The Universal Carrier Base

[Icutone2]

Same here time to make some sawdust
Lee

[bergerud]

So now that I have this made, the question is how do I do 2 sided carving? several of my patterns have a keyhole on the reverse side for hanging and Im wondering how to accomplish that.
Thanks

You can do two sided carving as you would with the board on the belts. As Dale said, however, it would be the easiest to just do it as two separate projects.

[Bluto]

Sorry, I thought you were taking about measuring the width of the board. Forget the tape. (The length of the carrier cannot be measured as it has no ends.)

If the machine is not finding the ends of the board, it probably has to do with the roller switches. Make sure the 1/8" high board is under both rollers when you do the initially lower the head. You should hear both roller switches switch at about the same time. The idea is that they are set "hair triggered" so they unswitch when the roller drops the 1/8" from the board to the carrier.

So is this to say that its finding the end of the board by using the roller switches? Mines telling me to clear the board sensor - granted I am probably not 1/8 tall.

[Bluto]

You can do two sided carving as you would with the board on the belts. As Dale said, however, it would be the easiest to just do it as two separate projects.



Thanks - I got my carrier together and am trying out a few things (trying to follow directions is the hardest)

[bergerud]

So is this to say that its finding the end of the board by using the roller switches? Mines telling me to clear the board sensor - granted I am probably not 1/8 tall.

The roller switch must first click as the roller rolls off the board end. Then the machine then uses the board sensor to locate the end of the board.

[Dale]

I have this problem occasionally even though I use a piece of 1/8th plywood to set the board 1/8th inch above the rails, just raising the board a little higher solves the problem.

[cjones]

I finally got my UCB put together, only after glueing and un-gluing several time to get it correct. What I am wondering is, has anyone made a video of how to actually use it. I am much better at learning by watching somerthing being done than to read it on paper. I believe I have the basics of how to set ip up but would like to see how someone else actually does it from beginning to end, where the carving starts that is.

Thanks in advance,

Chris

[cconway]

I have built and used the 24 and am in the process of putting the 33 together. It is a wonderful tool and so nice to not have to waste 7 inches of wood anymore. I am not at home and don't have the plans in front of me so forgive for my description here. There are a series of holes on the top outside of each upright above the level of where the the slots for adjusting the rails. What are these for? Also I am a little puzzles by the purpose of the semi triangular piece that the 40mm furniture bolt goes through. My first thought is that is set the maximum depth for a piece of wood, but based on what the plans say that piece does does allow me to reach that level. I'd appreciate any insight anyone could lend. Thanks!

[bergerud]

The holes in the top of the right side and the blocks bolted to the sides are all so that the machine will measure the board as if the board was down on the belts. The holes are for the bit to bob beside the board and the blocks are to provide the brass roller and sliding plate touch points.

[cconway]

Thank you for explaining that. Makes perfect sense now. I do appreciate you taking the time to help clear that up for me.

[CheriWhite]

I'm scrolling around but don't see if you ever got an answer to this post. IS there a video....I'm a visual learner for sure!

[CheriWhite]

Newbie here....I see this post is from 2015....it freaking rocks! I haven't scrolled through the 300+ posts but do you sell these completed? LOL?

[Mugsowner]

As far as I know no one has taken on the task of building these for profit. There as been interest here in purchasing by a few folks, but no one as jumped up yet to start producing them. I have not yet built one due to time restraints, which I'm sure is the issue with most people, so I not sure of the build as far as time and material costs. Then you all so have shipping costs, being made out of mdf may have weight issues there.

[r-carp]

I have a newbie question. When cutting the UCB project, is there any risk in cutting 1/2” MDF without using a carrier (or waste) Board? My understanding is that Carvewright will sense the material thickness and not damage the belt but would like to understand any risks before hit the start button and find myself in the midst of unintended consequences.

