Flipper stuck?

[h_kench]

The little flipper on the side that pops out and the bit touches! What is it called?
Anyway, mine won't flip out anymore.
Any ideas?

Thanks.

[atauer]

Hal,

The flipper is called a "bit plate". There could be several reasons as to why its not coming out:

Y Belt loose
Y truck is obstructed by foreign object
Bit Plate has dirt or saw dust obstructing it
Plate may need oiled

Try blowing the area around the bit plate out really good with compressed air. Also, make sure the y-truck assembly is clean and the belt is tightened. Be careful with the tightness though. Too tight could cause problems as well.

Also, manually push the plate out and squirt a little WD40 on the spring. Then work the plate in and out to work in the oil.

If that doesn't work, give our tech team a call and they will gladly assist further.

[HelpBot3000]

Just an additional to Alex's advise, if you are going to lubricate the bit plate spring make sure you spray on the underside of the bit plate to reach it properly. If you spray on the top some might trickle down into place but it will not have near the impact of spraying from the underside.

[atauer]

. If you spray on the top some might trickle down into place but it will not have near the impact of spraying from the underside.

Very true. I always forget that little piece of information. Better put it on a post note and stick it to my monitor!

:)

[Reset]

Very true. I always forget that little piece of information. Better put it on a post note and stick it to my monitor! :)

Trick is to find it when you need it...

Tommy :)

[atauer]

Tommy,

Where did you get that picture of my desk from?

[Reset]

I'm not say'n :)

But they sent me a picture of your car also.

(see he does take his work home with him...)


Tommy :)

[atauer]

The hard part of work is the drive home!

[h_kench]

compressed air and some wd-40 worked.
Then I had another problem!

There are 4 little wheels that are on the corners of the chuck that grip the slide rails.
One of them worked itself loose and popped off while I was carving. Good thing I was standing near by and heard a starnge pop.
I got the machine stopped, and replaced the piece and it worked properly for the rest of the carve.:-D

[ChrisAlb]

The little flipper on the side that pops out and the bit touches! What is it called?
Anyway, mine won't flip out anymore.
Any ideas?

Thanks.

Hi Hal,

If the plate isn't coming out, the most likely cause is the truck isn't traveling far enough over to hit it and push it out. Most likely this is due to some obstruction. With the machine off (no servo motor resistance), push the truck over to the plate with your hand. It should travel freely and move the bit plate out. If not, look for anything preventing this. On my machine, it was always the cut motor wires running down from the cover in the upper rear corner on the bit plate side.

I've never had to lube the plate on my machine. But if you do for some reason, I'd like to suggest NOT using WD-40. WD-40 is NOT a lubricant but a rust inhibitor and in my experience, really has no place at all on the CW. I'd recommend a drop of 3 in 1 or, being very careful, a "little" silicone spray.

I personally avoid using any "spray" at all on the CW. It's gets all over if you're not really careful. I do use a silicone spray on the vertical posts but I spray it on a rag and then wipe it on the posts.

Just my 2 cents.http://forum.carvewright.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[atauer]

compressed air and some wd-40 worked.
Then I had another problem!

There are 4 little wheels that are on the corners of the chuck that grip the slide rails.
One of them worked itself loose and popped off while I was carving. Good thing I was standing near by and heard a starnge pop.
I got the machine stopped, and replaced the piece and it worked properly for the rest of the carve.:-D

Hal,

Do you mean that the bearing came off or the black piece that covers the bearing came off? The bearing shouldn't have been able to work itself loose. The only time I have ever seen a bearing come off during use is when the truck broke at the bearing.

Can you post pictures of the part that came loose?

[wooden nickel]

I would bet it is that bearing sweep,if the machine continued on for the rest of the carve.
wooden nickel

[Digitalwoodshop]

WD 40 will mess with your head if you plan to stain and finish the wood project. I causes fish eyes due to the silicone. Even spray paint on wood with WD 40 will give you fish eyes.

AL

[jcorder]

I had a problem the other night during a carve with the bit plate not popping out. I opened the lid and took a small, stiff bristled brush and slipped it up under the bit plate. I thought I had cleaned completely, but nope I sure had not, it had a pile of sawdust under it. I cleaned it all out, closed the lid and hit enter and it worked just fine.

