Pits

[spike]

I don't know if this is the right place to post this question. I am having problems with the carvings that my machine is giving me. Every carving comes out the same, little pits in it. I have yet to have a carving that came out smooth. The surface has these little pits that look someone has taken a sharp ice pick to it. I see other peoples carvings that are smooth as if the entire piece had been sanded. It doesn't matter if the patern is my creation or one that I have downloaded, the results are the same. Makes me think the machine has nervous tics.

Anyone else had this problem?
Any and all help would be appreciated. Thanks

[jcorder]

I found that I had to take the pattern I was carving, open it in the designer software and clean up the image. If you look at it, you will see small digital errors in the pattern, you need to clean those up by selecting the proper color and then covering those. Good luck

Jeff

[Digitalwoodshop]

I had a Z Motor that did the "Tick, Tick, Tick.... Replaced it and it went away... Threw the motor in my parts drawer. When I snagged the 14 pin cable because I did not put that little black cap on the Z that holds the cable up and away from danger. It snagged and ripped the cable out at an angle and smoked the cable and Z pack.... Put the Ticker back for troubleshooting since I knew it worked but ticked and made bad carvings... It still ticked.... So if you have a Ticker.... It's the Z Motor.

AL

[Jeff_Birt]

What are you carving? The patterns that come with the machine or something you made yourself?

[TerryT]

Since you have only been on the forum for 9 months, your problem probably isn't the same as mine. Most likely yours is the pattern or z motor. At about 350 hours my z truck bearings went out, one seized up tight. My carves looked like what you are describing. I replaced the bearings but apparently didn't get them adjusted properly because they went out again after only 2 to 3 weeks. Pulled the machine apart to replace them and noticed the y truck had a bearing seized also. I'm hoping it will carve much better once they are all replaced.

[spike]

I've been carving both patterns that I have designed and patterns that came from the carvewright web sight. I get the same results no matter where the pattern came from. The bits are cleaned after each use and the machine is cleaned before I put away. The boards are always under the rollers. I plane and joint most of my boards before carving them. The wood that I use is mostly oak and cherry.

[badger]

Without someone looking at the pattern will be hard to pinpoint your problem. Dont post a pattern that was purchased but if you have one you made or got for the forum here post it so we can take a look at it.

[Jeff_Birt]

How about a picture of a carving?

[spike]

How about a picture of a carving?

I will try to get a picture posted in the next couple of days. I have several other projects come up that need attention.
Thanks for being patient.

[Audie]

I don't know if this is the right place to post this question. I am having problems with the carvings that my machine is giving me. Every carving comes out the same, little pits in it. I have yet to have a carving that came out smooth. The surface has these little pits that look someone has taken a sharp ice pick to it. I see other peoples carvings that are smooth as if the entire piece had been sanded. It doesn't matter if the patern is my creation or one that I have downloaded, the results are the same. Makes me think the machine has nervous tics.

Anyone else had this problem?
Any and all help would be appreciated. Thanks

Spike,

I had that problem on one of my carvings. There was a slight cup to the board. Since then I have been careful to run my boards through my planner and then check them on a known level surface. I hope your problem is this simple!

Audie

[spike]

How about a picture of a carving?

Here is a copy of what the software designed. The actual carving came out identical to this. So it makes me wonder if this is a machine problem or maybe something else is wrong. The bit setting was set on "best" as was the memory card.

[mtylerfl]

Here is a copy of what the software designed. The actual carving came out identical to this. So it makes me wonder if this is a machine problem or maybe something else is wrong. The bit setting was set on "best" as was the memory card.

Hello Spike,

Your machine is fine - it's the graphic that is the problem.

You used a very low-quality jpg with a lot of noise to create the pattern. The machine is "so good" that it will carve every defect you give it.;)

It can be a challenge to clean up a graphic like that, but you can use the Pattern Editor or a photo editing program to make some improvements. All depends on your skill level and graphic tools as to your success in getting a decent pattern from a graphic.

The Aug '08 Tips & Tricks outlines how to use the De-Noise Filter in the Pattern Editor to help get rid of some that noise, but I think it will take a lot more than just that to get a nice pattern from that graphic.