Sled does not measure properly in project mode

[onearmedwoodworker]

Help please!!!!! I am trying to carve a 24" X 14" cutting board. I have mounted the board into a sled that reads 24.885 when under the rollers is selected and 13.735 when I select no to the stay under rollers option. However shenever I select measure board and then length, my sled measures 31.796. I first tried making my sled out of MDF with duct tape on the bottom but after ten attempts and getting the same readout as above I switched to a baltic birch plywood sled without and even with tape. I am so frustrated that I am getting rather splintered!:( Any ideas?

[Digitalwoodshop]

The answer is in the Tricks and Tips... Or Tips and Tricks.... The 7 inch rule of wood and other Pilot Errors.

Welcome....

Wax on Wax Off..... The problem is the machine steals 7 inches from your board when you select stay under rollers... Hence the 7 inch rule of wood...

AL

[onearmedwoodworker]

My project is 24 inches long and my sled is 31.976 inches long. I have exceeded the rule of 7. Any other ideas?

[dbfletcher]

I'm not really understanding your question.. however we had a similiar question a few weeks ago. It turned out he was misreading what the display was telling him. Can you try to describe what your actual issue is? what the machie is displaying and what you are expecting. Any additiona info you can share will be helpfull

[onearmedwoodworker]

The screen reads 24.855/31" after it measures the sled with the 24" board to be carved in the 31.96" sled when I answer yes to stay under the rollers. When I say no to stay under the rollers the screen reads 13.785/31" after measuring the board. When I measure the board by pressing 7 on the keypad and then press enter for length the sled measures 31.96". When in the project mode I am not getting an accurate sled measurement and it wants to scale it to fit when it finishes measuring the board (24.855/31") when stay under the rollers is yes and the the screen says keep original szie when it is done measuring the board when i opt to no stay under the rollers (13.785/31 measurement). The mesurements come out the same on both the MDF and the plywood sleds I have tried. Any thoughts?

[dbfletcher]

can you post your mpc? It sure sounds like you are misreading the display exactly as the other user posted a few weeks ago. Exactly where do you think your problem is?

[gwhiz]

Are you sure the 13.735 it's displaying isn't the measured width of the board rather than the length? It sounds like your board may be 1/4" too narrow?

[onearmedwoodworker]

It is not the width as the width is 13.996. The MPC is attached named welike.mpc. Thank you for your help

[dbfletcher]

OK.. that helps... so now we know you have included your sled dimensions in your project board design. But maybe I'm just slow, but I still dont know what you question/problem is? But when you have the sled accounted for in your project board, you want to say "NO" to stay under rollers..... becuase you already know it will. If you say yes, the machine want another 7" in addition to your project board. (In this case at least 38")

[onearmedwoodworker]

Ok, but that is when I get the 13 inch reading for the length as it reads 13.785/31" Scale the project? message appears on the LCD screen when I tell it no to stay under rollers. BUT when I measure the board it measures 31.976. Why is it not recognizing the board when it is in the project mode but rreads it properly in the measurement mode? My machine has been returned for service twice and the QC was defective right out of the box. Wondering about gremlins lol

[dbfletcher]

Can you take a pic of you display and post? I am nearly certain you are misreading what the mcahine is trying to tell you. I'll see if I can find that post from the other user a few weeks ago, but this sounds sooooooo similiar.

[onearmedwoodworker]

To your point of staying under the rollers would the project work as when I tell it yes it reads 24.985/31". Can I then tell it to keep original size and will it carve properly? Thanks again

[onearmedwoodworker]

Do you want both screeens? It will be a little while as my game is on right now? I will post as soon as game is over.

[dbfletcher]

Here is the post I was referring to. As much info as you can share will help get this ironed out. I think you are on the right track, but I think is is just a simple misunderstanding of what your seeing. Some of the displays can be a bit confusing especially if you are fairly new with the machine. I'll be honest that I dont read the disply much as I have just more or less memorized the sequence... which Im sure will come back and bite me someday when they change the firmware and it doesnt match what my fingers expect.

http://forum.carvewright.com/showthread.php?15730-Why-is-the-CarveWright-machine-kept-giving-me-the-wrong-board-meeasurement&highlight=machine+measure+wrong

[liquidguitars]

One thing to try is to make your sled longer, 32.5 min x 14.25" then change Designer project size to 32"x14" load the sled end tail " now at 4" " under the out feed roller so the roller will compress down on the tail. This gives the board sensor a clear path.

The 7 inch rule is to short for sleds and never understood why you go to all the work only to come up short. I use 10" extra for sleds, 4" for the tail and 2" for holding down the stock.

"keep under roller" = no
"keep the same size" = yes
"place on corner" = yes
"cut to size" = no

For a parts sled I first cut out a sightly over sized bottom " no pun intended" and make the carvewright scribe exactly the placement of the carving stock for a mongo fit.

[onearmedwoodworker]

Red faced and maybe Ishould quit reading the screen. First time with a sled and not used to seeing width measurements when measuring the boards. Normally have the 7 extra inches on the project board but could not for these projects. Thank you for your help patience and tolerance of a thick headed one armed woodworker. Have a great rest of the day.