Money Pit?

[miner4t9r]

Does anyone here get a descent amount of carving without any breakdowns?
I have had my machine for a year now and really don’t use it much. I may have done 30 signs in a year.
It’s been returned twice for repairs. I got it back the last time in October. First carving since then I stripped a flex shaft. Now that I have repaired it, I can hardly get a project carved without some error and a ruined piece of wood. Mostly y axis stall errors. Almost every time it offsets the carving or just carves a line toward the key pad side. I have a pile of wasted wood. But I do get some projects carved. It’s a hit or miss thing without any known reason. Now my carving bit came apart and has done something to the qc chuck. I can’t get another bit to seat in it. For the money I have paid, this machine is a joke.
Anyway, enough of the crying. Can anybody tell me what is wrong with this machine? I will eventually send it in for repairs again, but I desperately need to get some Christmas carvings done now. I have searched all over the forum and haven,t found anything that helps. Any ideas?
Thanks......

[chebytrk]

Well....... as many have said here before.... "there is a learning curve" with the CW. My machine has also given me different problems at different times, but someone here is ALWAYS there to help me find the problem no matter how small it is. I've learned that it takes lots of patience with this CW and lots of reading and learning about this machine. Some times I've learned the hard way and it's cost me some bucks, but I've later found out that it could have been prevented if I would have only read up and used a little "caution" sense. Even though I've cursed my CW I've also talked nice to it because as I've learned more and more about it, I waste less and less wood. I still don't feel I'm as good as many on this board, but I do know that when I need help I just holler and "they come running" to help me out. I think that's what impresses me most about this forum. No one here talks anyone down on their skills. Personally I always get the feeling that these guys here don't want me to fail and are always there to pick me up when I fall or start having a "coniption" with my projects. : ) I still don't feel too worthy in giving advice or ideas, but I will some day I'm sure. As long as we've got people like Mike T., DBFletcher, BJBethke, Doug, DocWheeler, RJustice, AskBud, AL Who?, Ken810, Ike, Robbrigg2, LG, FWHarris and countless others... Hey, I'm good. Me and my CW just need to spend a little more time together before I can understand her. Kinda like my "sugarbooger" that I've been married to for 38yrs.... just hope it don't take that long for "shanita" my CW.

[miner4t9r]

Thanks for the reply. Maybe someone you mentioned will have an answer for me. Looks like I am not going to get my carvings done for Christmas. If a new chuck was all I needed, I can’t get it before the 23 rd. I don’t know about the Rock and if I can get it any sooner. I have read that the Rock chuck solves many problems but I couldn’t find what sort of problems they were referring to.

[rjustice]

Thanks for the reply. Maybe someone you mentioned will have an answer for me. Looks like I am not going to get my carvings done for Christmas. If a new chuck was all I needed, I can’t get it before the 23 rd. I don’t know about the Rock and if I can get it any sooner. I have read that the Rock chuck solves many problems but I couldn’t find what sort of problems they were referring to.

Hi Miner4t9r,
I have the Rock chuck system in stock ready to ship tomorrow. If you order tonight you would have it by Wed or Thurs by ordering USPS Priority shipping. A few advantages are a simple 1/8 -1/4 turn of a "T" handle to remove the tool and replace. Very simple, 4 piece design, the only moving part is the clamp nut when you loosen the clamp screw. The chuck is balanced, so you will notice a reduction in noise and vibration, as well as several other failures that many on the fourm say have been caused by the QC vibration. I have many customers that have over 500 hours on their machines now with no probems since changing over to to the Rock Chuck system.

Please review the videos, and other links below in my signature for more information.

