Vector carving but machine didn't use bit specified by designer

[jgowrie]

Hmm, Seems like I am having some trouble understanding why the machine is asking for information it should be getting from the project file.

I just ran a job which was split across two cabinet doors. The first file ( Left Door ) ran fine. When I loaded the board it did the measurements, asked if I wanted it centered, and then prompted me for a vector bit. Now the project called for both the 60deg and the 90deg vector bit.

Again, the machine is confusing me a little by giving me all the different choices for the vector bit since I programmed the bit selection within Designer. But, I selected the 90Deg bit to load first. It jogged out and let me load it. It then when through it's sensor measurements and then asked me to load the 60Deg bit... OK, I guess it wanted to do that first so it moved back and and let me remove the 90 and install the 60. Off and running. It carved out my centerline text with the 60deg bit and then correctly stopped running and prompted me to load the 90deg bit for the "UD" logo. Excellent.

Load the second board with the project file for the right door. Again, after all the sensors ran measurements it prompted me to choose a vector bit, so this time I loaded the 60deg but assuming it would run the centerline text first like it did on the left door. It did so and I assumed all was good and I was waiting for a prompt to load the 90Deg bit - WHICH NEVER CAME :mad: Arghh. It just ran the 60Deg bit through everything which was programmed for the 90deg.

Anyone have ideas? It's salvageable, but I'll have to do it by hand with a 90deg bit in my router.

I have to say, that the machine seems to have a mind of it's own. Why did it not follow the instructions from Designer I guess is my number one question. Number two would be, why is it asking me what bit to use when I assigned the bit within designer? I can see this maybe being a valid question if someone didn't specify the bit because maybe they don't have the complete set, but I specified the bit, depth and profile so why wouldn't it just take that info and remove the prompts which lead to confusion.

( BREATH ! ) whew.. ok - I'm a little better now :mrgreen:

[fwharris]

When a project has more than one bit in it the CW will do a check of bit lengths for the project.

The first bit called for will be the last bit used in the project. It will go through each bit until it gets to the first bit for the carving.

When the prompt comes up it is calling for the bit specified in the project for that part of the carve. If you change that selection at the machine then you will not get what you want in your design.

Part of the reasoning for this (I think!!!) is to insure you have the actual bits called for in the design..

[jgowrie]

FW, thanks for the reply. Well if I remember correctly, it did put up the 90 degree vector bit as the first choice and I moved the cursor to the 60 degree based on it using that one first in the first half of the project ( the first project file ) SO, I guess I made the mistake.

It would be nice if the machine told me to insert a particular bit instead of asking me to choose a bit. It did put the proper bit up as the first choice but its still giving the choice of changing that bit and IMO, it shouldn't. If it wants to make sure all the called for bits are on hand, it should go through them in order without letting the operator change the bit. In other words, don't give me the opportunity to f' it up, because I will :mrgreen:

I won't make the same mistake again, but I'm sure someone will at some point.

Thanks for the answer though. I'm not venting at you - just venting !

[fwharris]

No problem with the venting!!!

Not sure why it does give you the chance to change bits. I can see how it can be confusing for those that are not familiar with the start up process..

The way I see it is, the machine knows what bits you have in your design and when it asks me to load a certain bit I just go with what it says..

[jgowrie]

yeah, school of hard knocks for me today. Made a bunch of silly errors and learned some lessons :mrgreen:


Well, now that I know I messed that last carve up, I'm gonna try and run it through again, removing the elements which were properly carved and letting it run the elements which weren't. The way I figure it, it may work because the correct bit is larger than the one it already carved with. The machine seems very accurate with it's measurements and if it doesn't work.. oh well. I'll just glue up a new panel in the morning and run it again tomorrow night knowing the right way to respond to loading the different bits. It's either that or I have to duplicate the curves by hand, which I could probably do pretty accurately using the grooves already cut into the wood as a guide in multiple passes, but if this works - it will be much faster.. and I'm curious so I'm going for it... at least I'm in a better mood knowing it was me and not the machine that messed up.

John

[mtylerfl]

Hello John,

The machine will always default to the bit you specified in your mpc as the "first choice" when it shows the prompt "Choose Vector Bit" (or Choose Cutting Bit, Carving Bit, etc.).

Of course, you should not normally change the bit selection, but rather just press the "Enter" button, since the correct bit is already chosen automatically.

You were asking why it even gives you the option to make a change. Admittedly, this could lead to a mistake such as you experienced. However, it does so to allow for some flexibility for the user. There are certain situations where the user WILL want to make a change and override the mpc's assigned bit. Not in your particular case, but a good example is when a V-90 bit is specified in the mpc, but the user wants to use a V-60 bit instead to "force" a deeper cut. This procedure assumes the user knows the outcome of the deviation from the automatically assigned bit, and it is an intentional choice for more advanced applications to purposely choose the "wrong" bit. The programmers could indeed "lock us out" of that choice, but that would limit the options for the more experienced users.

I'm very sorry you had some bad luck with that. Again, normally you do NOT want to override the default bit, just accept the bit displayed on the LCD by simply pressing ENTER (it correctly and automatically matches the bit you originally assigned in your mpc).

[AskBud]

Is it possible that the machine did not specify which Vector Bit to load, as there were carves with both the 60 & 90 degree bits?
AskBud

[mtylerfl]

Is it possible that the machine did not specify which Vector Bit to load, as there were carves with both the 60 & 90 degree bits?
AskBud

Not possible, Bud. The machine will always prompt for the proper bit, as assigned in the original mpc. (This was a case of pilot error, as already stated above in post #3.)