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pilotcreek
01-31-2008, 03:10 PM
I am sure that someone out there in forum land can tell me how to make cut-outs in 1/4" material.........can you just double-stick-tape it to a piece of 1/2" or is that a no-no???

Thanks, Bill

Ron
01-31-2008, 03:16 PM
yes, that will work or i use a hot glue gun...good luck

pilotcreek
01-31-2008, 05:06 PM
Thanks Ron, So do I still tell the machine to cut 1/4" ???? Bill

hotpop
01-31-2008, 09:53 PM
pilotcreek

You need to change your board thickness in Designer to 3/4". Also remember that if you are using the Cut Path command the machine will cut through both boards.

mtylerfl
01-31-2008, 10:21 PM
pilotcreek

You need to change your board thickness in Designer to 3/4". Also remember that if you are using the Cut Path command the machine will cut through both boards.

Actually, that doesn't make sense, since the 1/4" piece would be cut free long before the cutting bit finishes cutting through the 3/4" combined thickness of both the stock and the sled.

You cannot use the normal cut path feature for this application (well, you CAN, but it would be of no useful benefit in this case). See the following copied from a previous post...


"When using a sled, there is currently no convenient method to use the actual cut path function on a sled-based project, so any cutouts probably will need to be done on a bandsaw/scrollsaw, or whatever.

That's because the machine will measure the total thickness of your board AND the sled combined, therefore causing the machine to try to do any cutpaths all the way through BOTH, which is what you DON't want.

Some folks have devised methods such as "fastening" a board to their sled with carpet tape or something similar, with a manually assigned 1/8" cutting bit to outlines and specifying a depth just beyond the thickness of the board stock so it won't cut all the way through the sled.

The potential problem with that method is that the machine cannot automatically leave the little "safety" tabs like it would on a normal cutpath. The cutout pieces could then fly around your machine like shrapnel and damage it and/or the bit if you have not carefully thought out WHERE to adhere the board to the sled."

The "DH"
02-01-2008, 05:09 AM
I have done this with two 1/8 inch boards, I didn't use tape or cutpath. I put the total thickness in designer 1/4 inch, then outlined object, then selected 1/8 bit, set the depth for 1/8 and had my cutouts. The reason I didn't need tape was due to the fact that one side or the other of the cut out would be under a roller at all times.

mikemel
02-01-2008, 08:18 PM
If you make a sled that is 14.5 inches wide the machine will prompt you for the thickness of the board. Enter .25 (not the total thickness of sled + board) and you will be able to get cutouts with the safety tabs and very little damage to your sled. I use this option frequently.

mtylerfl
02-01-2008, 10:23 PM
If you make a sled that is 14.5 inches wide the machine will prompt you for the thickness of the board. Enter .25 (not the total thickness of sled + board) and you will be able to get cutouts with the safety tabs and very little damage to your sled. I use this option frequently.

Hello,

I recently tried that and the '14.5" width board trick' doesn't seem to work anymore. Have you tried it using 1.125 and it worked for you??

pilotcreek
02-02-2008, 04:31 PM
Hi Michael,

What do you mean by "didn't work", did it not give you the prompt or did it cut all the way through the sled. I just got back to my shop and that was what I was going to try. I also played with it some more this morning and found that the machine will carve very close to 1/4" material (it does 3/8) but will not quite get to 1/4", unfortunately I need it to do 1/4" in this case.

Thanks, Bill

mtylerfl
02-02-2008, 04:54 PM
Hi Michael,

What do you mean by "didn't work", did it not give you the prompt or did it cut all the way through the sled. I just got back to my shop and that was what I was going to try. I also played with it some more this morning and found that the machine will carve very close to 1/4" material (it does 3/ but will not quite get to 1/4", unfortunately I need it to do 1/4" in this case.

Thanks, Bill

Hi Bill,

I don't get a prompt for the board thickness using a 14.5" wide board. A couple weeks ago when I discovered that the 14.5" width no longer gave the prompt, I called LHR and they said it would work if I removed the sliding guide plate and put a 15" wide board in the machine, but I have not verified that for myself. Glad to hear it's still working for you, somehow.

