Looping the Load carving bit over and over

[ChrisHelSr]

Good morning,
I bought a Carvewright from Sears in Novemebr (last year). Since then a Board Sensor went out (replaced under warranty by Carvewright).
Had the sensor installed, and now about 2 weeks later yet another down time.
When I load the board, select the project it does all the need things. Measures the board. Good.
Select Bit (now the problem starts).
It sends the carrier to the middle to install the 1/16" carving bit, slides over to the far end and does its thing without the hammer even touching the bottom of the bit.
Goes to homing, and move back to the middle to SELECT BIT and the install routing again, over and over...
When I push the STOP button to end the process, the machine starts the bit loading routine again.
Help...

[oldjoe]

When the maching goes over to the side opposite the keypad is does the bit flapper plate swing out far enough for the bit to touch it? If not then you should check to make sure it is not stuck and needs a little cleaning and some lube. Also make sure nothing is obstructing the carraige so it can go all the way over to make contact to make the bit plate swing out. Just a couple of things to check.

[marinerii@windstream.net]

've loaded a bit and it's done it's thing with the bit finder then want's to load bit again & do it againe , the first sign of trouble was it wouldn't see the board, used a lite then it went into this loop Help

John

[Digitalwoodshop]

Reading about 3 months worth of posts will help you through the future problems as WE have all had them and wrote about them.

What is happening is once you load the bit, it goes through some checks on the left side and the right side. The check on the right side is the head all the way right and that pushes the bit flag out. That is the paddle looking thing on the right. Touching a known point with the tip of the bit tells the computer the bit is loaded and the length. If the bit misses the bit plate then the computer thinks you didn't load a bit... Sound familiar....

With the power off slide the head all the way right and see if the bit plate comes out. If it does not, the cable in the back right side from the right cover switch could be out of position and the Z Motor cooling fins might be hitting the wire preventing the head from reaching the bit plate. It could be lubrication of the bit plate too. Careful following the advice to file the contact area.

After messing with it for months, many of us including me, have taped a piece of foam behind the bit plate letting it stick out ALL THE TIME.... Only if you do a 14.5 inch wide board will you get trouble.

Good Luck and Happy Reading...

AL


Just looked at your post again and IF the bit plate IS coming out and the bit starts moving down to touch it BUT stops in mid air before reaching the bit plate then you have one of 2 problems... A bad Z Pack or binding in the up down Z bearings. Then call 1-800-573-1226 LHR....

[JVallario]

Just spent the better part of half an hour to get past this myself. The bit would come down and touch the plate - sometimes twice in a row - sometimes only the 1st and 3 time. Then find the surface and come back with the load bit message. Drove me crazy! Mind you this is only my second carving. Tried turning the bit 1 notch inside the adapter - 4 times. Blew out the machine again. Cleaned the touch plate and post it is attached to. Was about to start putting tape on the touch plate to build it up when it finally started the carve. Too much fun.

[jspringertx]

Reading about 3 months worth of posts will help you through the future problems as WE have all had them and wrote about them.


After messing with it for months, many of us including me, have taped a piece of foam behind the bit plate letting it stick out ALL THE TIME.... Only if you do a 14.5 inch wide board will you get trouble.

Just looked at your post again and IF the bit plate IS coming out and the bit starts moving down to touch it BUT stops in mid air before reaching the bit plate then you have one of 2 problems... A bad Z Pack or binding in the up down Z bearings. Then call 1-800-573-1226 LHR....

I used the foam idea for several months and it worked just fine. I finally removed the foam just two weeks ago and the flapper works just fine. Don't ask me why...it just did.

[FiddlemakerMills]

Same old stuff different Day.

I had the same situation with my maching a year ago. I checked everything and did what LHR Techs recomended. Finely i superglued an 1/8 x 1/4 x 1" section of oak to the Z truck where it comes in contact with the bit tip locator plate. This allows the full travel of the Z truck and actuates the locator plate to the correct position. (see photos)

One good side effect of this is the Z truck is prevented from being damaged by the repeted hitting of the plate.

As you can see the dust gets everywhere. Now I need to go clean the machine.

Hope this helps

Carl

[JVallario]

I always thought that was SSDD? - either way it is an interesting idea. Starting my 3rd carving now - (I'm on a roll! Maybe a biscuit?) this time there was no "load bit" messages. If it happens again I'm going to try your fix. thanks

[Digitalwoodshop]

Normal to touch the bit plate 2 times.... 3 times it is confused and is checking the bit. If this is a bit change in the middle of the carving 3 times could be that the bit length is different than the first load and will prompt you bit length different and 1 re find or 2 continue.

Sometimes a bit not seated properly in the QC will cause the 3 time hit as the length does not match.

AL

[liquidguitars]

the power wires can block the "Z"truck access to the bit flag, so the wires could need to be moved out of the way.
Also the hoods slot in the top can rub on the flexshaft blocking acess and could need a ajustment.

quick fix is to move the wires back in place and loosen the
hood and move it closer to the right next to the bit flag.

with the power off see if you can move the truck into the bit flag by hand.

LG

[Digitalwoodshop]

The power wires he is talking about is the wires from the right cover switch to the cut motor. If they get pulled out of the sweet spot they hit the Z Motor Cooling fins and prevent the motor from reaching the Bit Plate.

AL

[FiddlemakerMills]

the power wires can block the "Z"truck access to the bit flag, so the wires could need to be moved out of the way.
Also the hoods slot in the top can rub on the flexshaft blocking acess and could need a ajustment.

quick fix is to move the wires back in place and loosen the
hood and move it closer to the right next to the bit flag.

with the power off see if you can move the truck into the bit flag by hand.

LG


The power wires he is talking about is the wires from the right cover switch to the cut motor. If they get pulled out of the sweet spot they hit the Z Motor Cooling fins and prevent the motor from reaching the Bit Plate.

AL

After seeing the above posts I went and checked the sopt. Sure enough the the wires' casing is the cause. It was actually polishing the cooling fin. I will try another test cut later and see if that corrected the situation.

Thanks LG and Digital

Carl

[Digitalwoodshop]

Everytime you remove the top cover you must re position the wires. Countless times I saw my first carve after a repair stall because it did not reach the bit plate.... Even I forget to do it.... AL

[FiddlemakerMills]

What is the diameter of the casing ?

Mine is .5 dia.

Carl

[fwharris]

The power wires he is talking about is the wires from the right cover switch to the cut motor. If they get pulled out of the sweet spot they hit the Z Motor Cooling fins and prevent the motor from reaching the Bit Plate.

AL

I removed the wire guard sheathing from the power wires going to the cut motor and now I very seldom have a problem with touching the bit plate. If I do it is from saw dust build up in the bit plate spring.

[FiddlemakerMills]

I removed the wire sheathing and no problem with the bit plate now.

Thanks

[fwharris]

I removed the wire sheathing and no problem with the bit plate now.

Thanks

I could not see any reason/need for it as the wires are insulated. Glad it worked for you also.

[Digitalwoodshop]

The plastic on the wires is to protect them from pinching through to the copper wire. It is the return side of the motor and no power is on the wire in bit check mode. A pinched bear wire could be trouble. In later units they used heat shrink on the 2 wires.

AL

[FiddlemakerMills]

Thanks Al I will make a spiral keeper out of 1/4 inch tubing for it before I do much carving.
Carl