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toothpicks
01-28-2007, 10:40 AM
I hate to make my first post in the form of a complaint. I had hoped to post a pic of some spectacular project, but it looks like that ain't happening anytime soon.

Seemed like a simple thing, running off a copy of Britt's jewelry box. I boldly threw a piece of oak into my Carve-tard and loaded the base piece first. First bit: 1/8th inch cutting tool. A simple rabbet around the edges, no problem.

Now it seems to me that if the machine knows it has the 1/8th inch bit, then it should go ahead and assume something a little less than 1/8th inch distance between cuts. Silly me. In the Y axis it left only some nubs that can be sanded away. But in the X axis it left nice little 1/16th inch wide 'rails' between cuts. OK, guess I could take those out with a knife. Or a dado blade.

Moving on, I placed a front/back piece on the board. It asked me if I wanted to jog it, which I did in the Y axis as it seemed to be in about the correct position X-axis-wise. Again I made an assumption that the machine knew where it had left off massacring the first piece, and so should know where to place the next piece (X-wise). Silly me.

It carved most of the front/back piece in fine fashion, but when it got toward the end it happily began carving right into the base piece (still attached).

I hit Stop, turned the machine off, and went inside for a cold frosty one. Think I will pick up some cheap(er) alder today and try again.

I didn't get any error codes, just a wasted piece of wood and more sawdust to clean up. What am I missing here?

pkunk
01-28-2007, 10:58 AM
The only thing you missed was the understanding of the directions. Easy to do. :D To place all the pieces on one board, you start by jogging to one end (left/front) carve the back of the top, flip the wood over (narrow ways) and jog back to the exact same spot.(you did write that down, didn't you?) Then when tha top is done jog a few inches and start the next.

HighTechOkie
01-28-2007, 12:05 PM
... Silly me. In the Y axis it left only some nubs that can be sanded away. But in the X axis it left nice little 1/16th inch wide 'rails' between cuts.

What quality setting did you carve at? The manual states anything less than "Best" will leave ridges between passes. Attach a pic, and I'm sure someone can offer you a more accurate assessment.

Rob

toothpicks
01-28-2007, 12:59 PM
The only thing you missed was the understanding of the directions. Easy to do. :D To place all the pieces on one board, you start by jogging to one end (left/front) carve the back of the top, flip the wood over (narrow ways) and jog back to the exact same spot.(you did write that down, didn't you?) Then when tha top is done jog a few inches and start the next.

Is that it? I need to write down the coordinates so I can jog back to same. Check. Hadn't caught that part in my reading so far.

Yeah, I noticed he said to start with the back side of the top. I'm using 24 inch stock, so can't get all pieces on one board. The way I had it laid out, I had one piece of wood with the bottom, front and back, and the two sides. Then I was going to cut another piece with the top, another front and back, and two more sides. And then a third piece with another top and bottom. Altogether enough pieces to make two boxes.

Thought I would start with one of the simplest parts - the bottom. That didn't seem to work out. Picked up some poplar stock this morning. Will try again.

Thanks for the assist!

toothpicks
01-28-2007, 01:03 PM
... Silly me. In the Y axis it left only some nubs that can be sanded away. But in the X axis it left nice little 1/16th inch wide 'rails' between cuts.

What quality setting did you carve at? The manual states anything less than "Best" will leave ridges between passes. Attach a pic, and I'm sure someone can offer you a more accurate assessment.

Rob

IIRC, I chose 'best' quality. I also chose the best bit optimization. I will reload the projects and make sure it's right.

I'm getting the camera out now, will attempt to post pics.

Thanks, Bud!

toothpicks
01-28-2007, 01:44 PM
OK, here we go:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v510/tymur2u/CIMG0001.jpg[/img]

You can see the ridges left on the rabbet areas of the base, as well as where the front piece had begun to be carved into the base. Another shot:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v510/tymur2u/CIMG0004.jpg

What should I have done to keep the second piece from overlapping the first? Do I need to keep a pad of paper handy with all project measurements, and place every piece manually? Doesn't the machine keep track of where it has carved? It seems to be chocked full of all kinds of warning messages regarding the geometry of the workpiece.

menewfy
01-28-2007, 02:50 PM
it does not keep track that is part of what is neat about it it can carve more than one thing in a region.

toothpicks
01-28-2007, 03:01 PM
it does not keep track that is part of what is neat about it it can carve more than one thing in a region.

I have a somewhat loose grasp of that concept. But carving one project on top of another?

Dan-Woodman
01-28-2007, 05:40 PM
I think that rabbit should be cut with a differant bit other that the 1/8"

menewfy
01-28-2007, 07:47 PM
yes you can put one image on top of another to make some unique pieces i have attached an example the toronto part was put on last. as it should always be toronto above ottawa.

Tim

toothpicks
01-29-2007, 03:09 AM
I think that rabbit should be cut with a differant bit other that the 1/8"

Absolutely correct. My table saw with the dado blade, to be exact. Or my router table. Heck, why not a hammer and chisel? JK! After re-reading the destructions that accompany the project files (who needs the short bus now? :lol: ), it says to use a 3/8 inch bit for the rabbets. Not sure why the 1/8 inch bit won't work, it just doesn't.

Oh, and now my machine is definitely screwing up. When it is checking the bit position, the swing plate is not swinging out. So the bit goes up and down 3 times or so, then it prompts me to load the bit again. This happened once before, and a reboot seemed to clear it up. Not this time. It's a permanent condition now.

Last time this happened, I talked to Steve about it. He told me to call him if it happens again, and he has some kind of patch for it. Guess I will be calling. (Wait - I just read a couple threads on 'bit plate adjustment'. Gotta take a look at a couple of things)

toothpicks
01-29-2007, 03:40 AM
yes you can put one image on top of another to make some unique pieces i have attached an example the toronto part was put on last. as it should always be toronto above ottawa.

Tim

Oh, I get it. Canuckistanian humor! Arr arr arr arrrrr!