It just may be..

[dougmsbbs]

That I'm out of here, folks. I need to rant and throw something...

I can NOT keep this machine running. It's warranty ran out last spring, and I have only finished three carvings since. Everything else is fire wood.

All it had to do today was cut domed pockets in the back of a board. Of the four needed, it did not even get number three done. See the attached photo. Dam thing went right down though the bottom, and I'm not even sure what that slit along the left is all about. When I got to it, it was trying to move the board along the X axis, and from the sound of it, I would have to order another set of gears for it. That would make number four, in six months. Then figure out why it's diving into the wood...

After four heart attacks, eight stents, an implanted defibilator, and no income since last October, I simply can't ask my wife to give up something else so I can fix this thing again to try to get another hour or two's worth of carving done. So maybe my CW days are over...

Told you I needed to rant. Now give me something to throw...

Douglas

[ChrisAlb]

Douglas,

I'm so sorry to hear of your troubles. Can you post the MPC file you're working with and tell us what version of software you're using?

Your picture is a little small (at least for my eyes) to see very much detail but it looks as though the carving gets deeper as it goes along the board's length? Was this your intention?

If we can help, we'll certainly try.

[dougmsbbs]

Thank you, Chris, but it's not a software issue. It's the *** machine itself. I can not say it has been trouble free from the start, and in the last year and a half it's been back to Texas twice. They always did a pretty good job on it, but that was on thier dime. Now it would have to be on mine. I love this thing, and I'm still working on CarvePic for it, but things changed last October when I was forced to retire at the ripe old age of 50. Right now my income is zero, so sending it back is not an option.
Yes, people, I know I whinning, but it's got me so *** mad right now it's a good thing the wifes not home. I'd be in real trouble if she saw me in this state...
It's just my luck that I live in Indiana, which has the fifth worst record for evaluating disablity claims. The average here is two years, so maybe in a year and a half or so I will be able to send it back to Texas.
I know the X Axis needs going over, I burn through those gears. Today took them out again. The Z axis drifts all over the place, which is why it cut right through the board today. No, Chris, that was not my intention.
The cut motor is starting to sound like a small moped climbing a large hill carrying a fat woman. The head gets out of level every other project.
I can, however, attest to the strength and impact resistance of the Cw lid. Take it from me, it can take a wooping with out cracking!
I give up. I really hate to say it, because I really love this thing. I have no idea how I'm going to finish CarvePic without a machine to test it on, but there it is.
I know this forum is not the place for this, but I miss you guys already (sniff. sniff.) A lot of us on here have worked on stuff together long enough now, it's almost like family...




Douglas,

I'm so sorry to hear of your troubles. Can you post the MPC file you're working with and tell us what version of software you're using?

Your picture is a little small (at least for my eyes) to see very much detail but it looks as though the carving gets deeper as it goes along the board's length? Was this your intention?

If we can help, we'll certainly try.

[Jeff_Birt]

Doug I can understand being frustrated and wanting to vent but your tone is teetering on the edge of acceptability. Please take a chill pill and come back and explain your machine problems in a calm and detailed manner. I'm sure we'll all try to help out.

[liquidguitars]

Then figure out why it's diving into the wood...

1st. sensor check. At the key pad type in "07" "sensor menue" scroll down to the Z truck option. With the bit removed, move up and down on the Z truck.

Are the numbers on the key pad reading smooth? if not it's a bad encoader.

2nd. The z trucks flat cable is damaged or out of socket. Remove the plastic dust cap on the back of the truck and reseat the cable.





3rd. Bad QC and loose cutters always a big deal!

4th. Board is binding. the fence needs to have about 1/16 of a gap for the wood to move smoothly.

[www.go3d.us]

I'm so sorry to hear that dougmsbbs.

[rstudley]

Yep, those are events that really would push you to the edge. Hope things look up for you, Doug.
What is the status of your CarvePic software? I downloaded the trial version but I'm running into dead ends.
Has anyone else used this? I am still on the hunt for a program to improve the quality of my imported images and shapes.

[Digitalwoodshop]

The only way to fix it would be to start swapping parts like the FSC or the Thick Z Cable like said in the above post and then the z motor. Vibration is the source of the z motor encoder problems and a non carving check of the z data may not show the encoder vibration fault.... Possibly tapping a screwdriver against the Z while reading the data would show a vibration problem with the numbers flickering all around different values...

The Encoder is a pulse counter so a non moving problem may not show up. Each black line on the encoder is a pulse and once it finds home it remembers how many pulses it is away from zero. If during vibration it skips "Seeing" pulses due to the bad connection vibrated loose, it will keep moving the head DEEPER into the board waiting for the Register in the computer to count to the correct number of pulses. Never see's the pulses it drives on blind until it goes through the board. So it is the encoder or the cable from the encoder... FSC cable.... Hopefully you have the New Z Bundle as this was a very common failure with the OLD Z.... I posted many pictures of the Z Bundle... Need a Sticky....

It is an expensive machine to keep running and I am sorry to hear of your problems with the machine.

Good Luck,

AL