This is not the centerline I know...what happened?

[deemon328]

Hey everybody :) I dusted off my machine to do a little project for our upcoming family reunion. I just updated to v1.150 and did a simple centerline text. The carve took 37 minutes and ended up doing some kind of raster carve instead of the smooth centerline carve. Note the flat bottoms in the text rather than the crisp 60 degree angle.

Any ideas what I did wrong here? In designer, everything looked normal. Is there some new setting I didn't select?

Thanks for any help.

[cnsranch]

Looks like your board was slipping - check for that pesky rubber o-ring on the brass roller, board not warped, thickness the same throughout, etc.

[Digitalwoodshop]

I can't look at your .mpc as I still need to make money with my machine and didn't want to risk 1.150 yet.

Click on the text and see what bit is selected? Same with if you selected Raster?

Is your QC Worn OUT..... You may need a ROCK....

BB Marks on the bit holder?

Looking at your first picture I would select 25 on the spacing between the letters.

If that is maple I would use masking tape on the bottom of the board in a few places and along the brass roller path.

AL

[cnsranch]

Now that I'm looking at the mpc, that is really weird - c'line is selected ok, but what's carved is in a different font.....

[cnsranch]

Me again -

You have the 60v bit selected, is that the bit you used? Flat bottoms almost looks like you used the cutting bit...

[PCW]

V60 bit is selected in designer. What bit where you using?

Edit: Jerry you beat me to the punch.

[cnsranch]

Dan - and Al who -

Take a close look at the attached - I've never noticed it before, but if the white lines show how the bit will carve, that's his problem

And if so, that's REALLY weird.

[atauer]

That still has nothing to do with the flat bottom. By looking at the picutes, I would say that a flat bit is being used.

[cnsranch]

Something's still not right - the project should have taken a few minutes, not 37.

[PCW]

Jerry,

I see the weird lines when I use Centerline Text. I don't have a lot of experience with it because I just purchased it a couple of months ago. I just did a new project for a test and it looks the same as your attachment.

The carve just doesn't look like a V60 path. He may have selected a different bit at the machine when prompted.

[Kenm810]

I open and close your .mpc a few times,
each time the white lines for the text path changed slightly.
Their not exactly matching up the same, each time I opened it. :???:


I just opened it on a different PC and the path are different again,
like the software is picking a slightly different path each time centerline is opened.

[cnsranch]

Alex - throw that bad boy in the machine and tell us what you get.

[forqnc]

Not saying I am an expert but looking at the second picture showing the font, it appears that coppertone light is not installed on your computer. You should see a box with letters like what is above it. I have seen this is I use a font from work and it is not on my home computer. If this is true then it could be defaulting to some unknown font.
Good Luck

[atauer]

Jerry,

Placed it in the machine. was prompted for 60 degree v-bit. project carved without an issue. Took about 22 minutes to carve.

Only reason for a flat bottom would be either the wrong bit was inserted, or his 60 v- bit has a flat nose.

[Dan-Woodman]

Looks to me like he used the 1/8" cutting bit instead of the 60 deg. v bit
later Daniel

[rjustice]

Jerry,

Placed it in the machine. was prompted for 60 degree v-bit. project carved without an issue. Took about 22 minutes to carve.

Only reason for a flat bottom would be either the wrong bit was inserted, or his 60 v- bit has a flat nose.

Some of the aftermarket bits do have a flat nose on them, as they are more intended for chamfering edges etc, and not slotting. This is a good thing to check first. But, 22 minutes even sounds long for this... He mentioned that it looked like it was cutting in some sort of raster motion instead of vector motions

[atauer]

It was all vector. It moved in a left to right motion when going to each letter, but it was all vector when I ran it.

[badger]

It would be nice if he revisted to let you guys know if any of your suggestions where in fact true, so before double guessing your answers might wait for a response back from the poster.

[deemon328]

Hey guys, thanks for all the interest and helpful replies.

I did use the 60 degree bit from the carvewright bit set. I haven't dropped it; the point is nice and sharp :)

The wood is cherry, nothing I haven't used successfully in the past. The board (a glue lamination of many parts) was jointed, planed and parallel on the aux roller side. I made sure to keep the guide bar just enough off the back edge to allow the workpiece to slide smoothly. Again, this is pretty standard board loading stuff, and not IMO indicative of the strange carving action, but thank you for suggesting it.

I agree that it looked like I used the 1/16 carving bit when it was all said and done, but it was absolutely the v60 in the machine. That's what got me wondering about any changed settings in this newest version of the software. It's almost as if it carved what the lettering would look like with the 1/16th bit loaded.

I have a rock chuck on order (looks very encouraging btw), but I'm not convinced that this explains the problem. All the centerline text I've ran in the past carved out in a few minutes and didn't display the rasterizing cutting action that I perceived. Each letter was literally gone over in what seemed like little pulses, cutting out a little bit of the letter at a time. The bit moved from one point to another during the cutting of each letter, and did not cut a smooth path as indicated in the .mpc. It's not overly obvious in the photos, but you can kind of see what I'm talking about by noting the roughness in the letters and a few 'dimples' in the troughs of the lettering.

Atauer, did you notice any of the rasterizing motion in your carve? Did your bit move directly through the path like it was supposed to?


Edit: Al, I checked my bit selection on the text in centerline, and it was correctly set to v60. I can't select a bit in raster at all.

Edit2: My workpiece is 2 5/8" thick. The machine never tried to determine the thickness of the board (because it would hit the QC on the workpiece on the inboard side I assume), but it did find the surface just fine. I don't know if that's significant, but it doesn't hurt to add.
Thanks all for the continued help.

