Carrier base issues

[trainerjay]

I made a carrier base and I'm having some difficulties. First of all how do you get the CarveWright to differentiate between the carrier and the wood you're carving?? My first attemp ended up cutting into my carrier.

Second the CarveWright would not allow me to use the standard carving bit. I had to use a long bit. I e read a few places this is caused by the sled being to tall. Is this true? any assistance on these 2 issues would be appreciated .

[fwharris]

A picture of your carrier base would give us a better idea on what advise to give you.

[trainerjay]

8449984500

Just a very simple carrier. The inside board is 3/4" shorter in height compared to the outside board. I mainly want to use 3/4" wood for carvings. Now when I place a board in the carrier it sits flush and can't move.

[fwharris]

What board dimensions are you using for the design board? Is your carving board centered in your jig? What do you specify at the start of the carve, under rollers yes/no, and the carving placement?

When it measures at start up does the head move the full width of the board and carrier?

[bergerud]

The carrier you have designed will only work in the CW if the board you put in the carrier is the same length as the carrier. This is because the optical sensor looks for the ends of the board only after the corresponding roller has droped. So, I assume your board is either the same length as the carrier or you add end pieces to make it the same length as the carrier. (If the board is shorter than the carrier, the sensor will miss the end of the board and then find nothing after the roller drops off of the end of the carrier.)

The width measured by the machine will be the width of the carrier. The machine cannot differentiate between the board and the carrier. This means you either have to choose center on board or you have to compensate for the extra width in Designer. (You could also use jog to place.)

As to why you think you need a longer bit, I do not know. You should not. The height of the carrier should not make any difference.

[trainerjay]

What board dimensions are you using for the design board? Is your carving board centered in your jig? What do you specify at the start of the carve, under rollers yes/no, and the carving placement?

When it measures at start up does the head move the full width of the board and carrier?

the board dimensions are 12"x12". I clicked yes to stay under rollers and center design on board.

[trainerjay]

Why does the board have to be the same length as the carrier? I thought the point of the carrier was so you could use any size board and not waste the additional 7"?

[DianMayfield]

How are you "placing the project on board" at the machine? If you select something like place on end, it sees your rails as part of the board. You will need to use Center or Jog so that you can avoid the rails. You can also add the 3/4 (or your actual rail width) in the design phase, and NOT put any of your pattern into that space.

When the roller falls off the end of the board, the sensor expects to the run across a color change (like seeing the end of a board). A simple fix is to run light masking tape across both ends of the carrier.

Bit length is set in the Designer software. When you set your board dimensions, make sure you are using the thickness of your real board (3/4), not the thickness of your carrier. I suspect you told it 2", and that the pattern is using that depth. On the machine, you will/may be prompted for the thickness of the board because the head stops the bit from reaching the sliding plate. You might get board too thick-tell it to continue or enter board thickness -tell it the 2" or cut through project or board - tell it project. (This is all if there is a cutout)

Hope this helps! :)

[trainerjay]

The roller doesn't technically "fall off" the board. The board I'm carving is 3/4"and the carrier was designed to hold a 3/4" board. When I place the board I'm carving in the carrier the board ends are flush with the carrier.

As far as board thickness I set it to 3/4" in the software with 1/2" carving depth. The bit did touch the sliding plate but the problem occurred when the bit was measuring board thickness. This is where the error started. I switched out the bit with the long bit and problem solved. I'm still confused why this happened.

[DianMayfield]

"The bit did touch the sliding plate but the problem occurred when the bit was measuring board thickness. This is where the error started." What error? The bit should not reach the sliding plate when using the sled, it is too thick. Just hit continue when you get the prompts.

The roller falls off the "board" is actually falling off the carrier. It WILL try to find the end of the "board", which is now mounted flush in the carrier, so the carrier is seen as the board.

[trainerjay]

"The bit did touch the sliding plate but the problem occurred when the bit was measuring board thickness. This is where the error started." What error? The bit should not reach the sliding plate when using the sled, it is too thick. Just hit continue when you get the prompts.

The roller falls off the "board" is actually falling off the carrier. It WILL try to find the end of the "board", which is now mounted flush in the carrier, so the carrier is seen as the board.


This may be the problem. When measuring the board it never measured to the very end of the carrier. As the carvewright was measuring length it stopped just after the end of my carving board, not the entire length of the carrier.

[DianMayfield]

Ahh, I have used a white piece of paper taped across wide gaps between the end the board and the end of the carrier, rather than filling the gap with tape (expensive to do a lot).

[bergerud]

The roller doesn't technically "fall off" the board. The board I'm carving is 3/4"and the carrier was designed to hold a 3/4" board. When I place the board I'm carving in the carrier the board ends are flush with the carrier.

The roller has to fall off of the board when measuring where a board end is. This is an unavoidable part of the measuring process.

The roller will also fall off of the board during carving if your carving area is closer than 3 1/2" from the end of the board. This is the reason for the 7" rule.



This may be the problem. When measuring the board it never measured to the very end of the carrier. As the carvewright was measuring length it stopped just after the end of my carving board, not the entire length of the carrier.

You must have chosen "Place on End (or Corner)". In this case, it only locates the far end of the board and then rolls along only far enough to check that the board is long enough. (The choice "Place on Center" causes the machine to locate both ends of the board.) With "Place on end", only the far end of the board has to be flush with the carrier but this will not keep the far end of the board under the rollers when carving. You need to add a 3 1/2" spacer at the end (Or a few layers of masking tape across the carrier to fool the board sensor.)

"Place on end", however, creates a problem for the width placement. You would like the width to place on center but it only does that if you choose "Place on Center". A way around that is to include the width of the carrier in Designer as the width of the board.

This is a suggestion for a method to try.

1. In Designer, make your board 12" long and 13 1/2" wide. (Maybe a little less than 13 1/2" if the machine measures the width of the carrier less.)
2. Add a 3 1/2" spacer board to the end of your carrier.
3. Choose Yes to "Stay under the Rollers".
4. Choose "Place on end" or "Place on Corner". (Place on Corner will be the option if the width measures larger than 13 1/2")

(When the machine tries to measure the board thickness, it will not be able to touch the sliding plate and will go through a little song and dance about the sliding plate. Answer yes and input 3/4" as the board thickness.)

[edsingletary]

I bought the carrier base about a year or so ago, but never attempted to cut it and assemble. #1 Is there and update to the pattern I shoukd know about. #2 Where do I get assembly instructions and hardware list. I search LHR and couldnt find it. Finally I have a corian project coming up and I can see the sled as an asset. Thanks Ed

[fwharris]

I bought the carrier base about a year or so ago, but never attempted to cut it and assemble. #1 Is there and update to the pattern I shoukd know about. #2 Where do I get assembly instructions and hardware list. I search LHR and couldnt find it. Finally I have a corian project coming up and I can see the sled as an asset. Thanks Ed

You should have received the instructions on how to build it with the purchase. Go back to your email confirmation to see if it had a down load link.

[bergerud]

Here are the files you should have downloaded.

[GuyT]

I have been using this carrier for almost a year with only one problem in that the side rails black paint faded. Once I touched them up again I have had no issues. But I will say that it is important to follow the instructions when using the carrier in the CW. It was a great addition to my tools.