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Setting up to run a rotary project for the first time. Running the rotary calibration, the machine rotates well past the starting point for the calibration. I use the arrow keys to rotate it back to the starting point, press 1 to keep, and the machine gives me a Calibration Range Error. Any suggestions?
Check this thread: New Rotary Jig. Calibration error
Thanks, but I read that entire thread before posting. I checked the head pressure and my problems continue regardless of how many times I try.
Awhile back Bergerud developed an alternate setup for the Rotary Jig. Essentially, it eliminates all of the pulleys and belts and uses a drive rail instead of a belt rolling on the rubber belts of the CW. We talked about it in the senior member forum and I have used it exclusively since then. It really does work much better than the original design. One only has to calibrate once and the jig works good every time. If it's okay with him, I will post the pics and the setup info here. However, I must add, this is not a project for the faint of heart. It requires tinkering and modifications to the jig.
Thanks. I would be interested in learning about the mod.
For what it's worth, the head pressure is 90 pounds. The jig is set and aligned per the instructions. I've gone over it, step by step, at least two dozen times. The jig simply does not want to calibrate.
Try playing with the head pressure. Crank the head all the way down on the jig and "bump" it back a little. Also, be sure the project board is not too tight in the jig.
Here is a pic of my setup. Note the absence of all belts and pulleys and the shim under the right end of the jig for leveling. The ends of the jig are resting on the alignment plate on the left and the sliding plate on the right.
Just tried bumping the pressures back. No luck. Project board seems to be OK in the jig, it turns freely by hand. Also, for what it's worth, I tried calibrating with the jig in my second machine, got almost identical results.
Unfortunately, the rotary jig seems very fickle to calibrate. LHR has said that it works better with more head pressure. Push down a little on the head as you crank it down. Make sure the jig is right up against the squaring plate .
Thanks. I've already tried more head pressure via pressing down and everything is perfectly aligned. and set. I'm at the point now where I'm looking at a $350 piece of garbage that I know LHR will blame me for having problems with. Beyond frustrated at this point.
Try this tutorial: ACCESSORIES / Rotary Jig / Troubleshooting Rotary Jig Calibration
For me, the jig had issues even when it was new. While using the original setup I tried everything. Even disassembling the jig and adding an extra washer behind the geared drive wheel to keep it from rubbing. Removing the jig from the machine and starting over again didn't help much either. There was a difference in the rotational calibration most of the time and getting the same results each time was difficult. If I was lucky enough to finally get it to calibrate there were still issues with the rotation not going a full 360 degrees. There are procedures to force an over carve but that didn't seem to help much either.
You had stated that you had tried increasing the head pressure by following the instructions so I thought decreasing it or playing with it may help.
I uploaded a video of myself going through the calibration process. If anyone sees what I am doing wrong, I'd appreciate it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-nI9X1TASc
Also, here are some photos of the jig, the setup, and the scale showing the head pressure that I get by "leaning" on the machine a bit.
Attachment 86170Attachment 86171Attachment 86172
I followed that tutorial to the letter about a dozen times already. No luck. Thanks.Quote:
Originally Posted by dbemus
So, the bottom line here is this (correct me if I am wrong): pay $350 for a rotary jig from LHR, find out it does not work as advertised, hack it apart, and try to build a mod that actually works. Such mod no doubt invalidates the warranty and guarantees no support on the jig going forward (assuming there ever was a warranty on the jig in the first place).
Am I the only one that sees a problem with this? :confused:
My Rotary Jig works perfectly. I will swap mine for yours because I’m confident yours will work for me too.
I’m serious. Contact me if you are interested.
My rotary jig works perfectly for me too!!! Congrats to Michael for his generous offer!
Thank you for your generous offer. I am not confident that your jig will work any better for me than the one I have. I posted a video below of me going through the calibration process. I posted photos, too. What would be great is if someone would watch the video and help me figure out what is going wrong, i.e., what am I doing incorrectly. Without that knowledge, swapping jigs is not likely to make much of a difference.Quote:
Originally Posted by mtylerfl
Your video doesn't open for me. All I see is a black rectangle??? I will be traveling tomorrow, but hopefully someone can open the video and help. I am sure a solution will be found!
I think all of us that are having trouble with the jig are just making this stuff up to cause trouble. All joking aside, I really don't know why some seem to have nothing but trouble with the jig and others do not. I would like to see some statistics on how many are actually using the jig without any problems. When I was making the candle holders I ruined a couple of hundred dollars of exotic wood before switching to the drive rail setup.
Hi Steve,
I’m not sure why some have trouble and some do not. Things to check have been covered pretty well here and in the Support Section of the CW website. I feel it’s got to be at least “one” of those issues that are the source of problems.
Correct placement of the jig and even head and head pressure are perhaps the most critical. The Jig is such a simple mechanism, there’s not much that can be “defective” it seems to me.
It does bother me that some folks wrestle with it and cant enjoy it as intended.
I bothers me also but what bothers me more is that I can't enjoy it as intended. Although it may be a factor, I really don't think that it is all "user error". The design of belts rolling on belts and the geared tooth belt rolling on smooth idler pulleys may be factors also.Quote:
Originally Posted by mtylerfl
All I can say is, I have gone over all of those things again and again and again. I posted photos and video of me following the directions and support information to the letter. Every tip and trick, I tried. If you want to say "user error," go ahead, but please look at the video and photos and tell me what the user error is.Quote:
Originally Posted by mtylerfl
Unfortunately, it’s impossible to tell from the video whether you are doing anything wrong. I would have to be with you in person to observe first-hand, and put it in your machine myself.
I would also also check to make sure your head is Level so that it is applying even pressure from one end of the Jig to the other.
I would check to see if the rubber belts are interfering with the Calibration, as well. The data for rotation/travel comes from the brass roller. That data is shared with data of the x motor. Data comparison never matches, so the computer makes small corrections in real time. If anything is goofing with the data at either end of the jig, the calibration will be off. So it is important the head is Level, jig is secure in proper position and head pressure is neither too low nor too high (squishing the jig too much and possibly throwing off the data).
i would also check your MPC and project settings while at the machine for correctness.
Can you move next door to me, please? It would make troubleshooting a lot easier! :)
I spent quite a bit of time experimenting with the rotary jig to determine why it is so sensitive to head pressure. My many rail driven prototypes were not sensitive to head pressure at all. My conclusion was that the problem is caused by the use of smooth idler pulleys with the timing belt. Squeezing the teeth of the timing belt against these smooth pulleys alters the effective length of the timing belt as it rolls along. This distortion would vary with head pressure.
Since this system is so sensitive, the cause in this case, may be difficult to determine:
Maybe you need to shift the rubber belts on the CW closer to the squaring plate. (Is the timing belt completely on the CW belts?)
Maybe the rubber damper under the board sensor is missing or not pressing the brass roller hard enough against the timing belt.
Maybe the jig is pressing the board sensor down so far that the O ring is rubbing on the front CW belt.
Maybe you have the wrong O ring on the board sensor? (Try taking it off.)
Maybe the timing belt manufacturer has changed the properties of the rubber belt. Maybe you need a different belt.
That is all I can think off at the moment! I hope you get it working.