[SteveNelson46]

I have a newbie question. When cutting the UCB project, is there any risk in cutting 1/2” MDF without using a carrier (or waste) Board? My understanding is that Carvewright will sense the material thickness and not damage the belt but would like to understand any risks before hit the start button and find myself in the midst of unintended consequences.

It is not possible for the bit to damage the rubber belts. The Y/Z truck only moves laterally over the open space between the belts. Just make sure the project stays under the rollers (7 inch rule).

[r-carp]

Thanks Steve. I will charge ahead.

[oscarl48]

Dan, thank you for the UCB. I've had mine for years but hadn't really used it. Today I had a board with a twist that I just could not get to work. Threw it into the UCB and worked great. Definitely will start using it from now on.

[bergerud]

Dan, thank you for the UCB. I've had mine for years but hadn't really used it. Today I had a board with a twist that I just could not get to work. Threw it into the UCB and worked great. Definitely will start using it from now on.

Glad to see you are using it! For me, it is standard procedure. I very rarely carve down on the belts.

[HACKSAW1234]

I made the 36" ucb and did not see any instructions on where to place the board within the UCB. Do I line up the end of the board with the black mark on the top edge of the UCB?

[bergerud]

Where you put the board in the UCB is mostly up to you. If you have a spot where you would like the bit to touch you can put that spot adjacent to one of the touch holes in the side. Otherwise, I just put the board in the middle of the carrier.

[stoneandtimber]

I have had a few successful carves with the UCB and really am pleased with it. BUT....I have brain freeze when I try to do a cut out carve, I can't get past the "finding board thickness" and of course the machine stalls out when the bit presses down on the side of the UCB when trying to auto measure the thickness. I am confused as to the holes I drilled in the sides of the UCB. If the bit should measure thickness by dropping down into the hole then everything depends on where you place the board?? Any way to make the machine ask for the thickness instead of trying to measure? I am wondering if the UCB just won't do a cut out carve for the reason above? I always place the board in the center of the UCB and leave it proud by 1/8+ and I don't have length measurement problems. Thanks for any and all responses.

[bergerud]

The machine is supposed to bob the bit into the one of the holes in the side of the carrier; not stall into the top of the side. If you use the blocks, the machine will behave as it would with a board down on the belts. If you do not use the touch blocks, the machine should bob into the hole and then bob three times beside the carrier and then ask you for the board thickness.

[stoneandtimber]

here is the sequence of loading so maybe you can see where I'm going wrong: following your instructions as to barely crankdown at first; then complete crankdown when asking for the bit; along with asking, size, center on board, and NO for cut to size, it asks, is the board in a jig, (have tried both answering Y and N), then on to loading bits. When it comes to 1/8 cutting bit and finding board thickness it bobs clear of the carrier on the brass roller side but comes down on the board on the other side. I have placed the board so the top is a little ahead of the first first black color on the carrier and a little ahead of the hole, the black mark is under the sensor when I start the machine. So can you offer suggestions from this explanation?

[Dale]

Dan's the expert but since he has not answered I'll tell you what I do. When the bit is finding the surface of the board I hit stop and then choose #3" Jog to position" and move the carrier in the X axis so the bit is in line with touch hole. Hope this helps.

[stoneandtimber]

that sounds reasonable and makes sense, now off to the machine to give it a go, thanks. This only seems to happen when I use a pattern that needs to be cut out such as this decorative award sign so if this does the trick then i'm right back to giving the sled full stars as before. It's always the problems with a simple answer that helps regain confidence.

[bergerud]

The machine does the board thickness routine when the carving/cutting is more than 1/2" deep. It is then that you have to jog to line up a touch hole. After the bob down the hole, the machine will bob beside the carrier looking for the sliding plate. If you do not use the touch blocks, it will give up after three bobs and ask you to key in the board thickness.

[ScubaHiker]

Happy palindrome, groundhog, super bowl day! I've finished carving out the universal carrier base, and am in the assembly stage. I have a drill press, and a forstner bit set... but not a 5/16th bit. 1/4 or 3/8 are my closest, unless I use a 5/16 drill bit.

