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Hi. Why are my carvings suddenly going crooked? I have gone through all the recommended checks on the options button and everything is correct. I have greased the four poles and made sure the machine is clean of dust. Why is this happening? I am tired of having to throw away boards!
Thanks!
Hi Linda,
It appears to me that there is resistance against the head.
So a couple of questions:
1 Do you have a dust collection system?
2 Are you cleaning the rails between each job, the ones the head travels along
3 I see you just recently joined the forum, is your machine new? Depending on the two questions above, you may want to remove the covers from the bearings that travel along the rails and clean them. I use a lint free cloth soaked in WD40 to clean them. Put the cloth against the bearings and move the head left and right. Then re-oil the bearings and rails. Sometimes chips and saw dust gets under them and clogs things up. I do that once a week, which might be overkill :)
4 If you press down on the belt behind the head, does it have a lot of give? There is a self tensioning screw on the far right that will tune that up if it is too tight or loose. Just loosen it, then re-tighten.
As a side note, you may want to add some draft to your lettering. It's the icon that looks like an upside down T. The straight side walls will chip out as the bit clears the surface.
And for the small lettering, try going to half the height. It will still stand out, but won't seem so thin.
Just a thought, do you have the squaring plate slid up to the the board?