Evaluate This One

[mifflinlake]

Attached is a carving I was going to make for my mother for Christmas. Not sure how well the picture will carve, but am going to try it. My one question is when I go to upload it to the card it gives me a message about jigging. Do I want to ignore, manual or auto jig? Any advise would be appreciated. Just got the CW friday and am ready to do my first carve. The picture is of my father, he was a carver, all by hand.

Thanks,

John

[FiddlemakerMills]

There are some things that need to be changed before you carve. What is the thickness of the board that you want to use. You have the board setting @.875

The board will have to be 2 inches wider then the board setting to get your pattern to carve correctly ( the rollers need to keep pressure on the project to avoid this error). Dont forget to add 8 inches to the legnth of the board that you load into the machine. This will allow the board to stay under the rollers.

Then if the above is done, slect ignore
Load board
choose stay under rollers
center on board
keep origonal size

Wait for other replies before carving I may have missed something.

Carl

[mtylerfl]

Attached is a carving I was going to make for my mother for Christmas. Not sure how well the picture will carve, but am going to try it. My one question is when I go to upload it to the card it gives me a message about jigging. Do I want to ignore, manual or auto jig? Any advise would be appreciated. Just got the CW friday and am ready to do my first carve. The picture is of my father, he was a carver, all by hand.

Thanks,

John

Hello John,

You may want to read the Tips & Tricks (free). The Dec '07 issue explains the "Auto-Jig" among other things.

Short explanation: You will get that "false message" when you make a design that just fits to the ends of the virtual board (that's what I always do myself.). As long as you add 7" to your real board you put into the machine, you can safely select "Ignore".

But...read the Tips for a more detailed description and more info about setting up projects correctly and avoiding common "newbie" mistakes.

Your layout looks great, but the board itself is too long...you added the 7" to the virtual board. Reduce the width of the virtual board to just fit the design. Then make your REAL board with the extra 7".

You should have at least a 1/2" clearance at the top of your board for cutpaths. Your dad's head is going beyond that. Either use a wider board (11.25" which is a 12" nominal) or move or reduce the size of the photo so that it leaves the proper clearance at the top,

[ChrisAlb]

Attached is a carving I was going to make for my mother for Christmas. Not sure how well the picture will carve, but am going to try it. My one question is when I go to upload it to the card it gives me a message about jigging. Do I want to ignore, manual or auto jig? Any advise would be appreciated. Just got the CW friday and am ready to do my first carve. The picture is of my father, he was a carver, all by hand.

Thanks,

John

Hi John,

As Carl said, you may want to check the thickness of the board you're carving on. Be sure your file matches it or you'll confuse the new 1.131 software for the cut out.

On the width I think you'll be fine. As long as you have at least a 1/2" to from your carve/cut to the edges of the board, you're OK. You do, Dad's hat is .564" from the top.

Now, on the length, always make your design board "just" big enough to put your carving on and then add the 7" to the REAL board. I know some folks like to go 8 but you really only need 7".

So in this case, I changed the design board to 18" long which means you'll need a 25" long REAL board to stay under rollers. I recommend staying under rollers anytime you have a cutout.

I changed the feather around Dad to 1/8 as well. Since you're cutting around him and he's in a carved region, you really don't need a 1/4" or more feather. Not a big point here but it allows the design board to be 18" instead of 18-1/4". just saving wood whenever I can...LOL

Let us know how it turns out...http://forum.carvewright.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

[mtylerfl]

There are some things that need to be changed before you carve. What is the thickness of the board that you want to use. You have the board setting @.875

The board will have to be 2 inches wider then the board setting to get your pattern to carve correctly ( the rollers need to keep pressure on the project to avoid this error). Dont forget to add 8 inches to the legnth of the board that you load into the machine. This will allow the board to stay under the rollers.

Then if the above is done, slect ignore
Load board
choose stay under rollers
center on board
keep origonal size

Wait for other replies before carving I may have missed something.

Carl

Hello Carl,

The board does not need to be 2" wider, nor do you need to add 8" to the length - it's 7".;)

[mtylerfl]

Just a couple notes on what Chris said...the cutpath at the top of the head is extending slightly beyond the 1/2"...I would recommend adding a little more clearance, but it would still probably carve alright because I THINK the machine will miss the Brass Roller when it does the cutout by adding a large TAB over that area. I personally woudn't take the chance but you can try it if you like.

Chris made a good point about the thickness setting. If your board is indeed .875" thick, you'll be fine. If not, reset the thickness in Designer to match the board.

A feather around a carve is not only for cosmetic purposes. It helps the carving bit "ease" into a carve area instead of plunging down "radically". A feather has an added benefit of reducing the amount of material for the cutting bit when performing a cutpath on a feathered area. I often put a small feather around cutouts just for that reason - especially when performing full-depth cutouts.

Hope the additional info helps!

[mifflinlake]

Thanks to everyone for all your advice. Hopefully someday I will be able to offer same valid advice myself.

[mifflinlake]

I carved the sign I had been working on. This was my first time using the CW. I didn't have great expectations for the picture turning out, but it came out pretty good. I really wanted to see how well it carved a picture. Even the wife was impressed with the picture, I told her it wouldn't turn out too good. Time to do a clean up and put it to bed for the night.

[mtylerfl]

I carved the sign I had been working on. This was my first time using the CW. I didn't have great expectations for the picture turning out, but it came out pretty good. I really wanted to see how well it carved a picture. Even the wife was impressed with the picture, I told her it wouldn't turn out too good. Time to do a clean up and put it to bed for the night.

Hello,

Do you have a photo you can post so we can see the result? Sounds like it came out great!

[mifflinlake]

Here is the finished plaque. It is carved in Red Oak with a light pecan stain. Thanks for all your help.

John

[mtylerfl]

Here is the finished plaque. It is carved in Red Oak with a light pecan stain. Thanks for all your help.

John

Very Nice! Good job!

[Dan-Woodman]

John
Part of the learning curve is what wood to use . I think with the details of a picture ,Cherry might be a better choice , or birch , or maple. Something without an open grain. I usually use what I have and usually thats Oak, but witha picture I think I'd try something else.
later Daniel

[ChrisAlb]

Just a couple notes on what Chris said...the cutpath at the top of the head is extending slightly beyond the 1/2"...I would recommend adding a little more clearance, but it would still probably carve alright because I THINK the machine will miss the Brass Roller when it does the cutout by adding a large TAB over that area. I personally woudn't take the chance but you can try it if you like.

!

I do cut outs to within a 1/4 of the edge all the time. Some times even an 1/8. The CW knows enough not to cut the brass roller. It WILL rise up until clear. At a hair beyond 3/8, it will cut right through. I never had a problem.

[mtylerfl]

I do cut outs to within a 1/4 of the edge all the time. Some times even an 1/8. The CW knows enough not to cut the brass roller. It WILL rise up until clear. At a hair beyond 3/8, it will cut right through. I never had a problem.


Yep, I think AL mentioned he does cutouts right to the edge too. If I recall, he mentioned the machine is indeed smart enough to miss the brass roller just fine. Thank you for the additional verification!