Can I "break" a carving in half?

[djarboe]

Thanks to all that helped me with a final cutout. So when I uploaded it to the card, I picked "Optimal", and the carving time was estimated at 11.5 hours. (She who must be obeyed would settle for nothing less than the very best.)

Is there anyway to cut this into two carving sessions without messing up the carving? I already learned not to just pause a carving for overnight... the rollers compress on that spot, and you end up with a ridge across the carving.

I suspect the answer is no, but I thought it was worth asking. Running the system continously for almost 12 hours seems like a bad idea for the system, not to mention the noise (which I would, no doubt hear about.. not just from the machine). I am attaching the file for your review, and would really appreciate your input.

Dave J

[unitedcases]

As I type this I have 2 machines each on a 11 hour carve. It'll hold.

[djarboe]

I'm not sure what you mean by "it'll hold". The last time I paused a carving overnight, the compression of the rollers left a very visible step in the carving. What am I missing here? Are you saying an 11 hour carving will not be too much for the machine?

Dave J

[unitedcases]

I start at about 9 and they get done about 8 at night. I don't pause them overnight.

[Digitalwoodshop]

We have power bumps here as they use a Lake Generator and I have been lucky not to have one during a carve... I plan to buy one of the Computer UPS Power Supplies to maintain AC Power when the power goes out. I plan to also have a wall wort power cube that I plug into a wall outlet that is wired to a relay and the relay wired to the cover switch circuit. This to have the Cut Motor stop and the UPS just maintain the CW computer power so the carve won't be lost.

To answer your question... I would start over in the design process. I tried to break it up into 3 projects, left, right, and cut out.. But the mirror of the roses messed me up.... I am short on time at the moment and need to leave. First I deleted all the length restraints and centered it on a 11.25 inch board to give the rubber rollers something to hold for this long term project. Then rename the project 3 times, L, R and Cut out. Include the Center Rose to the Left Cutout and let the overlap be in the blank carve region. Move the Right END of the carve region up between the Center Rose and first Right one. For the right mpc move the left end of the carve region so it overlaps slightly. And the 3rd mpc.. my vote is for a cutting guide... Just a cut path file.

If you are using expensive wood you can add with masking tape wood strips on each side of the good wood for the whole length. This will give your multi pass cut path a better chance of being GOOD... The Cut Path will be the downfall with the 7 inch board you designed, it will loose contact with the brass roller and make fire wood... I would use masking tape TOO on the bottom of the board brass roller edge....

Since the Cut Path is the biggest RISK... You could cut the Cut Path on hardboard or another board and use a Router with a bearing bit to cut the 11 hour investment, using double sided tape to hold the guide to the good wood...

Because you are splitting the project in 3 parts you could even remove the board and start over 3 times.... Just leave the board the same size for all 3 projects.



Good Luck,

AL

[FWMiller]

I'm curious what you mean by getting a ridge across the board if you pause the carve overnight. I've left boards in my machine overnight and have never seen the rollers leave any marks or dents in a board. Are you carving a foam board?

If you do break the carve into multiple files, you will get better alignment between the three if you load the second and third files without raising the head. This way the machine will use the same board measurements as it did for the first carve. This can help reduce offsets due to differences in board measurements from one run to the next. If your design is tolerant to some offset between the three carves then it may not matter a lot.

[Digitalwoodshop]

I'm curious what you mean by getting a ridge across the board if you pause the carve overnight. I've left boards in my machine overnight and have never seen the rollers leave any marks or dents in a board. Are you carving a foam board?

If you do break the carve into multiple files, you will get better alignment between the three if you load the second and third files without raising the head. This way the machine will use the same board measurements as it did for the first carve. This can help reduce offsets due to differences in board measurements from one run to the next. If your design is tolerant to some offset between the three carves then it may not matter a lot.

My first thought was if a project like this 7 inch board was stopped mid carve overnight, the THIN in the Y Axis strips of wood left would make an impression in the roller under the muffler letting the board LIFT Slightly INTO the bit. So when the carve started the next morning the first Y Pass would cut a deep GROOVE the distance that the thin rails sunk into the HARD rubber Rail.

This is why the first thing I would do with this project is do it on a wider board or the same board with masking tape board strips on each side of the good wood and the exact length too so you don't have measuring problems.

AL

[djarboe]

Actually, I was cutting cherry. What you described, however, was exactly what happened. When I restarted it, there was a "ridge" in the board where I restarted.