Also, happy to hear that you're successful with running 3/8" thick stock through the machine without a sled- I don't know of anyone else that has had your same success - seems the 1/2" thickness is the norm for the machine to function properly for the rest of us.

May I ask what version of Designer you are using, and what firmware version is on your card? Maybe you found the "magic formula"? It's a little puzzling why the rest of us can't seem to get the same results you are. Maybe it's the particular combination of software and firmware versions you are using??

pilotcreek
02-02-2008, 07:34 PM
Hi Bill,

I don't get a prompt for the board thickness using a 14.5" wide board. A couple weeks ago when I discovered that the 14.5" width no longer gave the prompt, I called LHR and they said it would work if I removed the sliding guide plate and put a 15" wide board in the machine, but I have not verified that for myself. Glad to hear it's still working for you, somehow.

Also, happy to hear that you're successful with running 3/8" thick stock through the machine without a sled- I don't know of anyone else that has had your same success - seems the 1/2" thickness is the norm for the machine to function properly for the rest of us.

May I ask what version of Designer you are using, and what firmware version Who is your card formatted with? Maybe you found the "magic formula"? It's a little puzzling why the rest of us can't seem to get the same results you are. Maybe it's the particular combination of software and firmware versions you are using??

I am running 1.120 and just bumbling along as I don't have a clue what my card in formatted with or what firmware version I am using, I can tell you that in the last couple of hours that I ran 3 pieces of rough sawn (cut on my band saw) 3/8" acrylic treated maple through my machine and they all went through without a problem and turned out great except for the fact that they are 1/8" too thick.............Thick headed Scot, I will figure it out. bill

mtylerfl
02-02-2008, 07:54 PM
I am running 1.120 and just bumbling along as I don't have a clue what my card in formatted with or what firmware version I am using, I can tell you that in the last couple of hours that I ran 3 pieces of rough sawn (cut on my band saw) 3/8" acrylic treated maple through my machine and they all went through without a problem and turned out great except for the fact that they are 1/8" too thick.............Thick headed Scot, I will figure it out. bill

Hello Bill,

Thank you very much for the reply. Still curious what the firmware version is on your card. You can check by inserting your memory card in the reader, then open Designer, click on "Flash Manager" then click on the "Firmware" button - a window will pop up telling you what firmware version is running on the card.

Very cool about the 3/8" thick stock running through your machine OK. That's a good thing for you! Just had a fellow post the other day about not being able to successfully run 3/8" stock. "We all" told him that 1/2" stock or thicker is required (as per the current CC/CW Owner's Manual).

If I recall, the machine was originally intended to run stock down to 3/8" thick, but somewhere along the line, the 1/2" minimum was put in place. Apparently, some(?) machines (like yours) CAN do 3/8". Interesting!

pilotcreek
02-02-2008, 08:27 PM
Michael,

I will do that some time tomorrow as it is raining and blowing here in Oregon and my shop is 200' from my house and I just don't want to make the dash right now.

Thanks, Bill

Bubbabear
02-02-2008, 08:31 PM
I think one of these days I may have to by lunch for Michael T and con him in to showing me how to do the digital picture stuff. Apparently I am slower than Most and just cant get it right. I would love to do some lithopanes

OHHH dang never mind I forgot he was so far south. dang he bout 20 minutes from my daughter down there LOL and I dont venture out to see her either

pilotcreek
02-04-2008, 02:43 PM
Michael,

Sorry it took so long to get back to you, stuff just happens........I am running Firmware 1.125 and I can say that my machine carves 3/8" material with no problems yet, I have carved 5 sets of grips with no problems, I just really need to figure out how to do it with 1/4" material. I tried to attach a couple of photo's but am not smart enough to figure that one out also. Bill

www.enhancedwood.com

mtylerfl
02-04-2008, 04:11 PM
Michael,

Sorry it took so long to get back to you, stuff just happens........I am running Firmware 1.125 and I can say that my machine carves 3/8" material with no problems yet, I have carved 5 sets of grips with no problems, I just really need to figure out how to do it with 1/4" material. I tried to attach a couple of photo's but am not smart enough to figure that one out also. Bill

www.enhancedwood.com (http://www.enhancedwood.com)

Thanks for the info, Bill.

