carving problem.............again

[eharsin21]

Here we go again! I just spent 4 hours trying to get my project to start. After clearing all errors and a thourough cleaning I was finally able to get the project to start. But as you can see from the picture......another $20 in wood goes to waste. I think I have spent more money on wasted wood than I paid for the machine.

38011Anyone have a guess as to what the problem is this time? I was getting error 313 z-axis stahl to start but got passed that I thought. HELP............

[Frederick_P]

During any of these errors, did you hit the "stop" button, correct the error and then start the project again? If you did, this is probably the problem. There is a glitch in the software that produces results like this unless the machine memory is cleared. Next time, power down the machine, unplug, wait for at least 20 seconds, then power up and start your project.

[Jeff_Birt]

It looks like your wood is loosing contact with the brass roller. Check that the brass roller is not binding against a feed belt, that the O-ring is in place and in good shape and that the little rubber spring that presses up on it is still in place. If your wood has an uneven edge with nicks or divots it will cause skipping like this too. Another possibility is that wood was binding due to the sliding guide fence being too tight or that the wood was tipping or hitting an outfeed roller.

[Frederick_P]

Jeff, I don't think so. If he lost contact with the brass roller, the machine would have stopped and given an error message. This carve had a section that was skipped. I have experienced this as well.

[eharsin21]

Actually during all of the error messages in the beginning I shut down the machine, erased the memory card, re-downloaded the project and started again. The board is a new piece of 3/4 in solid oak. Everything is perfect with the board. The carve skipped on its' own and then continued on with the carve until it finally stopped which is when I checked on it and saw the mess. So I guess it probably boils down to the brass roller some how. It wasn't the sand paper roller or head pressure I don't think because the board was in the middle of a 36" piece and was still under both rollers. So the brass roller?? Not enough roller pressure? Any other guesses? Thanks, Ernie

[eelamb]

on Oak I suggest using masking tape on the botton two edges, and center. But this sounds like the brass rollers, or the sandpaper belts have rolled under on the keyboard side forcing the board off the brass roller.

Al's stock just went up again!

[Digitalwoodshop]

Sorry to say Fred P. is incorrect and this is a classic board lost contact with the brass roller. Seldom do you get a error as the board keeps moving when the contact is lost with the brass roller and when it makes contact it stops and continues to carve. That is why the un carved area.

You could have a belt rolled under at the brass roller, usually the one at the muffler.

You could have a un level head, light or up on the brass roller side.

Sure looks like the missing wood part is 3.5 inches from the end of the board so this could just be pilot error..... Remember you can tape a block of wood on the end like I do to keep wood under the rollers. The board popping out from under 1 roller and the board looses contact and skips wood...

You can get a Z Stall when the board moves after loss of contact with the brass roller and jams into new wood when before it was at the bottom of a cut.

You should also check the head pressure with a scale too.

Remember that the purpose of the brass roller is the mechanical feedback for the X Axis... The X Motor moves and when the Brass roller reads the correct number of pulses it stops.... If the board looses contact the X motor will keep moving the board until the pulses are correct. Hence your $20.00 Firewood.

Another thing that can cause this especially with OAK is that the board slips due to the sand paper belts. I line the bottom of OAK with 4 strips of Masking Tape. 1 on the brass roller track and 3 on the bottom.

With expensive wood like this you would be better off making a carrier board with a end block glued to the end. Setup your artwork with a dead area on the right side of designer and use place on end.

The Brass Roller is a weak area of the design of the machine. If the users understand the possible brass roller slipping and takes precautions then you will have hundreds of hours of happy carving.

If this project was setup to NOT stay under the rollers and the line of missing carving is 3.5 inches from the end then it was Pilot Error. The picture does not let you see the whole situation.

A closer look at the picture and you can see a line cut in the uncarved area, the head cutting from right to left and the board moving under it.... The Diagonal line.....

And YES my Tape stock is going up.

AL

[Spanglerg@hotmail.com]

I had a similar problem recently. Seems that there is a mechanical snubber (looks like a small piece of fuel line), required under the alignment plate and on top of tracking assembly bearing pedestal. It appears to provide some sort of pivot stabilization for the tracking assembly. Mine had somehow fallen off. After a closer inspection I found the snubber lying on the bottom of the machine. After re-installing the snubber every thing worked fine. Hope this provides some help.

[eharsin21]

FYI for those who have read or had input on this thread. After I cooled down and couldn't believe it happened again I went out into the garage and put another $20 oak board under the rollers crossed my fingers and started again......just to see what would happen. It ran just fine. Just shows you just how finikie?? this machine is. It is not the first time that I have had a problem and absolutely nothing changes but to put another board in and try again and all works fine. Very frustrating...........but just when I told everyone my carver just crapped out for good, I have false hope again. Thanks to all who have posted.

[eelamb]

I believe Al will comment here again. But I think the problem was the brass roller, Oak without tape, thus slippage, stopping due to no traction. thus change of board and everything is fine. I suggest using tape on the bottom of any hard wood to prevent slippage.

[Frederick_P]

I stand corrected!