Uneven Carve (LINES)

[quazamoto]

My most recent carve was a sign with centerline lettering. Wood blank was in good shape but I noticed carve lines throughout the piece as if the carving bit was high on one pass then slightly lower the next. It was uniform throughout the finished carve. What causes this and how do I fix it?

Thanks in advance.

[dbfletcher]

Can you post pictures? This is one of those cases where a picture really is worth a thousand words.

Thanks,

Doug Fletcher

[RMarkey]

check your carving bit to make sure its not floating in the adapter. You may need to re-loc-tite the set screws.

[AskBud]

Include the MPC as well.
AskBud

[Digitalwoodshop]

Did it happen 3.5 inches from the end when the board came out from under a roller and popped UP only being held by ONE roller...

OR

In Feed or Out Feed Table not adjusted properly causing a raise or drop of the end of the board.

AL

[hogiewan]

Did it happen 3.5 inches from the end when the board came out from under a roller and popped UP only being held by ONE roller...

OR

In Feed or Out Feed Table not adjusted properly causing a raise or drop of the end of the board.

AL

How big is your board? how far from the edges are you carving

[earlyrider]

If the lines continue along the entire length of the carve (X dir.) beyond the 3.5" at the ends, the encoder on the end of the Z motor may be dusty. Remove the black cover on the back of the motor, and blow it out gently with compressed air. Dust on the disc caused the same problem with mine, and it cleared up immediately with the dedustification.
Ron

[quazamoto]

Doug,

Apology for delay in getting back to you. Just now have I found the time to get back into forum. Actually, I don't have a picture of the project with the lines. I took the piece, ran it through my planner and moved on. I am getting ready for another project that and if it occurs again, then I will certainly take pictures.

Thanks for your wanting to help. Stand by.

[quazamoto]

Earlyrider:

Actually, the lines were uniform throughout the carve, from beginning to end. Board size was 32" long X 10" wide. I left 3.5" on each end for safety.

[quazamoto]

Earlyrider:

I'm all over it. While I cleaned the machine (I thought, as I always do after each carve), I am going back again. Have another carve this weekend and will let you know how it goes.

Thanks so much for the suggestion.

[quazamoto]

Thanks, Metallus. I will double check the bit. It's seen about 10 hours of carve thus far. Didn't think it would lossen up like that but one never knows.

[quazamoto]

Didgitalwoodshop:

The lines were uniform throughout the carve but I will double check the feeds just to make sure anyway. Always a good idea to check them now and then anyway.

Thanks,

[Digitalwoodshop]

Then is sounds like a mechanical problem....

2 ways to find out for sure....

Draw a square 6 x 6 and do a carve region of .05 deep.

This will show if it was artwork that I think is fine, or mechanical.

But either way, I say get a baseline of what the machine is doing.

Then pull the Z Truck in all directions looking for a loose bearing in the Z or Y. If all is tight then you might have loose screws holding the Z Motor to the gear box OR you might have 2 loose screws holding the gear box to the Motor.... I have seen BOTH...

That is a OLD style Z in the picture, the long Cooling Fins.

Let us know,

AL

[TerryT]

Check the bit for side to side play. It will only take a very small amount to leave the lines. When my machine did that it turned out to be the bottom z truck roller bearings were just the tiniest bit loose. After adjusting the lines never came back.