Recommendations?

[bergerud]

Go with the 3/8. Bigger is ok as long as you do not break through the side.

[karns.steve]

I recently built my first Universal Carrier Base, build went well from the plans included with the download. My A modelmachine was in storage for a long time and I’ve been fighting my way back to operating status. I've attempted to get a carve going on the UCB and wasn’t able to get the board measured, board sensor was dirty, tore it apart and blew it out and then was finally able to get the machine to measure the board from the user menu, when I try to measure the board I would get a tracking roller error. I understand from reading the included directions that it should only be just after the point of changing to “enter”. My question for the experts is, is it OK to crank the head down more than just the “enter” point to get a successfully measured board. I hypothesized that there wasn't enough pressure on the sled and added a little down pressure, until I was able to measure the board successfully, about one full crank passed the change to "enter" This was all past my bed time so once I got some success I called it a night, maybe this evening I’ll try a carve and report back. I should also add that I did add masking tape to the roller side of the carrier sled and that didn't help until I added about a turn of the crank to get the board measured correctly.

UPDATE, I was able to successfully carve with the UCB, Thank you Dan for all your hard work you put into designing and figuring out how to get around the hurdles of the system operation. I just had to add a little extra pressure to get the board measured and then once cranked all the way down to full pressure everything worked as expected.

[karns.steve]

I have attempted to use the UCB a couple of times. It seems every time I am having trouble with the depth, one time it carved to keep and was carving through the project, that was supposed to have conformed text on it but the first pattern would have fell out of the carving board had I let it run through. I think I'm having trouble with the section of the instructions when you JOG to the place for it to touch and also the hole on the opposite key pad is having trouble hitting the hole, sometimes it goes beyond the hole and attempts to touch and then asks the depth, so I put in the .750 and it proceeds to carve, but when it does that it carves to deep and cuts through the project board.

Any tips or ideas of what I'm doing wrong?

[Mugsowner]

Not having used a UCB, I am guessing here, but I would think you need to enter the project board thickness plus the thickness of the UCB.

[bergerud]

I am sorry that I have not replied earlier. The carving depth is determined solely by the touch to the surface. If the machine is having trouble bobbing down the hole, I would check that the black part of the rails which are supposed to be under the board sensor is under the board sensor after the jog and that the black is black enough to fool the board sensor. Just try measuring the board and see if the the machine is measuring the board width and not the carrier width.

I suggest you try a simple carve which has a depth less than 1/2" just to get familiar with the carrier. The machine will not bother to measure the board thickness in this case.

You could also try your project on a scrap board down on the belts. It is possible that the problem has to do with the machine and not the carrier.

Posting the project might help to trouble shoot.

[ScubaHiker]

Hello all, I am working on a project where I'm using my scrap board in the sled, my centerline carves where coming out fine (correct depth). The project uses a font I've never used before, but was getting good results on my scrap board. When I replaced the scrap board with my production board, I noticed the board was not even all around so I adjusted the height in the sled to be uniform. The board now sites at 3/16ths. When I did the carve, it just scraped the centerline, never carved deep into the wood. Sadly, this was my production board, so I'm trying to salvage it. I've left it in the machine, and haven't turned off power. Any idea why it would be acting this way? And any solutions you can provide? Thanks!

[SawTooth]

Is there a video anywhere where someone with experience talks through the use of the UCB from the beginning to end?
Likewise, has anyone ever posted a version 2 of the written instructions for the build and for using the UCB?
Where would I find either or both of those?

The only video I saw showed it in use, coming out of the machine with a carved project... I'm looking for anything and everything that came before that :).

[want2b]

I've never seen a video and this thread has been used by most since the UCB was created. I don't believe there is a v2, Bergerud may have edited his post for any corrections he felt necessary. There is a group of users on Facebook, not sure if he is active there but someone else may answer you questions.