Need help in SE Texas

[jeff412]

My machine is down again. Is there anyone in SE Texas around Beaumont that could help me finish a carve. I started making a fishing rod holder for a Christmas present and the belt ripped. I only have one piece left to finish. I've got a new one on order, but I don't think it will get here in time.

Thanks,
Jeff

[supershingler]

jeff

did you belts tear on the ends or in the middle

i had one tear on the end from low head pressure and i just trimed alittle off that end and got by until the new ones arrived

if theyre tracking and pulling to front or back you might want to check your head pressure

good luck hope you finish on time

kendall

[jeff412]

Unfortunately it ripped in the Y direction about 3/4 of the belt. I haven't had real good luck with this machine. I actually have a new machine on order. I am going to take this one back to Sear's. I bought it with 15 hours already on it and it has had many issues. I have 48 hours on it now and really look forward to a new one.

Jeff

[supershingler]

jeff

how wide is the board you carving

could up turn the belt around and get by for now

like for instance if your board is 6" wide and the tear is three from the bottom maybe you could just turn it around and get done

just a thought

kendall

[Jeff_Birt]

I haven't had real good luck with this machine. I actually have a new machine on order. I am going to take this one back to Sear's. I bought it with 15 hours already on it and it has had many issues. I have 48 hours on it now and really look forward to a new one.

The belt ripping is a sign that something is wrong. You should get hundreds of hours from a set of belts. You need to take a good look at your machine. Belt ripping is a sign of incorrect head pressure, an out of level head or a board getting jammed in the machine. All of these things are predominantly user related.

I don't say this to pick on you or to pick a fight but rather just to make you think. It does not matter how many machines you buy and return none of them will work if you don't take a bit of care in their use and upkeep. I just hate seeing good people cause themselves so much grief.

Take care of your machine and it will take care of you...

[jeff412]

Jeff,

I understand what you are saying. I have read a great deal on this board and have learned a lot. I feel that I have a good working knowledge of the machine. If it is THAT difficult to keep running, then it is not for me. If it will not work for me then it won't work for 90% of the people out there. If I have to check the head pressure with a scale after every carve then again, it's not for me or 90% of the potential users. You can't always blame the user.

Jeff

[jeff412]

I just needed help finishing a carve for a christmas present and instead I get, "You don't know what you're doing". Thanks!

[Jeff_Birt]

I'm not always blaming the user, merely trying to get folks to take a good look at what they might be doing inadvertently to cause themselves grief. Again, I don't like to see all the good folks on here having problems. The machine has had some weak areas that the crew at CW attacked head on and improved the parts for us. Besides, I don't care about blame. I care about everyone having fun using their machine. So finding the root cause of problems, whatever the source, is the goal.

It takes me from 5-15 minutes to clean up my machine after a days carving. That's all, it's very easy to do. I am 100% confident that everyone can do exactly the same thing.

For example, your belts ripped. Why? The biggest trouble I have had with belts stems from me pushing the sliding guide plate up too tight against the wood. Come to think of it I did make my large sled 1/8" too wide and it got stuck in the machine once. Luckily I caught it right away and only wound up with a slightly rolled under belt. I cut 1/4" of one side and am still using it a year later.

My philosophy with machines not working right is to wonder what I did wrong. It not always my 'fault', it's only my 'fault' 99% of the time:). But by approaching the problem this way it let's me track down the root cause and fix it.

So if I ripped a belt I would wonder why. That would lead me to check all the common things that folks here talk about. I suspect that I would find the cause was related to one of them. So lesson learned and i know what to look for next time.

I did exactly that with my top spindle bearing. I over lubricated my flex shaft and the lubed ran down into the top bearing and ruined it. The heck of it was that I knew better. I had read the proper procedure from CW but I screwed it up. So it was 100% operator error and by finding the cause of the problem and admitting that to myself that I screwed it up I can avoid every having that same error again.

So my friend, my cause is not to try and place blame but to help folks enjoy their machines as much as I do. So I try to help folks avoid the common mistakes that we all have made. And look at the thanks that I get for it?

[jeff412]

jeff

how wide is the board you carving

could up turn the belt around and get by for now

like for instance if your board is 6" wide and the tear is three from the bottom maybe you could just turn it around and get done

just a thought

kendall


It is a 12" board. I don't think there is enough belt left to carve it. There is about 4 or 5" of good belt left. Do you think that is enough to get a good carve?

Jeff

[Jeff_Birt]

There is about 4 or 5" of good belt left. Do you think that is enough to get a good carve?

I think you would have to center the remaining piece of belt under the board. That would keep it from wanting to skew. If your keeping the board under rollers it might work. You could always try a small test carve to see.

I have a spare set of belts I can send you but I suspect that the ones from CW would make it to you sooner. Good luck...

[jeff412]

Jeff,
I understand. Perhaps I over reacted a bit. I am just frustrated that it is this close to Christmas and the projects that I had planned aren't going to get finished. I have spent a lot of time on the phone with tech support for this machine. It is one of the older models, so I had to start off by replacing the Z pack. The person that had it before me had messed up the chuck, so it was ruining my bit adapters. I had to replace that and the adapters. The cover switch failed, so I had to replace that. When I got it, it already had 15 hours on it. I've put another 33 hours on it. I don't know what could have caused the belt to tear. At this point I don't want to do a post mortem. I just want one that is new, so I can take care of it and not worry about the previous owner's poor maintenance. Thanks for the tips and keep them coming.

Jeff

[Jeff_Birt]

At this point I don't want to do a post mortem. I just want one that is new, so I can take care of it


I can understand your frustration in wanting to get your gifts done. I'm just afraid that if you put a new set of belts on right away they may rip as well if there is some underlying cause. It's curious that it ripped in the Y-direction, I don't remember hearing that one before. Hmmmm.....will have to think on it a spell.

And sorry I know I come off a bit crass sometimes. But the effort to help is genuine.

[jeff412]

I'm pretty sure I know what happened to the belt. I had a piece of a cutout break loose and get wedged between the belt and the metal bar in the bottom. That happened on the carve immediately before the one where the belt tore. It was probably ripped underneath where I couldn't see it. I had forgotten about that until just now.

Jeff

[Jeff_Birt]

Ah, that would do it! Glad you figured it out. You should be able to pop in a new set of belts with no worries now. Me being me, I might take the opportunity to check the head for level, and head pressure after putting it back together. Starting with Designer V1.131 you can control the # and height of tabs. This can be real handy if you have some real difficult pieces that like to pop out.

[jeff412]

10-4

Jeff