Cutout Issues

[Elmo Sr]

I did a carve and it turned out great, wanted to carve and then cut another one out. The carve went great just like always, but when I changed to cut bit it did not track correctly, it was cutting into the carving and not following any kind of pattern.

I am wanting to know what could have happened, I have cut out several items over the last two years and this has never happened.

I am enclosing a pic if that might help.7259472595

[lynnfrwd]

Could it be those divots on the left top side of the board are on the bottom too? Tracking issue. Be observant of the edge placed on the tracking roller...and use masking tape!!

[Elmo Sr]

Could it be those divots on the left top side of the board are on the bottom too? Tracking issue. Be observant of the edge placed on the tracking roller...and use masking tape!!


Not sure I understand divots---but there are 2 holes on top right side that go through. and where and what masking tape?

ok I re looked and saw those divots you spoke about, and no they are not present on bottom and they are very small on board, it carved ok.

[bergerud]

I looks to me like the cutout was shifted in the x direction right from the start. Was this a double sided carve with an outlined cutout? (All in one mpc?) Is the cutout positioned correctly in the mpc? Did the board stay under the rollers between the carve and the cutout? Have you checked the head pressure lately? Inspected the tracking roller O ring?

In my experience, shifts usually happen during cutouts not before. This seems strange to me.

[Elmo Sr]

do not think it shifted as I never touched anything when i changed from carve to cut bit. it was a one sided project. cutout was positioned as I have yes board stayed under rollers. have not checked head pressure, but I was over to Michael's home the other day with my machine and we checked out a lot of it and serviced it. this cutout was wrong from the start like it was just misplaced, but I rechecked the program on computer. As soon as it warms up i will do another cutout with a project I have used before, this was my first with this one.

[CW-HAL9000]

The shifting he (burgerud) is talking about comes from one of the following.:

The sliding plate not being up against the board squarely or the board being not square.
The board slipping on the brass roller (masking tape needed on the bottom of the board)
The head being under pressure or uneven.
If you have sandpaper belts the belt being rolled under on the keyboard side
Slipped or missing o-ring on the tracking roller.

[eelamb]

How many passes are you taking to do the full cut out?

[lynnfrwd]

Any time you transport machine, you need to recheck the head pressure.

[cestout]

Is the board bowed up in the center. If I am in doubt, I always measure the board (option 7) to be sure it tracks. Before you carve good wood again, I posted a tracking test mpc here a few weeks ago. Do that in a piece of pine or mdf. If you have a bowed board, place the bow down so it keeps in contact with the brass roller and it's O ring. If the bow is up, it will lift away from the brass roller in the center. I had a small X tracking problem (1/8") and fixed it by replacing the O ring.
Clint

[Elmo Sr]

eelamb this happened on my first pass, and I only go .3 deep each pass on a 3/4'' board,

cestout, the board was not bowed.

lynnfrwd, I reckon I need to look up checking head pressure, never knew about that when I move it

thanks, this is a lot of info for my old brain to take in

Elmo

[bergerud]

Do you have rubber belts?

If you do, see how close the brass roller gets to the belt when the board presses it down. The front rubber belt can interfere with the brass tracking roller and cause the type of problem you are having.

[Elmo Sr]

sand paper belts

[bergerud]

Then do check for belt roll under as CW-HAL9000 suggests. It is sometimes hard to see. Compare the widths of the belts. If one is rolled under, it will be narrower.

[mtylerfl]

sand paper belts

Hi Lonnie,

Please give me a call tomorrow. If your schedule permits, maybe you can bring the machine over and I'll help check it out with you this week. I know you are in the process of stocking up for your upcoming shows, so we'll get your machine a thorough check-up ASAP!

[Elmo Sr]

Hi Lonnie,

Please give me a call tomorrow. If your schedule permits, maybe you can bring the machine over and I'll help check it out with you this week. I know you are in the process of stocking up for your upcoming shows, so we'll get your machine a thorough check-up ASAP!

Thanks Michael, will give you a call later.

[DJKnutsen]

I'm having trouble with using "CUT OUT"... I attach three pictures.. first is just my project done wit the "V" bit to show it's lines, next is through cuts with a straight 1/8 bit (looks OK) but last is using the "CUT OUT" option... which is all screwed up... It's using the same bit setting (1/8") and inset... but it looks like it's using a 1/4" cutter... if that is what happens with through cuts... is there any way to manually make tabs?

730157301673017

[DianMayfield]

Instead of using an offset, try just flipping coutout so it cuts to the outside of your dimensions. Watch that center dot though, depending on the actual diameter, you might leave it as is. (Right click, flip cutout or hit the cutout button twice to reopen the dialog box)

When I do snowflakes, I flip the outside lines but not the inside, so play til you get the right results.

[bergerud]

I think you must have doubled up the paths. If you assigned the 1/8" cutting bit to the path and then made it a cut path, the 1/8" bit is cutting twice. Both operations can be assigned to a path.

Edit: You need to "select bit" and choose "no bit" to unassign the 1/8" cutting bit from the path.

[Digitalwoodshop]

This is a difficult project... If I was doing it, I would do it as a vector cut and assign the 1/4 inch bit with multi pass cut depending on the board thickness. I would actuallly use the 1/8th inch bit AND set the depth to leave a skin on the bottom. The skin will hold all the stuff in place and either a thickness sander or a palm sander will sand off the skin releasing the parts.

You lie to the machine telling it you are going to use a 1/4 inch bit but use the 1/8th or even 1/16th circuit board bit as it locks the feed rate into 1st gear.

Most of the time the machine does 2 speed vector cutting... 1st gear on turns then 2nd gear and that was where the fun happens.... I have had the machine push faster than the bit could cut and it pushes the wood around and bad things happen...

Good Luck...

AL

[DJKnutsen]

Thank you DianMayfield for explaining how to properly utilize the 'CUTOUT' function and Berger for explaining how I got the perplexing results by inadvertantly combining both a 'tool spec' and a 'CUTOUT' spec ... I've corrected everything, and made LOTS of notes so I don't forget what you've taught me ... Cheers, Dave