PDA

View Full Version : Head assembly is stuck



odsratt
05-04-2010, 01:48 AM
Having problems with machine. Raised the head assembly up to clean out machine and to check sensors. after cleaning the head assembly will not go back down, it acts like it is under preasure. to top it off machine LED is reading in a foregin language. this is getting to be too much of a headache.:( All I wanted was nice machine to make simple projects. right now most of the stuff i make i can carve by hand using 1600 grit sandpaper faster than i can set them on software and carve them out. and then i still have to clean them up. A sledgehammer is looking good right now for my machine.:mad:

AskBud
05-04-2010, 03:53 AM
Having problems with machine. Raised the head assembly up to clean out machine and to check sensors. after cleaning the head assembly will not go back down, it acts like it is under preasure. to top it off machine LED is reading in a foregin language. this is getting to be too much of a headache.:( All I wanted was nice machine to make simple projects. right now most of the stuff i make i can carve by hand using 1600 grit sandpaper faster than i can set them on software and carve them out. and then i still have to clean them up. A sledgehammer is looking good right now for my machine.:mad:

Use the hole in the threaded rod on the side oposite the keyboard to free the head (see attachment link below).
http://forum.carvewright.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=33236&d=1272243840

On the LCD, Always - turn off machine before you insert or remove the card. See if that clears the problem.
AskBud

odsratt
05-05-2010, 07:11 AM
Use the hole in the threaded rod on the side oposite the keyboard to free the head (see attachment link below).
http://forum.carvewright.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=33236&d=1272243840

On the LCD, Always - turn off machine before you insert or remove the card. See if that clears the problem.
AskBud

Actually the LCD cleared up once the head was freed up. still frustrating that i can carve a small project by hand faster than i can do the set up work, run jigs, and everything on the machine. I gotthis to save time not be a time sink.

Digitalwoodshop
05-08-2010, 10:40 PM
The more you learn about the machine the more you can do and the faster you can do stuff.

Spend some times watching AskBud's Videos and the read Tips and Tricks. That will help build you desire to use the machine.

Welcome and Good Luck,

AL

jaroot
05-08-2010, 11:23 PM
This machine does have a steep learning curve. But it can do some amazing things. It can be frustrating as H@#$ at times. Ours has broken a couple of times. You kind of have to get to know the machine and learn its little idiosyncrasies. Keep in mind that the next closest thing cost well over $4K. Support on this forum is fantastic. Just stick with it and it won't take long. I believe that we have had ours for about two months and we've gone from turning money into sawdust to the point where the stuff we make is nearly worth having.

Good luck!
Attached is a pic of one of our latest projects.

Jim

odsratt
05-09-2010, 02:20 AM
The basics i have covered. My problem is the time sink. I am making 1911 pistol grips and with a stopwatch the time it takes to 1: program the card with a pattern. 2: load into machine and load wood or material 3: run the project 4: clean up the finished project. I can do all of it by hand with a bandsaw, and sandpaper in half the time. the whole point of me buying the machine was to save time. Plus so far the scanner is not very accurate. sorry for the money i spent i expected a machine out of the box that would run near perfect copies of something I scanned or loaded not a 75% possible copy that needs as much work as a hand crafted project.

Kix
05-09-2010, 09:55 AM
So..... what are you doing while the machine is running? If you are staring at the machine then you arent taking advantage of the benefits. Are you running pieces at night? Pistol grips arent that big, whats the time on a 10 pack of grips? Also, you are skilled at the bandsaw and handsanding technique, are you as comparably skilled at running the software? Whats the upside on taking that pattern and turning it into a font and using the centerline text feature, bet your production and quality goes up another 25%.

I agree that start up is tough. If you read cnc forums on the internet every single wise man says dont buy the machine if you have a job to do, because the time to learn how to use it and the frustration involved will kill the deal for you, even more so compunded by the fact that you have this deadline looming over you. Buy the machine, spend 6 months to a year playing with it without having any expectations of what your sucess will be, or knowing that your succes will be dependant on you putting in the time to learn and have patience.

I think all too often we (including me) see all the amazing potential this has and think they can get there right out of the box. I find that we have the same results as if someone gave my 6 year old a tuba. He can't carve wood with that either.

And it is just like anything new. Me buying a 10 ten thousand dollar double steel wall 12 foot long smoker barbecue on a trailer doesnt really make me a better cook. As a matter of fact it actually makes me a worse cook for a while until I get to know the thing and learn how to leverage the pro's and con's.


