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wlhtrain
05-25-2006, 11:35 AM
I noticed a drift to the right on the x-axis of my machine while routing channels 1/4 to 1/2 inch deep along a 24 inch lenght. Each depth change or pass drifted about 1/16 inch to the right forming a stair step on the left of the channel. THe right side was off the board so not a problem. The left is for a slot to receive a tenon from another piece. Is there an adjustment I can make to remove or counter the drift?

cmorlier
05-25-2006, 12:29 PM
Check that the Board Tracking Sensor is making good contact with your board, and the little rubber o-ring is in place and not damaged. The o-ring should be right up against the toothed part of the roller (see picture).

wlhtrain
05-25-2006, 12:43 PM
The o-ring looks to be seated properly. I was hoping there was an adjustment screw to "tweak" the roller. It is either moving to far left on the return to start a pass or moving not enough right to complete the pass.

cmorlier
05-25-2006, 01:53 PM
There are no adjustments to stop the drift. The Board Tracking Sensor is there to ensure accurate measurement of the board, and as long as it maintains contact with the board it does a pretty good job.

Are you telling the machine to keep the board under rollers? If not, try selecting this option when you start you project. Basically, this forces the machine to maintain a 3.5" spacing from each end of the board to the boundaries of you project, so you will need a board that is at least 7" longer than the project (if you want full scale). By staying under rollers, you ensure that the ends of the board don't lift up, which can cause 1) carvings to be too deep near the ends and 2) the Board Tracking Sensor to loose contact with the board reducing tracking accuracy.

Also, you mentioned that one end looked good. Is the length of the cut what you expect from the longest (first) stair step or the shortest(last)? Usually, what you will see when there is a slip, is that the length will be closest from the last step. The non-stepped end usually looks good, but actually shifts similar to the stepped end.

wlhtrain
05-26-2006, 12:00 AM
That's got to be it. I'll try again with a board longer than the project and see what happens.