New Heavy Duty Tracking Belts are slipping?!

[gelu_b]

Hello everyone!

I just changed the standard tracking belts with a new pair of heavy duty model and, trying to cut some circular bases, I got scrap pieces - because of misalignment of the concentric circles. I repeated the operation with same result. What could be the cause and the corrective action?

Thank you in advance for your advices.

Greetings,

Gelu

[badbert]

The belts are slipping on the wood. You need to check your head pressure. Also use a few strips of masking tape on the back of the board. This will improve traction.

[chief2007]

Did you re-calibrate the machine after installing the belts?

[gelu_b]

Did you re-calibrate the machine after installing the belts?

Yes I did.

[bergerud]

It looks to me like the problem occurred cutting the inside circle. At 0.6 depth, the large forces involved caused slippage somewhere. I assume you were under the rollers for the whole operation. After checking the x gears, I would change the max cut depth of the inside circle to 0.25 and try again.

[gelu_b]

It looks to me like the problem occurred cutting the inside circle. At 0.6 depth, the large forces involved caused slippage somewhere. I assume you were under the rollers for the whole operation. After checking the x gears, I would change the max cut depth of the inside circle to 0.25 and try again.

Yes, I stayed under the rollers all the time. Also I setted the max cut depth to 0.2. What should I check to x gears mechanism?

[gelu_b]

It looks to me like the problem occurred cutting the inside circle. At 0.6 depth, the large forces involved caused slippage somewhere. I assume you were under the rollers for the whole operation. After checking the x gears, I would change the max cut depth of the inside circle to 0.25 and try again.

I checked the head pressure and it is slightly bellow the minimum of recommended pressure range (68 lbs measured). I greased the vertical guide rods, the head pressure increased a little bit (to 71 lbs), but still it is not enough. What shall I do further?

Thank you in advance for your help.

[bergerud]

I do not think the head pressure or the board slipping on the belts is the problem. If you just installed the belts, it may have to do with the installation. Does the brass roller leave track marks on the edge of the board like it should? Is the brass roller O ring far enough away from the rubber belt (~1/16"). Test to see how well the machine measures the length of a board.

[liquidguitars]

The new belts are thicker and can hit the brass roller. I cut the belt next to the brass roller, as the machine measures look at the brass roller to see if its free from the belt and dirt. BTW the old QC is a POS so you need the Carve tight chuck or the Rock to make anything useful with the machine...

[Digitalwoodshop]

Yes, like posted above.. It is all about the Brass Roller... Not likely the board slipped on the belt or the board popped out from under the rollers as you stated it was under the rollers all the time. What happens when you install the Rubber Belts is that like a Car Tire, they Bulge under pressure. I believe the Board is cranked down on the Rubber Belt and the Rubber Belt is BULGING while cranked down and sometimes touches the Brass Roller throwing off the X Direction. Some have had to remove the Brass Roller Assembly and make the Holes OVAL to let the Brass Roller sit more in the CENTER between the Belt. You can's see the BULGE unless the board is cranked down so MANY get fooled into thinking it is far enough away and it is not...

And A ROCK or CT should be in your Wish List as the QC will be a problem at some time... And once it wears and you get BB Marks in the Bit Holders you get a high speed vibration that destroys the machine. Board Sensor, L2 Coil in the power supply, C1 Capacitor on the X Termination Board and BURNT Cutting Bits. So plan for a upgrade. Once you get BB Marks you must replace the QC and EVERY bit holder.... Fail to do that and a New QC will wear out in as little as 1 project with BB Mark Bit Holders. The New Bit Holder in a Worn QC will wear in as little as one project too... SO you MUST replace all.... At that point for the money.... Get a ROCK or CT.


One last thing with cutting Hard Wood like that is to place a strip of Masking Tape along the bottom of the board at the brass roller. This gives the Brass Roller something to bit into. With Hard Wood the Brass Roller has a hard time biting into the the wood. The Tape will leave a Rack and Pinion Tracks locking the Brass Roller into the bottom of the wood that is so CRITICAL. Also NO Defects in the bottom of the board edge at the brass roller.

Good Luck,

AL

[gelu_b]

Yes, like posted above.. It is all about the Brass Roller... Not likely the board slipped on the belt or the board popped out from under the rollers as you stated it was under the rollers all the time. What happens when you install the Rubber Belts is that like a Car Tire, they Bulge under pressure. I believe the Board is cranked down on the Rubber Belt and the Rubber Belt is BULGING while cranked down and sometimes touches the Brass Roller throwing off the X Direction. Some have had to remove the Brass Roller Assembly and make the Holes OVAL to let the Brass Roller sit more in the CENTER between the Belt. You can's see the BULGE unless the board is cranked down so MANY get fooled into thinking it is far enough away and it is not...

And A ROCK or CT should be in your Wish List as the QC will be a problem at some time... And once it wears and you get BB Marks in the Bit Holders you get a high speed vibration that destroys the machine. Board Sensor, L2 Coil in the power supply, C1 Capacitor on the X Termination Board and BURNT Cutting Bits. So plan for a upgrade. Once you get BB Marks you must replace the QC and EVERY bit holder.... Fail to do that and a New QC will wear out in as little as 1 project with BB Mark Bit Holders. The New Bit Holder in a Worn QC will wear in as little as one project too... SO you MUST replace all.... At that point for the money.... Get a ROCK or CT.


One last thing with cutting Hard Wood like that is to place a strip of Masking Tape along the bottom of the board at the brass roller. This gives the Brass Roller something to bit into. With Hard Wood the Brass Roller has a hard time biting into the the wood. The Tape will leave a Rack and Pinion Tracks locking the Brass Roller into the bottom of the wood that is so CRITICAL. Also NO Defects in the bottom of the board edge at the brass roller.

Good Luck,

AL

Thank you Al for your complete and pertinent comment. It seems that I have a lot of homework to do ... I already replaced the QC with CT, I'm going to check the rest of the possible causes of the slippage. As I'm using hard wood for work (beech, oak), I got your last point to "help" the brass roller to operate properly.

[RogerB]

Preping your wood .Your wood must be flat( no cup or twist) also no snipes.

[henry1]

Follow what roger is saying he's the man on wood

[Digitalwoodshop]

And for my PVC Carrier Board with it's hard slick surface on the bottom, I also put additional strips of masking tape on the bottom of the carrier board too. It gives more BITE...

AL