[Digitalwoodshop]

I have noticed if you use a V60 bit for bigger text you get strange effects. I would cut the project again with a V90.

I would also use tape on the bottom to give the sand paper a better bite and on the brass roller.

The Stock in Masking Tape split last week.... I am going to be rich !!!!

NOT.....

AL

[deemon328]

Uploading a video to youtube now. It shows the 49 and the H being carved in the method I tried to describe above.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bh_aR2CjYnA

[Digitalwoodshop]

When you install the rock.... Splice the old QC video sound and the ROCK sound back and fourth to hear the difference in noise level....

AL

[Lin]

Curiosity make me ask this question...Have you used this same font and file exactly as is in a prior version of design? Just wondering if it has anything to do with the font itself instead of the version. I have heard on this forum in the past of people having certain fonts just not carve right...like missing letters and such.
Lin

[www.go3d.us]

I don't have a clue but check if the ztruck is tight enough
HT

[SteveEJ]

What is that chattering sound in the video? Sounds almost like the flex cable is binding or something..

[ChrisAlb]

Uploading a video to youtube now. It shows the 49 and the H being carved in the method I tried to describe above.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bh_aR2CjYnA


After watching that video two things are clear. (not saying it's the cause but needs to be addressed anyway)

1) The RPMs are all over the place
2) That flex shaft definitely needs to be lubed.

That shaft should not chatter even when doing a deep raster carve let alone a shallow vector cut.

What font are you using? Forgive me if I missed it in the posts but, if anyone loading this MPC (including Alex) doesn't have it, Designer will just default to another one and thus render any testing by others irrelevant.

From the video, the CW is most definitely carving along vector lines so I think we can rule out any "raster like" carving going on.

Unless you've already used it successfully in the past, my "guess" is it's the font you are using and centerline doesn't much care for it. I've run across a few in the past myself that simply didn't cut right.

What font is it?

[deemon328]

Unless you've already used it successfully in the past, my "guess" is it's the font you are using and centerline doesn't much care for it. I've run across a few in the past myself that simply didn't cut right.

What font is it?

This is my conclusion as well. I just ran the same text through v1.134 and got exactly the same results, although it was in 17 minutes instead of 34. The font is Copperplate Light.

I ran some centerline text last week(different font) and everything worked fine. I just haven't run into this issue before with fonts not carving 'well'.


Regarding the noise my machine is making, I think it's a combination of worn QC issues (got the rock chuck on order) and possibly my flexshaft hole not being totally square (from removing the QC a few times with the wrong tool.) I have a brand new motor and rpm sensor (like 2 hours on it since it was replaced). Are you still using Crane Cams Assembly Lube for your flexshaft? That's what I switched to, and I don't have a heat buildup problem. I could add some more lube, but I was concerned about over-doing it.

Thanks.

[ChrisAlb]

This is my conclusion as well. I just ran the same text through v1.134 and got exactly the same results, although it was in 17 minutes instead of 34. The font is Copperplate Light.

I ran some centerline text last week(different font) and everything worked fine. I just haven't run into this issue before with fonts not carving 'well'.


Regarding the noise my machine is making, I think it's a combination of worn QC issues (got the rock chuck on order) and possibly my flexshaft hole not being totally square (from removing the QC a few times with the wrong tool.) I have a brand new motor and rpm sensor (like 2 hours on it since it was replaced). Are you still using Crane Cams Assembly Lube for your flexshaft? That's what I switched to, and I don't have a heat buildup problem. I could add some more lube, but I was concerned about over-doing it.

Thanks.

While I can't comment on the QC without actually being there, I did watch closely on the video and saw no signs of it running out or vibrating. Now I couldn't really see the bit. The chatter I heard was definitely the shaft. I've heard that enough times to bet on it...LOL

Now an out of square drive hole could certainly be a part, if not all of what's causing that chatter.

Good deal on the motor and RPM sensor. Sounds like you're on top of that. I would recommend however (unless you have a lot of hours on the motor) just replacing the RPM sensor first. Hey, if the motor you have runs right with a new sensor, get as many miles as you can out of it and keep the new one as a spare.

Absolutely on the Crane Cam....http://forum.carvewright.com/images/icons/icon14.gif I will never use anything else. You don't need much at all. I haven't even used half of that first small flex package yet. I've only had to lube the flex shaft 3 times since using that lube and I have over 250 hours of cut time.

After wiping off the old, just a thin film of new is all you need. Also, I go even thinner after the section where it turns down into the Z truck.

One more tip too (regardless of the lube you use), if you notice the shaft core is wound in a spiral. I make sure that spiral (like a screw) spins pulling up and away from the spindle. This will "aid" in not allowing the lube to run down on the bearings. Although I've never had an issue with that using the Crane Cam.

EDIT: I just checked and I have copperplate "gothic" Bold and Light. If that's the same, chances are a lot of folks have it so it may just indeed be a "bad" font for Centerline. Now if Alex's carve used the same font as yours and it carved OK, we're back to finding the cause which may indeed be mechanical in nature then.

[liquidguitars]

This is my conclusion as well. I just ran the same text through v1.134 and got exactly the same results, although it was in 17 minutes instead of 34. The font is Copperplate Light.

looks like centerline is cutting twice.. you said that you rolled back to 1.134 and had the same results.

Did you roll back the firmware two? as the firmware drives the cutter not the software so to speak.

As a side note for testing you can keep 1.150 Designer installed but use 1.133 firmware to test.

PS thanks for the video..

LG

[ChrisAlb]

Did you roll back the firmware two? as the firmware drives the cutter not the software so to speak.LG

Good pont buddy! Didn't even think of that myself.....:rolleyes: