Frustrated

[wwill84751]

7725677257Ok I really hope someone can help me. First of all, my computer crashed last week, so I bought a new one. Got it all set up with the basic design program and then designed my plaque for my new grandbaby and went to carve it and it did what the the second picture shows. The first picture is about the 4th plaque Ive carved. I have changed computers, went from the new one to a desktop, then I've also, reformatted the card, even bought a new card, new bit, cleaned the machine unless Im missing something. Please tell me what could possibly be doing this? Im at my wits end. Ive went thru $$$ in wood. The first photo is one I just carved. I just thru a 1x10 in there and dont even know the length, and told it to fit the board. I knew it would have chipping and it did finish it at least bu if you look it it about where the 0 is in the 2015 there is a difference in the depth which will no matter how much I sand it. Any thoughts, help ot ideas would be greatly appreciated....Ive had nothing but problems all week... TIA

[lynnfrwd]

Snipe because you are not following 7" rule. 3.5" from end of board. Happens when board pops out from under roller. Put board in that is 7" longer than project and say NO to stay under rollers.

[lynnfrwd]

Second board lost contact with tracking roller.

[bergerud]

I see two different problems. The first carve had a tracking problem probably caused by the brass tracking roller either slipping or rubbing on the front rubber belt. The second problem (which may also be the cause of the first problem) is that the board was not under the rollers for the duration of the carve. When the board comes out from under a roller, the board can lift up a little. This causes the bit to carve deeper. (It could also cause the brass roller to loose contact under the board and cause the tracking problem.)

Bottom line: you need to have 3.5 extra inches on each end of your board so it stays under the rollers while carving.

[wwill84751]

ok I will add the extra inches... also when it says to stay under rollers I always so NO so when it ask with the extra inches still say NO? Im gonna give itone last shot and hope this is it...

[fwharris]

Also add some draft to your text to help with chip out, maybe even lower the height to they do not stand so proud.

Make sure your board does not have any twist or cupping and a nice straight edge with not chipping that tracks over the brass roller. Add a strip of masking tape on that bottom edge to help with tracking.

[fwharris]

ok I will add the extra inches... also when it says to stay under rollers I always so NO so when it ask with the extra inches still say NO? Im gonna give itone last shot and hope this is it...

With a board at least 7" longer than your design size say NO to staying under the rollers and center on board.

[wwill84751]

you would put making tape on the bottom egde? Are you talking about the end or backside? I always plane my wood before it goes in the machine. Im in colorado but it seems like I am dealing with humidity in the shop! Im gonna go give it a shot. fingers and toes crossed! lol

[fwharris]

Yes the bottom edge that tracks over the brass roller. This will help to give the brass roller a better bite for improved tracking.

Yes it has been very humid here in Colorado. We are not use to the 50% and greater stuff.

[wwill84751]

we used to be a dry state, but I swear the last few years its getting to feel like we are in the south somewhere. My husband is used o the humid air not me, Im a native and I want the dryness back in my banana belt area! At any rate thanks to all you guys for helping me, I have drove myself crazy all week! I jut put my board in the machine, with the 7" rule I didnt know about and masking tape. WE shall see in a couple of hours what I get....

[fwharris]

we used to be a dry state, but I swear the last few years its getting to feel like we are in the south somewhere. My husband is used o the humid air not me, Im a native and I want the dryness back in my banana belt area! At any rate thanks to all you guys for helping me, I have drove myself crazy all week! I jut put my board in the machine, with the 7" rule I didnt know about and masking tape. WE shall see in a couple of hours what I get....


Very true we are not use to drinking our air.. Best of luck and let us know how it turned out..

[DianMayfield]

Here is a link to the Tips & Trick archives (it really should be listed under the "Popular Articles" list on the main support page) :

http://support.carvewright.com/tips-tricks-archive/

The first one talks about the 7in rule, and what to tell the machine through the prompts.. Good Luck! :)

I tape all boards, no matter how pretty! If you buy the 6pk of blue tape from Harbor Freight, it is fairly inexpensive, and removes easily. The regular yellow/tan stuff is more difficult to remove, and sometimes leaves a residue.

Another thing that really helped me was to put a business card against the board as you slide the guide plate over... this will stop a not perfectly parallel board from binding as it moves through the measuring steps...stopping the dreaded tracking error.

[wwill84751]

I will sit down and read that. After the week I had, its worth the time! I hadnt had any problems with sniping or really any issues with the machine until this past week. So I guess I was just lucky! But I will absorb all the info I can find... UPDATE on the board, it came out perfect. I used tape and added the 7 inches! Now time for sanding and painting! Im a happy girl today!

[lynnfrwd]

Yeah!!!!...what?....wait!....girl?! ...

Even more awesome!
Will made me think guy, but I guess it could be short for last name. Duh! Of course it is...your daughter or grandbaby?

[Digitalwoodshop]

Good Job !!!!