I hope I am not coming across like a jerk, but you are having what my wife and I call Transformer letdown. When my son gets a new Transformers action figure and he cant turn it from a robot into a car or jet or coffee maker or whatever he gets fairly frustrated. This all happens in the first twenty minutes of getting the new toy, and he doesnt understand that he needs to take the time and it will come with experience.

Just think about it, and cut your grips by hand while the machine is cutting them out at the same time so you arent painting yourself into a corner.

odsratt
05-09-2010, 09:16 PM
What I am saying is during the time One set of grips can be cut one the carverwright. I can rip boards, cut and shape and sand 2 full pairs by hand. thats is a massive difference.. And I still have to sand and cleanup any imperfections the machine leaves behind. And i am not taking the time setup the program, precut boards for the carvewright or any other prepwork into consideration. As to the disapointment you bet. I was looking for a machine to reduce the ammout of hand labor and increase production times not double them.

odsratt
05-09-2010, 09:24 PM
What i am looking for is a machine to run a 95% finsihed product that need maybe a single sanding and a finsih work not one that takes as long to clean-up as it does to make a compleat set by hand.
As far as skill level I bought my Carvewright and set it up before any other tool in my work area. I have more time on it than other tools. But they are intutive to use and much easier to learn.... that is what i was looking for in the carvewright load program, run and finish. Not load watch program butcher wood or materidal and spend hours trying to salvage the project by hand.... i can do that already LOL.

I still belive the machine is great, just for the cost it should be a lot more user friendly.

Jeff_Birt
05-09-2010, 09:40 PM
I don't think you will find a more user friendly CNC machine. I work with all types of them and all types of software and the CW has them beat hands down when it comes to ease of use. Each piece of equipment takes time to get the most out of it though.

Many times with automated equipment you have to think a bit differently than when you are doing everything by hand. For instance, it might be much more productive to let the machine carve 2-4 sets of grips at a time to avoid all the the time spent loading unloading and prepping more/smaller pieces of stock.

Also keep in mind that as great as this little machine is, it is not a production machine. It wont be as fast as a $20K machine, but I think it provides more bang for the buck.

odsratt
05-09-2010, 10:13 PM
Problem is the stock I use most of the time is very close to minium for size even getting a single side or one set run is about all i can set up. large sections of stock are not my friend for these projects. Also I am not looking for a high production item just something to make (at present at least) nice grips for friends or single sales if asked.

Kix
05-10-2010, 08:49 AM
All right, put your mpc where your forum is.

I am no supergenius with it, but I bet somebody else here is. And give us the lowdown on what software version you are using and how you are running the pattern, etc. As much detail as you can please. And what wood? And a pic, closeup, of one of your finished grips.

odsratt
05-10-2010, 11:12 PM
All right, put your mpc where your forum is.

I am no supergenius with it, but I bet somebody else here is. And give us the lowdown on what software version you are using and how you are running the pattern, etc. As much detail as you can please. And what wood? And a pic, closeup, of one of your finished grips.

My main media to work with at the present time is Inlace Acryster
it come in 1.5"x1.5"x6" blanks. I have to cut down to a .3" slab for the cuts

Other than this I am working with mostly oak, walnut, and purpleheart.

Sorry no pics of finished projects yet due to none coming out to my satifaction.

Kix
05-12-2010, 11:35 PM
What if you shrunk down the area there you are wasting on carving out, that would probably take another 20% off the run. This is a scan, right? You might need to try a couple of other ways to transfer your pattern in order to make it come out cleaner, I'm not sure.

odsratt
05-12-2010, 11:58 PM
What if you shrunk down the area there you are wasting on carving out, that would probably take another 20% off the run. This is a scan, right? You might need to try a couple of other ways to transfer your pattern in order to make it come out cleaner, I'm not sure.

I came to the same conclusion earlier today on compacting my run. As far as the scan goes, thats about the best i have been able to clean it up. going to run a few tests tomorrow. I also removed the cut for the jig, that will save a little time and frees up about an inch of stock to use for cutting inlay patterns.

odsratt
05-13-2010, 06:46 AM
I came to the same conclusion earlier today on compacting my run. As far as the scan goes, thats about the best i have been able to clean it up. going to run a few tests tomorrow. I also removed the cut for the jig, that will save a little time and frees up about an inch of stock to use for cutting inlay patterns.

here is an updated version of my basic run. The 2 skulls on the outside are for inserting to inlay projects. just trying to get the most out of a work piece.

