Problem with the cutout - Please Help!!!!!

[andes]

I created a plaque and it was 94% complete, it went to cut the opening and would not go down, it spins and says that it is routing the figure; I am doing this now and I hope that someone is on tonight that can help me. the piece is still in the CW and I am hoping that it can be corrected and finished. I am so bumed out right now, all I had left was to route the edge and cut the opening.... Please Help!!!!! I had to remove the football because it is a purchased pattern.

[fwharris]

By chance did you see the bit touch the bit plate when it was doing the bit check after putting in the cut out bit? My guess is that if the bit did not touch the bit plate.

You can go back into designer and remove everying except your cutout and edge route and resave under another name and start it back up....

[andes]

I thought it touched. I will do as you suggested - wish me luck ;-}

[andes]

well, I tried, and now the back tracking roller will not work. ok, I'm done for tonight, my work day starts a 3am so I have to give into defeat ;-{ this sucks. so I don't know roller is not working because the design is cut so low or if there is actually something wrong with the roller. If you have time could you look over my design and see if I have something that needs adjusting - any help that anyone could give would be great. thanks

[Digitalwoodshop]

An Air Carve is normally caused by the bit not touching the bit plate. The Bit Plate tells the machine where the end of the bit is.... When you get a Air Carve it is caused by the Z going down to touch the Bit Plate while looking for an increase in Z Motor Current when it smashes into the bit plate. As it smashes into the bit plate the current increases. It is SO sensitive that it quickly reverses direction before causing any damage.

So what happens is that 1: dirt on the Z Rails or 2: dirt in the Z Belt Cogs or 3: A Frozen lower left Z Bearing, causes a increase in current and the Z Reverses or stops SHORT of actually touching the bit plate giving the computer a false "This is the Tip of the Bit" reading. Resulting in a AIR Carve.....

Other things can cause a Air Carve but since the machine did a good job cutting the other stuff this normally won't apply.... 4: Bad FFC Cable, 5: Dust inside the Z Encoder, 6: Bad Z Encoder, 7: Clear Disk on the Z Encoder Spinning on the Shaft.


Deleting all the carving stuff except for the cut path and running it again should make it right...

Now for the Stuck Roller... It is just sawdust in the Keyboard side of the Roller Switch Area. When the Roller is Compressed sawdust is blown around the switch area. When the Roller is released it rests on a metal plate with 2 bolts holding it against the springs. What happens is over time, every release of the roller compresses the sawdust in thin layers like Filo Dough. When it builds up thick enough it will not let the release or un compressed roller switch tang fall into the slot showing the roller un compressed. See Pictures as I just removed the keypad side cover very carefully watching the cables to prevent damage. I un screwed the bolts on the roller slightly and blew out the sawdust. That did it..... Only had to do it once in a few years as I have had dust collection.

Looking at Picture 3.... Directly behind the RED Wire you see the "Money Shot" showing the Tang of the Switch dropped inside the Slot showing a Released Roller or un Compressed Roller... When sawdust builds up on that plate the roller won't release far enough to let this switch tang drop into the slot...

So I highly recommend that everyone watch the bit plate touch EVERY time when you change bits... It will tell you the health of the machine.

Remember... 2 touches of the bit plate everything AOK... 3 Touches and Huston YOU HAVE A PROBLEM.... The Machine will Cut or Carve after 3 touches but that is a WARNING....



AL