What am I doing wrong?

[doutt]

I'm trying to create a vent cover for a wall vent. Basically a rectangle with through slots cut in it. I didn't find an "array" tool so I drew lines, mirrored them and then set a cut path to cut through the part. The file looks fine.

I can load it up, insert a scratch peice of wood and it runs fine. The problem is that each new slot is started approximately .25" down from the previous one. My file has them all exactly lines up the same.

Any thoughts?

Mark

[CallNeg151]

Is the error repeatable? If it is, then I would guess that it's not a glitch, but either a design error or a bona fide bug in the software/hardware.

I'm sure some of the more experienced and wise folks will have some immediate advice for you, but if they don't or it doesn't work, could you upload the project file and photos of the error?

One thing that I might ask right away is if you chose the Keep Under Rollers option when you started. If the cuts are close enough to the edge, the curvature in the wood can cause uneven cutting until the board is itself under the rollers. Choosing the Keep Under Rollers option fixes that problem but will require approximately 7" more wood, since it will need 3.5" on of wood on each side of your project to make sure that the board is under the rollers at all time.

Good luck!

[doutt]

Thanks for the quick reply. Below is the file and picture (I hope!).

I thought first the file was correupt so I reformated the card and exitied the software, reopened the file and resaved it back. Same issue.

Open to try anything.
Mark

[pkunk]

Ok, the MPC looks good, but you didn't say what size piece of wood you fed the CW. If you're wood was 19" long then I'd say we have a problem. If it was shorter and didn't stay under the rollers then it's operator error. I'll watch this for answers and if need be make one for you.

[doutt]

pkunk,

The board is 18.38 x 7.25 x .5. I did tell the machine to "keep it under the roller" and scale appropiatley. Is this what caused my issue? I have a piece a oak for the final project but want to make sure I'm on the right track before I load it in.

Mark

[CallNeg151]

Well... It looks like it should work. I don't have a scrap that size to test it for you, but it LOOKS like it should work just fine.

Here is my best guesses (I think #2 is more likely, but others may have better guesses)-

1. The board is slipping on the sandpaper (Did you make sure to ratchet until it clicked at least 5 times?). Check the downward pressure by placing a bathroom scale in your unit as if it were a board and check that the pressure on each side is approximately 80lbs when ratcheted down.

2. The unit is misreading the board movement. If you look at your unit, there is a small wheel in the center groove (below the board) on the side of the unit next to the control pad. That small wheel measures the movement of the board. It is possible that the wheel movement is somehow not reflecting the movement of the board. This might be caused by:
a). The board not being perfectly flat/smooth on the bottom, and therefore not turning the wheel during a portion of its movement.
b). The board is not clamped down firmly and is not consistently contacting the wheel.
c). The wheel itself might have some sort of obstruction in its movement (try to spin it to see if it spins smoothly, with the unit turned off and unplugged for safety, of course).

An expirement you might try is to try carving a square (Just draw a square in designer, and choose the 1/8th inch flat bit as your bit, with a fairly shallow depth for ease. See if the square is true. If the square doesn't line up right, then you have confirmation that it's not your pattern causing the problem.

Good luck!

[pkunk]

I don't know, now. It should have worked. I'll suggest you call CW on this one unless someone else chimes in but I suspect an error in your machine.

[doutt]

I checked the pressure using our home scale with a piece of wood on it and it read 102.

I also cut a sqaure (as recommended) and it cut fine. However, the board was measured wrong and gave me the "board could have been removed" error.

Will continue to troubleshoot.

Mark

[CallNeg151]

Well, I suspect you are in the hands of Carvewright now. The board measurement error is probably indicative of your problem. Hopefully this can be resolved for you. Good luck.

[doutt]

As most of us would do, I kept experimenting.

I created a new file that had the same vent patten but was not cut all the way through. This time I loaded in a piece of wood over the 19" and it worked fine.

So, from what I can tell, the "scaling" feature when using the Keep under rollers" causes the un even lines. No clue on how they are connected.

I'll load up mu original file and try it one more time before cutting into the oak.

Thanks for all the advise!
On more qiestion, in an feature, can you set it to "through board" as you can do with the drill tool or do you have to enter the depth every time? If so, do you need to enter the depth plus a little to ensure a clean cut?

[pkunk]

Yay! You did what I would have done as far as the depth. !/2" board & 1/2" depth. If you have any not quite through a little sanding will fix it.

[doutt]

Another issue.

Well the file ran until we go the hole section (I addded some mounting holes). When it started to cut the hole it started with a line. Half way through the hole cut out, it stopped and seemed to re-check the postion of the bit. This time when it when it checked the tip of the bit on the left, It drilled through the plastic base and gave me an error. I hit stop and it returned to the main menu.

I think this one has to go back to Sears.

Mark

[Jeff_Birt]

What version of firmware are you using?

[doutt]

1.115.

I notice that the system seems to check the version of the firmware on each upload. I assume this is the latest?

[benluz]

1.115.

I notice that the system seems to check the version of the firmware on each upload. I assume this is the latest?

1.117 is the latest it was posted for indexing the bit on the far left of the machine.There was a PDF about removing a little of the bearing sweaper so as not to interfear with the metal flag that pops out for the bit to touch.I uploaded the 1.117 Ithink ..just put your carn in and click on this flash file
Ben

[Jeff_Birt]

OK, I think your firmware version is OK. Did you 'drill' or 'cut' or 'rout' the hole? Just asking as I've had unexpected results with the 'cut' function a few times.

[doutt]

Basically there are two holes on top of each other (mirrored). One is a through hole (small diameter) and the other is a larger hole not all the way through.

I do this so I can hide a screw behind an oak button.

[Jeff_Birt]

You mirrored two holes in the Z-axis? Your trying to make a counter sunk hole? It would be much easier to just create two circular carved regions and set the merge style to subtractive. My experiance trying to combine mirroring and cutting through the board were not good, but I was trying to use the 'cut' function. You also cannot join two mirrored objects into one. It might be worth doing a short test to create the holes without any mirroring involved and see what happens.

[doutt]

The mirroring was done in the x axis so I would have mounting holes on each side of the project. The file is attached a few replies back if you wanted to look at it.

Mark

[Jeff_Birt]

I noticed that you set the depth for the small hole to through board and the larger as .25" and that the 'master' for each mirror pair is on opposit sides. I seem to recall that the cut and drill functions will go a full 1" deep no matter the actaull thickness of stock or thickness called for in Designer (with current firmware). This is a source of the problems when trying to use cut or drill through functions on thick stoock or stock on a fixture. I would be curios what would happen if you set the depth of the small hole to 1/2" and/or set the masters for both hole to the same side. I would try it but I am sans mahcine at the moment.

[doutt]

The real question: Since it drill throuht it plastic landing area, can I still run it or does it need to be replaced?

Thanks for all the comments. Where do I find 117 firmware?