First Cut

[Jossef]

Okay, I have been reading all week about how to cut. I made a pattern using the shell design on a 6X8 board. I saw the option of leaving the board under the roller. I chose yes?? It then told me it would scale to fit the board. It started and all was fine. It cut a shell about 3/8 of an inch instead of the 4 inches I expected. I tried again, but cleaned the machine first. I started everything and all I can get now is Place Board. I have the board there and it still tells me to place board. What am I doing wrong???

[chips]

You MUST add an extra 7" to your work piece, otherwise it will scale to fit if you tell it to stay under the rollers

[hotpop]

Your board is to short. Reread your manual and you will see that you need to add 7" to the length of the board. So if in Designer your board is 8" your actual board should be 15" to stay under the rollers.

[Betty Woodall]

You said that the board size was 6x8 and you told it to stay under the rollers. The machine will then downsize the pattern to do what you told it. If you added the 7 inches to the board length and told it to stay under the rollers the machine the pattern would not be shrunk.

[Jeff_Birt]

Jossef, welcome to one of the most common newbie mistakes ;), we've all been there don't worry. Take a look at the support section of the main CW website.

http://www.carvewright.com/

Look through the Tips & Tricks and tutorials sections. Micheal Tyler of Carvebuddy.com does a great jo in one of the Tips & Tricks explaing the whole 7" rule and staying under rollers.

[Jossef]

Well, I thought I was going to report some good news about my cut. I used a long board and all was going well, then there was this very loud noise. I looked at the cutting head and it was going fine except that the bit was laying on the board. I noticed that the end of the bit was in bedded into the board. from what I can tell, the inside of the bit holder also broke. There was no knot hole in the board. So I guessing that I am down now till I get a new part. Did I not attach the bit correctly?

[Digitalwoodshop]

I have had the same thing happen in the beginning. It all came down to a dirty QC with sawdust inside it. Doing the Sling Shot to snap the dust out and using something like dry lube will help. I blow air in it too.

Getting in the habit of grabbing the bit tip after installation and trying to move it in 4 directions will sometimes show you that the 3 ball bearings are NOT set in the QC. If you feel motion then remove the bit and clean the QC and do it again. Just letting it go with movement is where the bit comes flying out. I had a V60 fly out and hit the cover and open it slightly and stop the machine.

It all comes down to keeping the QC clean.

ChrisAlb has posted some very good stuff on keeping the QC Clean.

Good Luck,

AL

PS: Don't cut your fingers on the sharp bit.

[Jossef]

Thanks for the advice on this. Unfortunately the QC appears to be broken now. I found two small black pieces and when I feel inside the QC I can feel some jagged edges. I cannot get a bit to stay into the QC either. I plan to call LHR this morning and see about replacement parts. Very disappointing as was ready to really get into some cutting.

[Digitalwoodshop]

Ask for the wrench and square drive Allen to remove the QC.

You will need:

Special Thin Wrench
Square Drive Allen

Both available to purchase from member Justice in a better quality that will make your job easier.

Blue Thread Lock

A Hair Dryer or heat gun to heat the QC to soften the Thread Lock.

You will need Lubrication with Molly too if you don't have it for your drive cable.

Reading about 6 months of Troubleshooting posts will better prepare yourself for using the carving system.



AL