As you see by adding the 7 inches of physical wood to the designer board you will always be under 2 rubber rollers and the board will be held flat to the belts and brass roller.

A more frugAL approach that I use to save wood is to use a taped on scrap cut off of the same wood. I make it a 4 inch block then in designer I draw a 4 inch rectangle and place it on the right side of the screen. The Brass roller would be on the top of the computer screen in theory. I then place all my artwork to the left of the rectangle. I then tape a 4 inch cut off on the physical board and leave the board LONG. I use place on END rather than center on board. This helps in 2 ways... the machine only measures the board ONCE and two saves time... When done, I remove the taped on board and cut the project to length from the long board and start over taping the board on the end.

My favorite saying is... It's all about the Brass roller... Keeping the board in contact with the brass roller 100% of the time is the most important thing you can do... And by putting masking tape on the brass roller track on the underside of the board it lets you inspect the board edge. ANY missing wood along that edge can result in the brass roller loosing contact with the brass roller and moving the board resulting in fire wood and even a broken bit... Mastering the brass roller is mastering the machine...

Here are some samples...

AL

[wwill84751]

Yes a girl! I love wood! Really anything natural. I have many hobbies. I have a whole shop set up for ceramics, and I look forward to making bases or signs for some of my ceramics... but I dabble in a little bit of everything really... I have yet to get my husband interested... I originally thought he would take over the carvewright but I wonder if hes intimidated by it.... or wants me to figure it all out and then he will dabble with it but what the heck, Im having fun!

Yeah!!!!...what?....wait!....girl?! ...


Even more awesome!
Will made me think guy, but I guess it could be short for last name. Duh! Of course it is...your daughter or grandbaby?

[wwill84751]

Good Job !!!!

As you see by adding the 7 inches of physical wood to the designer board you will always be under 2 rubber rollers and the board will be held flat to the belts and brass roller.

A more frugAL approach that I use to save wood is to use a taped on scrap cut off of the same wood. I make it a 4 inch block then in designer I draw a 4 inch rectangle and place it on the right side of the screen. The Brass roller would be on the top of the computer screen in theory. I then place all my artwork to the left of the rectangle. I then tape a 4 inch cut off on the physical board and leave the board LONG. I use place on END rather than center on board. This helps in 2 ways... the machine only measures the board ONCE and two saves time... When done, I remove the taped on board and cut the project to length from the long board and start over taping the board on the end.

My favorite saying is... It's all about the Brass roller... Keeping the board in contact with the brass roller 100% of the time is the most important thing you can do... And by putting masking tape on the brass roller track on the underside of the board it lets you inspect the board edge. ANY missing wood along that edge can result in the brass roller loosing contact with the brass roller and moving the board resulting in fire wood and even a broken bit... Mastering the brass roller is mastering the machine...

Here are some samples...

AL
Well isnt that neat. I thought maybe the tape would interfer with how the machine operates. But you showed that it doesnt. I will definatly keep that in mind when I have a board that I am short on. Wood can run some money! My brother is a logger and has a sawmill but he is so busy getting him to cut me some wood is like pulling teeth, I might just have to go out there and learn to run it myself! Its not like I need a whole tree...lol but I would like to find different wood that isnt going to cost and arm and a leg... but thanks for the tips...

[scootertrash]

you would put making tape on the bottom egde? Are you talking about the end or backside? I always plane my wood before it goes in the machine. Im in colorado but it seems like I am dealing with humidity in the shop! Im gonna go give it a shot. fingers and toes crossed! lol

Oh man, no masking tape? To me that's rule 1 on any carve and I'm sorry you didn't know to do it.

A strip of 1" masking tape on the bottom on the board that is closest to the keyboard side of the machine, the entire length. The tape helps the X tracking sensor engage. I've even put two layers on. That simple step will keep you from experiencing a ton of pain.

/Someone prolly already said it but I'm too lazy to read the other comments

[ktjwilliams]

Glad things worked out for ya ...

[aokweld101]

I'm not trying to hijack this post.. I've been in Florida since 1982 and went to Ohio once a yr. for the past two for a brief visit, I felt like I was drying up. We just are opposit in our climants we stay inside to stay cool for 6 months and you guys stay inside for 6 months to stay warm...lol

[wwill84751]

aokweld, my husband is from Florida, and I hated it there, the humidity is crazy! However it is really pretty with being green and all...but yes you want to stay inside in the summer and we stay inside in the winter.... well sometimes our winters here on the western slope isnt that bad but depends on the year too!

[wwill84751]

77691 I thought I'd share my finished baby plaque that I was having so much trouble with... My daughter in law loved it and was really surprised...

[CNC Carver]

wwill84751 very nice work! I'm sure it will be loved for years.

Jeff

[lynnfrwd]

Love the ombre effect on your letters. Looks great and the chevron is really in style right now. Congrats!!

[wwill84751]

Thank you!

[scootertrash]

Nice stuff! That looks GREAT!

[ktjwilliams]

Cool ... Like it ....