Carve Quality

[1Flyboy]

Howdy

I have been using my CompuCarve router for about a year. In general, the unit performs satisfactorily. I do have one nagging problem and that is carve quality. In carving something, such as one of the included patterns, the finished wood is rough. I have always used the included carving bit along with the "best" quality setting. I have also tried various woods, such as popler, walnut, oak and maple. Nothing helps.

I would like to know what results others have had?

I also would like to propose a fix.

1. Provide for higher quality settings than the current "best".

2. Allow for routing different portions of a project with different quality levels, i.e. less quality for those areas which may be subsequently hand fnished, and high quality levels for portions such as patterns, which do not lend themselves to further operations. This would save carve time.

Any suggestions would be appreciated

Fred

[mtylerfl]

Fred,

Please post good quality, in focus, close up pictures of a couple of your projects that you are having the "quality issue" with.

Maybe we can get a clue from the photos why you're getting less than satisfactory results.

[Amonaug]

Don't forget bit optimization as well.

[pkunk]

Some woods, even amongst the same specie, carve with some fuzzies. Mostly the harder woods such as hard maple will usually produce a fairly clean carve. I also have good results with sugar pine which is very soft but fine grained.
My solution is to spray a coat of sanding sealer on the project & when dry the fuzzies are stiff and sand away easily. I don't believe that any better quality setting would eliminate the problem. It is a fact of life when wood is removed with a small bit at 20,000 rpm.:)

[TerryT]

Paul is right. Hardwoods such as cherry and walnut carve the best. Poor carve quality is usually the result of the pattern or carving on soft wood, although I have had great results with clear pine. I have also carved on walnut that came out so smooth it hardly needed sanding. But, with any wood or pattern there will be some degree of fuzzies usuallly on the side of the pattern that the bit is moving away from.

I recently had a problem with the quality of the carving. It got real bad very quickly. I discovered bad bearings on both the z and y trucks. If you are sure you are using a good pattern then check the machine for loose bits, bad bearings etc.

If we had pictures we might have a better idea of the problem and solution.

You may be expecting too much. If you are looking for a finished piece of art straight from the machine, you are probably going to be disapointed.

[roughcut]

I had been experancing irrattic carving . So while checking I put a 3/4"x3"x24' board on both sides of the traction belts found out the head was at least a 3/8" higher on the right side as it was on the left.I had to remove the bottom plate and loosen the screw on the key pad side holding the tierod so I could adjust the head. now both the front and rear compression rollers are level .Made a world of difference in the quality of my carvings. No more ridges and a lot less fuzzies . Might be something to check from time to time

[mtylerfl]

Fred,

We're all just "guessing" now as to why you're having a problem with the quality of your carvings.

As soon as you have the chance, please post some photos so we can get a better idea of what your actual problem might be.

[1Flyboy]

Howdy Michael,

Thank you for yhour reply to my query. It turns out that the pictures that I have made are too large. I will redo them to a smaller size and send them. Only problem is that I will be out of town for a couple of weeks

To make this pattern I have used the following:

best quality
best bit optimization

The wood is popler. Have tried others such as maple, walnut with similar results.

Thanks again

Fred