RMarkey
05-13-2010, 08:44 AM
I tested vectorizing the punisher skull and cut its carve time from 2 mins to a little over 1 minute.

Also, adding 1/8" feather to the stocks will cut down the carve time from 8mins each to 6mins each. This is because making the machine carve by "diving" into the wood takes longer than "sliding" down a feather.

odsratt
05-13-2010, 09:23 AM
[QUOTE=Metallus;129763]I tested vectorizing the punisher skull and cut its carve time from 2 mins to a little over 1 minute.

Also, adding 1/8" feather to the stocks will cut down the carve time from 8mins each to 6mins each. This is because making the machine carve by "diving" into the wood takes longer than "sliding" down a feather.[/QUOTHE

The problem with a fether is i am using a perfect fit jig. if i use a feather on the cut i have to recut the jig everytime. no time saved and more wasted material. the last one i posted i had removed the jig outline from the cut but it is still there. Also I am cutting these at on optimal setting so you need to look at 60+ min cut times.

Kix
05-13-2010, 09:07 PM
I think you could get a better quality if you flipped the pattern and board 90 degrees so that the bit is running the length of the carve, but I dont think your stock will allow for that.

Are you using optimal or best? There is about a 50% cut in time to go down to best, and I have seen situations where optimal doesnt really give you all that much of a better product. Oh, I see you are using optimal. Have you tried Best?

odsratt
05-14-2010, 01:12 AM
I think you could get a better quality if you flipped the pattern and board 90 degrees so that the bit is running the length of the carve, but I dont think your stock will allow for that.

Are you using optimal or best? There is about a 50% cut in time to go down to best, and I have seen situations where optimal doesnt really give you all that much of a better product. Oh, I see you are using optimal. Have you tried Best?

Have not tried best. may run a set today at that level. As far as running with a 90 shift. I am not sure i have enough free boards laying around to make that big a jig for such a small piece. like using an aircraft carrier to land a remote control plane.

RMarkey
05-14-2010, 07:46 AM
Does everybody here know you can change carving quality without re-uploading your project? It's right there on the machine!

From the main menu, select "0" (options) and the first menu is "Quality". It is usually set for "default". Change it before you start your project and it will override the project's saved quality setting.

Make sure you change it back to "default" afterwards, though!

odsratt
05-14-2010, 08:46 AM
Does everybody here know you can change carving quality without re-uploading your project? It's right there on the machine!

From the main menu, select "0" (options) and the first menu is "Quality". It is usually set for "default". Change it before you start your project and it will override the project's saved quality setting.

Make sure you change it back to "default" afterwards, though!

All i know is I just spent 4 hours cutting a new vertical based jig, and now the machine will not line up on the same pattern it just cut. its trying to start the project 2 inches futher over than it should. the Mississsippi river is looking like a good dumping ground right now. (not really but very frustrated to try suggestion and end up wasting time and material i can not afford to rebuy.) I am very serious about I can start with base stock. Cut and shape by hand to afinished product faster than the machine can buther the same piesce to no longer usuable. This might be a great machine for 10" plus size signs but for what i paid it should cut a 4 in by 2 in board 100% of the time exactlly the same every time when using the same jig. I know you do not like to see negitive commets but where else should I vent.

here is latest project. understand the boards for this cost me $15 every time i try to run it. and that does not includ the jigs.

AskBud
05-14-2010, 09:09 AM
All i know is I just spent 4 hours cutting a new vertical based jig, and now the machine will not line up on the same pattern it just cut. its trying to start the project 2 inches futher over than it should. the Mississsippi river is looking like a good dumping ground right now. (not really but very frustrated to try suggestion and end up wasting time and material i can not afford to rebuy.) I am very serious about I can start with base stock. Cut and shape by hand to afinished product faster than the machine can buther the same piesce to no longer usuable. This might be a great machine for 10" plus size signs but for what i paid it should cut a 4 in by 2 in board 100% of the time exactlly the same every time when using the same jig. I know you do not like to see negitive commets but where else should I vent.

here is latest project. understand the boards for this cost me $15 every time i try to run it. and that does not includ the jigs.

