Too Thick?

[James RS]

Ok kinda confused on this one,I am making a box 3/4" from a thick board, I set the depths not to cut all the way through on the first pass. Selected the 1/8" cutting bit, I attached the Mpc file. What confuses me is this I can select a bit and have it cut through but there's no tabs.
I made a rectangle and used cut path with a max depth of .25 seems right to me, but hey I'm still learning anyway loaded the board went through all the prompts correctly carve the design on the back first ask that I flip the board. Did that measured again then I get Too Thick Cannot cut? with Abort or Continue. I hit continue it asked for the 1/8" bit and it routed the channels first then it proceeded to do the cutting. Any ideas, should I have done something differently? And my bit got stuck again even after I cleaned the holder out and applied 3 in 1 oil.

Many Thanks,
Jim

[Digitalwoodshop]

As for the stuck bit. I have had that with a 1/8 inch bit because of the screws in the bit holder. The allen head was expanded slightly. A file took care of the bit problem.

As for the Too THICK... I get that too with 1.131 and believe LHR will fix it next update. For some reason it wants the V90 bit in some of my projects first and gives the too thick error then asks for the 1/8 inch cut path bit and goes on just fine.

It could be it is asking the the V90 first but it should ask for the 1/8 inch cut out bit or the last function bit like it did with older versions.

AL

[James RS]

Thanks Al for the tip on the allen screws, it's weird it only hapens to the 1/8" cutting bit the carving bit releases no problem at all. The too Thick issue it doesn't ask for the V90 at all it prompts for the correct bit 1/8" cutting, I'll just have to wait for the big yellow and black book
Carvewright for Dummies lol

[mtylerfl]

Ok kinda confused on this one,I am making a box 3/4" from a thick board, I set the depths not to cut all the way through on the first pass. Selected the 1/8" cutting bit, I attached the Mpc file. What confuses me is this I can select a bit and have it cut through but there's no tabs.
Many Thanks,
Jim

Hello Jim,

Hopefully you are not assigning a bit manually for your cut paths AND using the cut path tool (it sounds like you may have based upon when you mentioned the absence of tabs!).

Couple pointers:

You do not manually select a bit for cutpaths from the Bit Selection menu - the automatic default when you click the Cut Path Tool is the 1/8" bit for cutpaths and that should be left as-is ...unless you own the new 1/16" cutting bit for very thin material then you can select that particular bit in the Cut Out Control window. You never select a bit for a cut path via the Bit Selection menu. Ever.

If you create your cutpaths properly via just simply clicking on the Cutpath Tool and making your settings in the Cut Out Control, the tabs will always be there. If you deviate from the norm and try to set a bit manually, then you can foul up the works.

Let us know how you make out and if you need further assistance.

[James RS]

Hello Michael,
At first I did assign the path, but after a good nights sleep I thought about it and that was wrong. So I re-did it with the cut path tool, I attached the MPC file so anyone could see.

Thanks,
Jim

[mtylerfl]

Hello Michael,
At first I did assign the path, but after a good nights sleep I thought about it and that was wrong. So I re-did it with the cut path tool, I attached the MPC file so anyone could see.

Thanks,
Jim

Hi Jim,

As long as you still don't have the "combination" of manually assigned bit and the automatic assignment, I guarantee the tabs will be present when you perform the cutouts.

From looking at your mpc, it appears you still have both. That's going to cause you problems.

[liquidguitars]

Jim,

just to counter, you can assign a bit to your box and make your "own tabs" but you will need to set it up a little differently.

draw out the box size you need, right mouse button and use "break connection" adjust the box size to make a tab
and cut on the CNC..

[James RS]

Hi Jim,

As long as you still don't have the "combination" of manually assigned bit and the automatic assignment, I guarantee the tabs will be present when you perform the cutouts.

From looking at your mpc, it appears you still have both. That's going to cause you problems.
No those are for the slots that I routed, I made another one of these and I didn't use the cutting bit. But instead I mad a rectangle and let the carving bit do it ( longer ) that's why you see the bit icons.I had the tabs just couldn't figure out why i got the message too thick.

[James RS]

Jim,

just to counter, you can assign a bit to your box and make your "own tabs" but you will need to set it up a little differently.

draw out the box size you need, right mouse button and use "break connection" adjust the box size to make a tab
and cut on the CNC..

I have thought about that, I might give it a try as I still have to make another one of these anyways.

Thanks,
Jim

[mtylerfl]

Jim,

Yes, you can layout projects with manual tabs (I do it for special projects, such as my Sailboat Project of the Month coming soon), but that wasn't the topic at hand, of course.;)

If you click on one of your rectangle cutpaths, you'll see the cutpath settings when you then click on the Edit Cut Path Tool. Those are fine and dandy.

But, if you then click on the Select Bit Tool, you'll see that you have a manually assigned max pass depth of .25". This is the potential problem. You still have both assignments - the manual and the automatic. Remove the manual assignment (or just re-layout your project altogether) and the project will run as expected, automatic tabs and all.

Creating manual tabs is not advisable unless absolutely necessary, which is much less often now that we have such wonderful control over cut paths in version 1.131 and higher.

[James RS]

Jim,

Yes, you can layout projects with manual tabs (I do it for special projects, such as my Sailboat Project of the Month coming soon), but that wasn't the topic at hand, of course.;)

If you click on one of your rectangle cutpaths, you'll see the cutpath settings when you then click on the Edit Cut Path Tool. Those are fine and dandy.

But, if you then click on the Select Bit Tool, you'll see that you have a manually assigned max pass depth of .25". This is the potential problem. You still have both assignments - the manual and the automatic. Remove the manual assignment (or just re-layout your project altogether) and the project will run as expected, automatic tabs and all.

Creating manual tabs is not advisable unless absolutely necessary, which is much less often now that we have such wonderful control over cut paths in version 1.131 and higher.

Ok I went back and saw what you saw, I changed that.I attached the fixed version ( I hope)

[mtylerfl]

Jim,

The cut paths are correctly setup now. Great work!

Now, there's a couple other things I wanted ask you about...

1) Not knowing what the project outcome is supposed to be, I was wondering if there is a reason why the board is so long in your project layout. Is this the actual total finished size you want? If so, great. If all you're doing is cutting out the rectangle pieces, then it may be better to run the project on a shorter board to avoid having to provide extra support for the project and reduce the chance of tracking/binding/lifting issues.

NOTE: Boards much longer than that have been run very successfully with the proper "outfeed" support, so if your project is indeed already designed at the finished size, then just add a couple roller stands and you're good to go.

2) I also noticed that you have 3.5" from the left edge of the board before the first rectangle layout. Is there a reason for this as well? If that space is necessary for your finished size, then you're all set for that too.

Please let us know if you have questions and/or if there is anything else we may help you with.

[James RS]

Thanks everyone, Michael the 3.5 from the edge is my fault I was thinking of the oversized board.