Good luck
Jeff

[Kenm810]

It's a favorite spot for Chips and Dust to accumulate,
a little air and a small brush can do wonders for it.

[fwharris]

Another thing to look at (especially if you take the cover off often) is the plastic wire cover guard on the wires going from the cut motor to the switch on the cover. It will interfere with the zmotor going all the way over.

I removed mine and have had very few bit plate problems.

Also while at the Woodworking show in Denver, I checked out the 2 machines that CW had set up in the booth and both of them had the guard removed.

[Kenm810]

With and without plastic guard shield

[HelpBot3000]

One other idea about the bit plate is every once in a while (and yes it is a rare thing but it happens) the plate gets bent just slightly and scrapes the inside of the side panel as its trying to flip out. If that turns out to be the case, CAREFULLY bend it just slightly to get full clearance. Again, not common but not unheard of.

[h_kench]

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47b8cf00b3127ccec5fe541dcd7100000040O02AbOWThm2Ysg e3nws/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D550/ry%3D400/

The red wheel is the one that popped off.

[atauer]

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47b8cf00b3127ccec5fe541dcd7100000040O02AbOWThm2Ysg e3nws/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D550/ry%3D400/

The red wheel is the one that popped off.

Hal,

Was it the wheel or the black cover came off?

If it was the wheel, did the truck appear to be broke or did the screw simply come loose?

[HelpBot3000]

I had a problem the other night during a carve with the bit plate not popping out. I opened the lid and took a small, stiff bristled brush and slipped it up under the bit plate. I thought I had cleaned completely, but nope I sure had not, it had a pile of sawdust under it. I cleaned it all out, closed the lid and hit enter and it worked just fine.

Good luck
Jeff

Good tip Jeff! Sometimes I get ahead of myself and the super-obvious resolutions go right by me. I know all of us at some point get so busy building a better mouse trap that we forget to try ordinary cheese. :)

[supershingler]

dont forget to clean the top of the flipper where the bit touches or it will stick also. i had that happen to me last night. just cleaned the top and blew out behind it and it is working great

kendall

[BlueRocco]

My flipper (bit plate) was getting stuck. I cleaned the thing, trimmed down the sweep, put a little oil on the spring side (bottom) and it still would get stuck. I finally found it was wedging the end of itself against the side of the case. Trimmed the case back a little with a dremmil and a grinding stone. now it seems to work fine. Flip,Flip,Flip ......

[Kenm810]

BlueRocco,

Welcome to the CW Forum, and Thanks for Sharing you repair explanation.
We all learn a little more about these machines
every time someone posts a solution that we can add to our what to do list.

[h_kench]

Hal,

Was it the wheel or the black cover came off?

If it was the wheel, did the truck appear to be broke or did the screw simply come loose?

The screw worked its way out.

[Beerfaced]

Ever since new my bit plate never came out far enough. Sometimes the bit would scrape down along side it or at best hit it right on it's edge. I checked for dust, I lubed it and examined the cut motor wires etc but found no obvious problem. I decided to stick a small sliver of wood onto the edge of the Y truck right where it contacts the bit plate. The plate now extends out perfectly and the bit strikes it dead center.
On another note...yesterday I noticed the head seemed too hard to crank up. Upon examination I realised the lock was only releasing on the far side. The lockdown draw rod for the near side had slipped out of the handle. While I was able to get it back in I could not get it to stay. Seems the tip that protrudes up into the hole in the handle was just a little short and the clearance below it allowed it to drop down and out. I took it apart and inserted a plastic washer to take up that clearance for now. Works fine but I will have to replace it with a steel one sometime as I doubt the plastic will last long.
Hope this helps. I'm sure someone else will eventually have this problem too.
On the lighter side I just finished 3 mirrors for my grandkids and they turned out great. I'm still in the learning curve though so I can't get too cocky yet;)

Robert

[Kenm810]

Robert,

Thanks for sharing your experience with the Red lock down lever and the explanation of how you dealt with it.
Like I've often mentioned before every little bit of info about these Machines helps all of us carvers.