Could you attach a photo of your jig, and give its measurements.
I'll also send you a PM.
AskBud

odsratt
05-14-2010, 10:23 AM
Could you attach a photo of your jig, and give its measurements.
I'll also send you a PM.
AskBud

here are the files for my jig and the final cuts. All i am doing is cut the jig, fit pieces into ot to test fit and running the final cuts. both use the same size board and tthe same areas. So why is the cuts off center to the board when it is the same piece? the Vertical cut piece was made up this morning. it butcher my boards so bad i had to end up hand carving them to save the work. Same board for the jig, same locations but it kept starting 1 to 2 inches off center .

AskBud
05-14-2010, 11:45 AM
here are the files for my jig and the final cuts. All i am doing is cut the jig, fit pieces into ot to test fit and running the final cuts. both use the same size board and tthe same areas. So why is the cuts off center to the board when it is the same piece? the Vertical cut piece was made up this morning. it butcher my boards so bad i had to end up hand carving them to save the work. Same board for the jig, same locations but it kept starting 1 to 2 inches off center .

Ah, now we see your potential problem.
You have not understood the rules of the machine set-up.
There is a 7 inch rule! It wants to see an actual board/sled/jig 7 inches longer than your carving design board (3.5 inches per side), and see you center your project. If your board/sled/jig is shorter, and you choose not to center, it still will begin 3.5 inches from the end of the board/sled/jig.

The attached pictures show grid lines set at half an inch, so you see where this comes in to play.
AskBud

odsratt
05-14-2010, 02:34 PM
Ah, now we see your potential problem.
You have not understood the rules of the machine set-up.
There is a 7 inch rule! It wants to see an actual board/sled/jig 7 inches longer than your carving design board (3.5 inches per side), and see you center your project. If your board/sled/jig is shorter, and you choose not to center, it still will begin 3.5 inches from the end of the board/sled/jig.

The attached pictures show grid lines set at half an inch, so you see where this comes in to play.
AskBud

No i cut my boards to take the 7 in rule into effect. besides if i cut a board, add one or 2 inserts onto that piece and reinsert it into the machine why will it not cut to the same locations as the first? I have not shortened the board in any way? so it should just start cutting in the same locations.

odsratt
05-14-2010, 02:40 PM
What bothers me the most is no consistenty in the running of projects. I can run a piece, clean machine and put in the exact same program and get a different result on the end cuts. Even if i am using the same jig, same material type, etc. Like i said it takes longer to fix the problems than not use the machine at all.

AskBud
05-14-2010, 03:05 PM
No i cut my boards to take the 7 in rule into effect. besides if i cut a board, add one or 2 inserts onto that piece and reinsert it into the machine why will it not cut to the same locations as the first? I have not shortened the board in any way? so it should just start cutting in the same locations.

OK, Let's go through this again.
Bring up the attached MPC and the attached snapshot.
Your Design board is 14" long, and your carving begins less than 1.5" from the end of that design board.
1) Did you choose to "Stay Under rollers"?
2) If so, was your actual board/sled 21" or longer?
3) Did you say "NO" to "Stay under the rollers"?
4) If so, did you select "Center your Project"?

I wish my machines were back from getting the new Carve Tight assemblies, so I could work through the same steps you take!
AskBud

odsratt
05-14-2010, 06:27 PM
OK, Let's go through this again.
Bring up the attached MPC and the attached snapshot.
Your Design board is 14" long, and your carving begins less than 1.5" from the end of that design board.
1) Did you choose to "Stay Under rollers"?
2) If so, was your actual board/sled 21" or longer?
3) Did you say "NO" to "Stay under the rollers"?
4) If so, did you select "Center your Project"?

I wish my machines were back from getting the new Carve Tight assemblies, so I could work through the same steps you take!
AskBud
Ok yes I always add 7 to 9 inches to any board I cut out to stay under rollers. I also tell it to center on board, not to cut to size, and to keep original size. More than once I have cut a board to short or to narrow and had to resize the board size rather than recut.

odsratt
05-15-2010, 03:21 AM
Ok yes I always add 7 to 9 inches to any board I cut out to stay under rollers. I also tell it to center on board, not to cut to size, and to keep original size. More than once I have cut a board to short or to narrow and had to resize the board size rather than recut.

Here are a few sets that I got to carve decently.

URL=http://s739.photobucket.com/albums/xx37/odsratt/Fabled/?action=view&current=IMG_0088.jpg]http://i739.photobucket.com/albums/xx37/odsratt/Fabled/th_IMG_0088.jpg[/URL]

URL=http://s739.photobucket.com/albums/xx37/odsratt/?action=view&current=silvergrip.jpg]http://i739.photobucket.com/albums/xx37/odsratt/th_silvergrip.jpg[/URL]