Second time is the charm

[deemon328]

I'm really happy with my second CC! It is a rock solid performer right out of the box! It's such a different experience than the first machine that I had so many problems with.

Ironically, to me anyway, my new machine was made a bit earlier than my first one. My serial number starts with 06 on this one and was 10 on the first one.

There's a couple small differences--the cover plate on the cut motor wires is red and has the wire keeper on that side rather than the plastic plate and no wire retainer on that side on my old one. The little screw with the spring on the top of the z motor just grazes the top. I tried to tighten it down, but it's down as far as it goes. It doesn't hang up, so no big deal.

I did a couple small things to get started.

I added a little super glue to the L2 coil. I'm just not confident in the factory glue procedure. It just doesn't immobilize that coil in the direction that matters.
I bolted the machine to the table to reduce vibration. I used 5/16 bolts with regular flat washers and a rubber washer to help dampen vibration and prevent me from cracking the frame.
Right out of the box, I did a calibrate offsets test, since I have my bit set now. I don't know if I needed it or not, but it couldn't hurt to calibrate on some cherry, since that's my medium darkness wood that I'm using.
I aligned the outfeed tables. My tables cant upwards a good bit. The wood doesn't touch the tables at all until it hits the rollers. I don't know if that's less than desirable, but it doesn't seem to be something I can change.Now, on to the projects. I'm making a twin bed for my son. My first carve was centerline text on the bottom support. Worked perfectly. I'm quite impressed with centerline and recommend it to everyone.

The upper frame was a 4 hour 40 minute carve. I kept messing with opening the cover and vacuuming out the dust, since my downdraft wasn't sucking it all. Eventually, at like 75% done, I got a Fatal Error #3. I think it's because I was vacuuming close to the keypad and lifting the cover every half hour. I restarted the carve and jogged to position and everything completed successfully this time.

In the end, the machine was running for about 8 hours non-stop. I monitored the flexshaft with the laser thermometer, and it never got above 109 degrees in a couple spots.

I had a couple quality issues along the edges(a little gouging), but I think that's from using normal quality mode. Overall, I'm super stoked for the next project!

http://photos.yoderwoodworks.com/images/A_2/4/0/5/15042/DSC04548_0b325.Large.jpg

http://photos.yoderwoodworks.com/images/A_2/4/0/5/15042/DSC04550_60f73.Large.jpg

http://photos.yoderwoodworks.com/images/A_2/4/0/5/15042/DSC04551_39e39.Large.jpg

[Paul Brown]

Good to see ya having better luck, and great lookin job. Carve On Brother! Paul Brown.

[TIMCOSBY]

about vacuuming around the keypad. happened to me twice now i don't go near it. also i let it carve for 8 hours once just to see what would happen. guese what.... nothing.....the shavings did pile up to the cover but didn't seem to bother anything. my experience was just opposite of yours. my first machine is great went and bought a second one and it was under the devils influence like some of the others you hear about. took it back for a refund.

[deemon328]

I was pretty concerned about the sawdust compacting under the rollers when taking a 1/2" raster cut 12" wide. It just seemed like it was going to do something bad when you couldn't see the bit anymore.

I really feel like I got the guy at the plant in China who got with the Mrs. the night before, woke up, got a promotion and created the ultimate Compucarve because he was at such inner peace.

If I ever get another machine, I want the next sequential serial number off the line :D

[Jeff_Birt]

When vacuuming out your machine keep one hand on the machine frame (metal) at all times. This helps to keep the vac hose, you and the machine at the same potential so nothing will get zapped. Some older Shop-Vacs will generate LOTS of static though, no matter what you do. If you have one of these it is best to bet a new one.

[Dave Boland]

Carving On Cherry At .400 Raster Over 10" Has Got To Be A Testimony Of The Machine Capabilities But Scares Hell Out Of Me. Most Of My Problems Have Come From Using Cherry. Just Seems To Put More Strain On Machine Thanit Is Built For. I Spoke With Lhr Recently About This And They Let It Slip That There Is An Update On The Very Near Horizon That Will Allow Us To Vary The Speed Manually. This Will Allow Us To Maintain The Proper Surface Feet Per Minute Based On Hardness Of Material.
My Real Question Is About Your Comment On "restarting And Jogging To Position To Finish" Can You Explain How The Jog To Position Is Accomplished. Power Outages Are A Large Problem Where I Live And Being Able To Restart And Jog To Position Where It Stopped Would Save Me Lot Of Time And Scrap. I Have Had To Cut Air Several Times In Last Couple Months. Thanks Dave

[deemon328]

Well, here's what I did on the jog to position.

My first carving failed at like 75% done. I blew all the dust off and started over. After the board measure, CC asked if I wanted to center on length. I chose the other option, jog to position. I used the keypad to move the board around, then I manually moved the bit on the x and z axis to the right spot to make sure that I was where I wanted to be. One last nudge over with the keypad and the bit goes back to home by the keypad side.

The carve started just a hair deeper, which worked out great. My pattern was big enough that I could have lived with 1/64" of error anyway.

That's pretty much it. I didn't have a new board 14.5 inches wide glued up, so I decided to do what I could with what I already had. It worked out great this time.

I consider cherry to be a medium choice. I haven't noticed any machine strain with it. I have a lot of oak and maple, so it's going to get used in the CC. The few projects I've done in maple have been fine too, no issues on raster carving. Vector is another matter for everything though.

[eugenepsearl]

Was that a manual move of x & z to your original starting position or to the carving bit's position when the carve failed?

[TIMCOSBY]

Carving On Cherry At .400 Raster Over 10" Has Got To Be A Testimony Of The Machine Capabilities But Scares Hell Out Of Me. Most Of My Problems Have Come From Using Cherry. Just Seems To Put More Strain On Machine Thanit Is Built For. I Spoke With Lhr Recently About This And They Let It Slip That There Is An Update On The Very Near Horizon That Will Allow Us To Vary The Speed Manually. This Will Allow Us To Maintain The Proper Surface Feet Per Minute Based On Hardness Of Material.
My Real Question Is About Your Comment On "restarting And Jogging To Position To Finish" Can You Explain How The Jog To Position Is Accomplished. Power Outages Are A Large Problem Where I Live And Being Able To Restart And Jog To Position Where It Stopped Would Save Me Lot Of Time And Scrap. I Have Had To Cut Air Several Times In Last Couple Months. Thanks Dave

if they let us vary the speed they could give us a longer caving bit to carve deeper than 3/4" ohhhh that give me goose bumps....

[deemon328]

Sorry, it's hard to explain it exactly right.

I had to start the whole project over, so I used the keypad to move to the starting point Y-axis spot first. Then I moved the X and Z axis manually to check to see that I moved the Y-axis the correct amount. Every time you push the keypad arrows, the bit goes to it's home position by the keypad, so I had to manually move the X and Z axis because it's hard to judge if you are at the right spot when the bit is a few inches away and above the workpiece.

So, after all of this bit location setting, I started the project over. There's no way to start from a particular point in the project as far as I know.

[deemon328]

Not to mention that a slower travel speed would reduce vibration in the machine. I believe this to be the achilles heel of the CC that is the root cause of a great many problems that users experience.



if they let us vary the speed they could give us a longer caving bit to carve deeper than 3/4" ohhhh that give me goose bumps....