set-up, use the jog to touch option - with auto touch, the machine is touching on the surface of the board, and it's confused because you're trying to carve in a deeper area. When jogging to touch, the machine will ask you to load the v bit, and then you can manually jog the machine to touch the bit inside the carved area. That may, or may not work, but it's the only way I know of giving it a shot within the "rules" - doing it the text book way.

If that doesn't work for you, the way I use centerline in a carved region is this -

I have a "dummy" bit that is exactly .25" shorter than my 90 and 60 v bits. I have it .25", because that's typically the depth of my carve regions. If the region were .15" deep, the "dummy" bit would have to be .15" shorter than the v bit. When the machine asks to load the v bit, I load the "dummy" bit, let it measure, touch the surface of the board, etc. When the machine spools up to carve the text, I stop it, change to the correct bit, and off it goes.

[ChrisAlb]

Take a look John...

http://forum.carvewright.com/showpost.php?p=92672&postcount=8

[jwhllh55]

The second fix is what I call a real lie to the machine. I didn't think about that, but that might work. What did you use for a dumby bit? piece of wood like a dow rod? That would work I think.
Thanks for the idea, I'll try it.
Thanks again.
John

[cnsranch]

I just loaded whatever bit I had handy - really doesn't matter, 'cause the machine is going to stop once it senses the bit touching the board, bit flag, etc.

I guess a dowel could work, but if you have a spare adapter, and a bit lying around, it's a simple fix.

Lightly tighten the set screws, double check that the dummy is shorter that your v by the depth of the carved area, and your off.

You can always loosen the screws, and reset the dummy for a new carve.

[jwhllh55]

Take a look John...

http://forum.carvewright.com/showpost.php?p=92672&postcount=8

Yea, I have the basic's down.. And I followed what you did. However, for some reason the bit isn't going down far enough to touch off the board. There has to be a way to lie to the machine.. Even using a dumby bit shorter than the 60 V Bit doesn't touch the board, so it will not start the carving of letters.
I guess I have to use the trial and error. I'll not use the finish wood until I figure this out.

[cnsranch]

If the carve is complete except for the text, go back to Designer, delete everything in the mpc except for the text, save it as a new project, upload the new project on the card, and run the new project on the board that's already carved. The machine will treat it as a completely new project, will go thru the entire set-up, but again, use manual jog to touch, and touch in the carved area where you want the text.

[cnsranch]

Chris

When I first started, I could not get the machine to carve centerline in a region - I tried everything (including your suggestion), and spent weeks trying to figure it out.

Must have been something within the design, cause the machine would go into the dreaded load bit loop when measuring with the v bit.

I finally gave the dummy bit idea a try, and it worked like a charm.

I've used that method since, simply cause it works - again don't know if it was a design flaw, or what.

[ChrisAlb]

Hmmm...to both of you. I've never had a problem making it work.

You have to have two separate files. The last time I did it under 1.134, I did have to turn the machine off between running the two files because it remembered the touch point of the first file. My CW is always set to manual jog so when running the second file, I just jogged it over the carved region and it worked fine.

[jwhllh55]

I just loaded whatever bit I had handy - really doesn't matter, 'cause the machine is going to stop once it senses the bit touching the board, bit flag, etc.

I guess a dowel could work, but if you have a spare adapter, and a bit lying around, it's a simple fix.

Lightly tighten the set screws, double check that the dummy is shorter that your v by the depth of the carved area, and your off.

You can always loosen the screws, and reset the dummy for a new carve.

Your idea worked... Got'er done. Thanks for the help and I owe you one. Let me know if I can help..
Thanks again.