Just trying to get started

[Miahl71]

Hello
newbie here hopefully someone can help.

When I plugged my memory card programmer into my computer it tried to install the driver for about ten minutes
then failed to install. Now it doesn't even recognize the device when i tried to unplug and plug it back in. Do i need to
download a driver from somewhere? Am I doing something wrong?
Any help would be much appreciated.
Happy 4th

[Digitalwoodshop]

The Driver is part of Designer Software. Do you have Designer loaded? From Designer you can access the card reader. It is nothing like a regular card reader.

AL

[Miahl71]

Thanks for your quick response AL,
I do have designer installed and when i try to upload a project it gives me this message

"The flash device could not be initialized. Please ensure the the flash device is connected to your computer
and card is firmly inserted. You can also try removing and reinserting."

Everything is inserted correctly and the green light on the card reader is on. I have tried unplugging it and plugging it back
in but that didn't work.

[Miahl71]

turned off computer and rebooted and seems to be working now.
should be all set.
thanks again AL

[Geomoo1]

turned off computer and rebooted and seems to be working now.
should be all set.
thanks again AL
Welcome to the Carvewright family, Miahl71. I hope your card reader continues to work for you. I have never been able to get my desktop to recognize either of my two readers, but luckily my laptop works great with them.

[Digitalwoodshop]

Good job getting it working and WELCOME !!!!

If you have not, find the TIPS and Tricks and check them out. Many of us have added to the Tips and Tricks over the years as you will find a few rules you need to be aware of in respect to the machine. Like the "7 inch Rule of of Wood" since it is about 7 inches between the 2 rubber rollers that hold the board flat to the table. It is about 3.5 inches from each roller to the bit... Many get in trouble designing projects that let the board only be held by one roller between that 3.5 inches to the end of the board. The board can tip up and snap a bit or loose contact with the brass roller that tracks the board in length or X.

Also another biggy is knowing what happens when you select to "Stay Under the Rollers" and depending on your project can Scale down the result.... I will let you dig that one out of tips and tricks.... If you need help... WE are always here.... me working in the shop on the 4th cutting plastic with my CW... Life can't get any better...

AL

[Proctorw]

Miahl71, welcome! What you will realize about the machine you bought, is the most valuable piece of what you bought is this forum. The answers to issues happen quick, the people are friendly, lots of free patterns, and folks on the forum always help out. I just attended the conference and got to re-visit with friends from last year. I still tell some of the folks that the only problem I have with the forum is when I ask how to do something and post the MPC, someone will fix it, without telling me "How they did it". I keep telling them "I want to learn how to fish, and you keep giving me the fish". This is really a great group, sorry for the ramble...

[Digitalwoodshop]

Speaking of Patterns... A seller on eBay has copied the free posted patterns from here and sells them. I say this as you will find a bunch of FREE patterns posted here.

AL

[edsingletary]

I went through that myself for 2 months. Finally I bought a dedicated laptop just for designer. My desktop had a conflict no-one could figure out. I about lost it with that error message.

[Miahl71]

Thanks everyone,
Have not got the machine to actually carve anything yet.
Tried yesterday and I kept getting an error message during the homing process
here is the message

Slipped: check Y belt

Hopefully this is an easy fix because this is a brand new machine so i shouldn't have these issues
any suggestions? anyone else have this issue with a brand new machine?
I will call them tomorrow but didn't know if there was a simple solution out there.
Thanks
Miah

[blhutchens]

This is from the trouble shooting section of the main carvewright page.

It gives the basics for tightening the y belt.
something must have loosened up in shipment.

the tensioner is on the opposite side from the keypad on top of the y rail.
you may be able to do it without removing the cover if you have a stubby phillips screwdriver
I would post a picture but i am not near a machine at the moment.

