Head pressure

[raye321]

I checked the head pressure on my carvewright machine, at first it showed 60lbs. I cleaned and lubed the posts then checked. I got it up to about 72-75lbs. It used to show over 80lbs. What else can I do to increase head pressure?

[ladjr]

have you checked to make sure the rollers are level.

[mtylerfl]

I checked the head pressure on my carvewright machine, at first it showed 60lbs. I cleaned and lubed the posts then checked. I got it up to about 72-75lbs. It used to show over 80lbs. What else can I do to increase head pressure?

I think you're good to go with the 72-75lbs reading, but you can check your hardware manual for tips regarding head pressure/lube/adjustments, etc., if you wish. (starting with page 38.

[Digitalwoodshop]

What happens is pressure is lost in the gear train as in the vertical slides on the 4 posts and the 2 threaded screws. So when the handle clicks some of the reason it clicks is that the drag in the gear train and the scale is not seeing all the energy of the crank...

I would put some light oil down the 4 smooth corner posts and on the jacking screw and work the head up and down to lubricate better the slides and threads. Yes, I know you said you cleaned and lubed.... If this does not work, some have put a washer on the spring in the handle to make it harder to click giving you a higher scale pressure... But it WORKED before... What changed... The Lube and Grease on the sliding rails and jacking screws is binding....

That is my 2 cents....

And do this carefully putting a collection rag below each post and jacking screw so you can REMOVE all the EXCESS Lubrication... We don't want Sawdust and Oil giving you a Spontaneous Compustion....

Even a Cold machine will give you problems with head pressure.... And check head level too like posted above... Measure or use a bit and a wide board and the numbers on the Z Data.

Play Safe,

AL

[mtylerfl]

Oil will work (and a good alternative to that icky white Lithium Grease on the four corner posts...too gummy).

However, I find that a spray Dry Lube has become my preference to oil-based lubes. (It does not collect sawdust powder like an oil or grease does.) Just about any Dry Lube will do...just avoid the lubes that contain silicon. I avoid all oil-based lubes as much as possible, now. I think Chris Rawls at LHR/CarveWright prefers to use graphite lubes, if I recall.

I spray dry lube on the four corner posts, the bit flag "flipper" hinge, and spray a little on my finger to apply the dry lube along the rails of both the Z and Y before beginning a 'project day'. Every so often, I spray a bunch of WD-40 on the lead screws to clean them off (plenty of towels laid in the machine to prevent the WD-40 from getting on everything else). I then spray the leadscrews with dry lube (clean - dries to a whitish powder) or a graphite lube (can be a little messy).

[cestout]

When it gets chilly in my shop - around 50 - I even have trouble getting the head to crank down. I just had to clean the rails on my C machine withe WD40 and re-lube. Wance running warmed the machine, everything was fine. My point is, the temp makes a difference in this area. If it stayes too low, you may need a spacer washer behind the spring on the crank,. If you remove the crank, turn it so the handle falls straight down so you can align it when re-installing.
Clint

[peep]

I broke my 1/8th cutting bit. But the wood was very hard. I just checked with a bathroom scale and it reads 90lbs. Is that ok or is it to high. I am only going to be carving very hard woods on my new (20hrs now) C machine, and leave the normal woods for my A machine.

Does harder woods require a different head pressure than soft woods, or does it not matter?

[fwharris]

I broke my 1/8th cutting bit. But the wood was very hard. I just checked with a bathroom scale and it reads 90lbs. Is that ok or is it to high. I am only going to be carving very hard woods on my new (20hrs now) C machine, and leave the normal woods for my A machine.

Does harder woods require a different head pressure than soft woods, or does it not matter?

The head pressure should not matter for the type of wood your carving/cutting. 90 lbs it on the top end but you should be ok. Guessing the broken bit might be do to to much depth of cut. Are you doing a cut out with multi pass?

[peep]

Peep <-------------------------- Needs to be more careful with hard woods.

Ah-Ha. It was a shared pattern and I just noticed it was not multi pass. So happy to be stupid right now. Though it was my machine, but now it me:cool:

This brings up a good question though. On extremely hard woods (twice as hard as Iron Wood in some cases) what should the multi pass be set at? .300, .200 or even smaller?

[fwharris]

Good catch! Now you know to review all settings from any shared project.

I was say to start out at around .200 .

[Digitalwoodshop]

AND.... Hard Wood can be Slippery to the Brass Roller letting it SLIP and that slip results in a broken bit... Highly Recommend to add masking tape on hardwood.... BOTH on the Brass Roller Path and 2 or 3 strips on the bottom too.

AL