You can attach photos by clicking on the "Manage Attachments" button in the Additional Options area (below the text area where you type in your message).

Typically, you will click the "Browse" button under the "Upload File from your Computer" label, then navigate to the location of your photo, select the photo, then click the "Upload" button after you have been taken back to the 'Manage Attachments' screen. (Just be sure your picture (jpg) is under the 117.2KB size limit or it won't upload.)

pilotcreek
02-04-2008, 06:45 PM
I did all of that, and it said that my photo's were too big, went to photo's properties and it said that they were 109 mb.........so how do you make the photo's smaller?????????? Bill
www.enhancedwood.com

Bubbabear
02-04-2008, 07:28 PM
any good photo editing program. I use irfanview there are others out there too

TurkeyBranch
02-04-2008, 07:43 PM
109 mb, that is bigger than most of my videos, :)
I use Paint Shop Pro, Fireworks and Photoshop, any of them will resize a photo/image. Most programs you will go to a tab, mine is "image" and click on image size or resize image. You should be down to around 800x600 for emailing to people and to upload to here you will probably have to go smaller if you don't know how to compress it.

If you want you can email them to me and I will cut them down to size for you.

Ed

pilotcreek
02-04-2008, 08:02 PM
Wow..........how the heck did they get so big, I have a pretty good digital camera and they go directly into Corel, I then save them to my desk top to either edit and delet or place into a folder, I e-mail these photo's all of the time so I am at a loss as to what is going on here. Bill

P.S. what is your e-mail address?

www.enhancedwood.com

mtylerfl
02-04-2008, 10:54 PM
I did all of that, and it said that my photo's were too big, went to photo's properties and it said that they were 109 mb.........so how do you make the photo's smaller?????????? Bill
www.enhancedwood.com (http://www.enhancedwood.com)

Hello Bill,

Yes, 109MB is very large for a single photo file size. You must have a very high-resolution professional camera for them to be that large! Typically, my 5 megapixel camera at highest quality setting will yield a photo file size of about 5MB maximum.

In any case, you probably installed some photo software that came with your camera. When you open a photo in your software, there should be a way to reduce the size of your photo. If you can find the "resize photo menu" (check your software's Help File), reduce the photo dimensions to 640x480 pixels, then save the photo as a .jpg. That should get you well under the size limit for the forum upload.

TurkeyBranch
02-05-2008, 12:49 AM
The only way to get them that big would be to scan them in to the computer. If everything is sety to best on a decent scan it could go that big.

Only other thing is they are 10.9 mb 1.09 mb, either way, still to large for here.

Ed

pilotcreek
02-05-2008, 10:52 AM
I am still trying to figure out my photo attachments so please bear with me as I test this out. bill


9213

mtylerfl
02-05-2008, 10:59 AM
I am still trying to figure out my photo attachments so please bear with me as I test this out. bill


9213


Hi Bill,

That worked, but the photo's viewable size is still very large at the current 1890x1417 size.

You are on the right track, but a size of 640x480 or up to 800x600 will be much better for viewing online.

pilotcreek
02-05-2008, 11:03 AM
Thanks Michael, I know what to do now. That is the 3/8" material by the way. Billwww.enhancedwood.com

mtylerfl
02-05-2008, 11:18 AM
Thanks Michael, I know what to do now. That is the 3/8" material by the way. Billwww.enhancedwood.com (http://www.enhancedwood.com)


Bill,

Those look really great, by the way!

mikemel
02-05-2008, 07:32 PM
It has been too cold to operate the CW lately. I finally got my workshop above 60 degrees today and tested the 14.5 inch wide sled using version 1.126 on 1/4 inch material. As before the CW prompted me for the thickness of the material and I entered .23 for the baltic birch ply I am using. The gear I wanted to carve came out fine with only minor marks on my 3/4 inch thick sled.

mtylerfl
02-05-2008, 08:28 PM
It has been too cold to operate the CW lately. I finally got my workshop above 60 degrees today and tested the 14.5 inch wide sled using version 1.126 on 1/4 inch material. As before the CW prompted me for the thickness of the material and I entered .23 for the baltic birch ply I am using. The gear I wanted to carve came out fine with only minor marks on my 3/4 inch thick sled.