Brent

[Miahl71]

Thank you Brent,
I did read that but didn't want to try anything like that yet.
It sounds like this is something that happens often and is relatively normal?
I probably will give that a go.
How tight should the belt be? Right now i can push down on it and the belt touches
the back side of itself.
Thanks again I really appreciate the feedback

[fwharris]

Here is the video on the Y belt adjustment.. http://www.carvewright.com/support-page/maintenance/#check_ybelt

[Miahl71]

Thank you
I have watched the video and I will see if that works

[Capt Bruce]

Again welcome to the CarveWright family here on the Forum. You have already seen how many people read every question and quickly come to your aid with advice based upon their experience. Someone once described it as having a hundred experienced shop mates working with you on every project without getting in your way. Glad to have you with us and let us see what you carve. Welcome Aboard

[Miahl71]

O.k.
Made the adjustment on the y belt and my machine worked.
All i did was a simple crosscut so i could see that the machine was running properly. No more slippage.
Thanks for all the responses and help, hopefully no more preventative maintenance on this NEW machine lol.
Maybe these machines should be crated (wood) and not just boxed for shipping.
Hopefully smooth carving from here. Very excited to see what this thing can do.
Thanks again
Miah

[scootertrash]

O.k.
Made the adjustment on the y belt and my machine worked.
All i did was a simple crosscut so i could see that the machine was running properly. No more slippage.
Thanks for all the responses and help, hopefully no more preventative maintenance on this NEW machine lol.
Maybe these machines should be crated (wood) and not just boxed for shipping.
Hopefully smooth carving from here. Very excited to see what this thing can do.
Thanks again
Miah

Welcome to the club!

I am fairly new to the machine as well but I'll tell you one thing about it: You will have troubles with it at some point. I'll also say that people on this forum are incredible with solving problems.

My flexshaft, on a brand new machine, was running crazy hot. Nobody really figured it out but a good cleanong and lube got it running at normal temps. I also had trouble with the head not being level. That wasn't a big deal to fix.

I guess what I'm saying is the machine can get persnickety but there is always a solution and always people to help.

[Miahl71]

Thanks Scootertrash
I wouldn't think a brand new machine would need so much tweaking and adjusting but i guess
it is what it is. I know it is a high tech machine which is sensitive. Hopefully now I can carve for a while without any issues.

[scootertrash]

O.k.
Made the adjustment on the y belt and my machine worked.
All i did was a simple crosscut so i could see that the machine was running properly. No more slippage.
Thanks for all the responses and help, hopefully no more preventative maintenance on this NEW machine lol.
Maybe these machines should be crated (wood) and not just boxed for shipping.
Hopefully smooth carving from here. Very excited to see what this thing can do.
Thanks again
Miah

Welcome to the family.

I'm still fairly new to the CW but I'll tell you this: You're going to have troubles like this from time to time. Having said that, there are a bunch of people in this forum, some LHR staff, who will do everything they can to help you.

And yeah, even with a new machine. I've had my machine for a few months and had trouble with the flexshaft getting realllly hot. It shouldn't have but it did and that's just a fact. Lubed it once and it didn't help. Then I lubed it again and cleaning the spring inside the shaft. Bingo, now it runs cool. Just yesterday I discovered the head wasn't level. When going through the alignment procedure I found a nut was horribly loose. Heck, it wasn't even in the same league as 'tight.' And my machine only has 50 or so hours on it, so, new machine has problems. I've come to accept it because so far I could solve every problem without too much real trouble.

This machine and the software will give you headaches when you're first starting out - just make sure you count each 'mistake' as a learning process. And have a big box for the scraps. Me? I have a growing "wall of shame" so I am always reminded of mistakes I could have avoided. I just discovered a plaque someone ordered - after carving twice - has the keyhole upside down :p. So it goes.

As long as you aren't afraid to put up with it being cranky now wand again, you'll love it.

[edsingletary]

I have found that keeping it clean and lubed after each carve has to be a plus. I do all light lubes each time I finish a project, ready for the next time.

[Miahl71]

I have found that keeping it clean and lubed after each carve has to be a plus. I do all light lubes each time I finish a project, ready for the next time.



Thanks for the advice