Hello Mike,

Can you tell me at what point does the machine prompt you to enter the thickness? ...during setup?...just before you install the cutting bit?...etc.

Thanks in advance.

mikemel
02-05-2008, 09:52 PM
I believe it is after the board is measured and I have told it to center on board and after it has requested all of the bits. It then homes and looks for the board surface on the keypad side of the CW and asks me to enter the board thickness. I plan on doing another gear tomorrow and I will pay closer attention to the sequence. I will attempt to take photos of the messages and post here.

mtylerfl
02-05-2008, 10:35 PM
I believe it is after the board is measured and I have told it to center on board and after it has requested all of the bits. It then homes and looks for the board surface on the keypad side of the CW and asks me to enter the board thickness. I plan on doing another gear tomorrow and I will pay closer attention to the sequence. I will attempt to take photos of the messages and post here.

Thanks, Mike. Looking forward to the details and pics if you have the chance to post them.

jwhllh55
02-06-2008, 01:48 AM
Michael,

I will do that some time tomorrow as it is raining and blowing here in Oregon and my shop is 200' from my house and I just don't want to make the dash right now.

Thanks, Bill

Pilotcreek
Hi, I would guess you are on the west coast of Oregon, because I have 12" of snow in Baker City, OR. I know what it means to dash or plow to the shop to work. When this snow melts, I'll have a mud hole to wed in. Have a great month, until the sun shines again.
John Hammett

pilotcreek
02-06-2008, 05:05 PM
Hi John,

I am in the southern Williamette Valley and I only had 8" of snow, I have a wood stove in my shop but never expected the winter to be like this so of course I didn't put up enough wood...............Oh well cutting wood in the snow makes you warm enough you don't need a fire. Bill

www.enhancedwood.com

pilotcreek
02-06-2008, 05:09 PM
Great news Mike, I am going to build a 14.5" sled tommorw and give it a try..........sometime after I get the fire going and the shop warmed up enough to make me and my machine want to work. Bill

www.enhancedwood.com

mikemel
02-06-2008, 06:08 PM
I completed another 1/4" project today and the CW prompted me to "Enter Board Thickness: >>" just before it started to carve. I have attached a photo of the Prompt. Don't forget to enter a decimal point. I suggest measuring the actual thickness of the material as the 1/4 " baltic birch I use is actually .226" in thickness. Entering a more accurate value will help save your sled.

I also tested the CW with 3/8" material as some users are reporting that the machine will carve it without a sled. This is less than the 1/2" minimum thickness advertised. My CW accepted the 3/8" material and carved just fine.

dougmsbbs
02-06-2008, 06:22 PM
Be carefull with the 3/8" material. I tried it in mine, and while it carved fine, the head got in such a bind it took me an hour to get it to raise again. I really want to try it again because finding 1/2" material around here is hard to do. But, man, what a time I had getting the head back up...

mtylerfl
02-06-2008, 10:48 PM
Be carefull with the 3/8" material. I tried it in mine, and while it carved fine, the head got in such a bind it took me an hour to get it to raise again. I really want to try it again because finding 1/2" material around here is hard to do. But, man, what a time I had getting the head back up...

Hello dougmsbbs,

You may want to check that none of the bolts are loose on the four corner guide posts. If one or more have loosened up a tad, the alignment will be off and cause binding which will make it difficult to raise the head.

Seems the problem first becomes noticable when using stock less than 3/4" thick.