As far as your "Y" stall, first off, how many hours do you have on your carving bit. It could be as simple as a dull bit. The next thing to consider is how freely the axis moves. if you turn off and unplug the machine, then let it sit for a while you should be able to freely move the truck back and forth. It is possible that you could have sawdust buildup inside the belt track, and/or in the belt cogs. The other thing would be pitch buildup on the rails. Take some wd-40 spray it on a rag, and wipe them down thouroughly. After doing so, try to rotate the bearings to see if any of them slip on the rails. They should be snug, and not rotate... once you clean everything up and work the axis back and forth several times, it should be smooth and move easily.... I would then try another carving. It is quite likely that it will work fine afterwards.

Good luck, and thank you for your interest in the Rock Chuck system...

Ron

[miner4t9r]

Ron, I have about 30 hours on this bit. I have checked the axis movement and it is a little hard to move with the power on and moves freely after the power is off a few minutes. I have blown out, vacuumed and lubricated over and over. I will check the bearings for slippage. I can’t carve anything until I get a new chuck. I can’t get a bit in this one. The bit came out during the last carve and must have scuffed something in the chuck.

[dbfletcher]

Ron, I have about 30 hours on this bit. I have checked the axis movement and it is a little hard to move with the power on and moves freely after the power is off a few minutes. I have blown out, vacuumed and lubricated over and over. I will check the bearings for slippage. I can’t carve anything until I get a new chuck. I can’t get a bit in this one. The bit came out during the last carve and must have scuffed something in the chuck.

If you search the forum you will see lots and lots of extremely enthusiastic comments about the rock chuck. No so long ago I was in a very similiar situation to you. It was very hit or miss (mostly miss) whether i could complete a project with out one error or another popping up during the carve. FWIW... I have not broke a single bit since changing to the rock, and I have not had a failed project (knock on wood). It is easily the best money I have spent in the last year. I routinely do 5,6,7 hours carves and dont even think about it anymore. With the QC I was always afriad to step away from the machine for more than a few minutes becuase somthing always seems to go wrong. Where all my problems caused by the QC? I really dont know, but the change to the rock is the ONLY thing that has changed since then.

Good luck... with some patients and a well setup machine you can turn out fantastic project after project once you get the kinks worked out.

Are you using anytime of dust collection? Dust seems to be the next biggest enemy of your machine after issues with qc and belt drift.

Doug Fletcher

[Tacis]

First of all on the RC, it cleared a ton of the issues I had. The infamous Y Axis stall. See the attached for specific points:

1. The Y-Motor Screws can sometime get the Y-Motor not correctly aligned and this creates and issue
2. The bearing on the Z-Truck. Move it up and down and watch the bearings to make sure they are spinning. Also verify that they have not come loose that there is no play in the Z-Truck
3. Make sure the screw holding the Y-Belt tensioning pulley is not loose.

Hope this helps.

Get the RC. It will help a lot

[WRW]

miner4t9r
The facts as I know them.
In the first 80 hours on my Carvewright I blew up 2 QC chucks. I understand that the QC was to stand for Quick Change (A great concept in theory) however as they would clog up with sawdust during a carve, they would often jam and take several minutes to work lose. The Rock chuck changes in seconds every time ( as long as you keep the notch in the bit away from the bolt that tightens the Rock).
When I was running the QC I would measure the temperature of the bend in the flex shaft on a regular basis at the same point in the care each time to ensure it did not over heat, and if need be stop the carve for a while to let it cool. After the install of the Rock Chuck the flex shaft measure 20 degrees less at the same spot in the shaft at the same time in the carve. (Down side of that is less heat in the workshop during the winter LOL)
One last point, Noise, with the QC I knew if the carver was still working as I walked up to my workshop as it was louder then the other equipment running. Now I have to be in the shop door to know if the carver is still carving as the dust collection is louder then the Rock.
220 Hours + on carver now and I no longer need to use my laser thermometer on the flex shaft.
Just my 2 cents.
Happy Carving and Have a Great Holiday Season

[miner4t9r]

I ordered the Rock this morning. I hope it makes that much of a difference. I am at the point that I wished I never bought this machine. With all my other problems, I don't need this much aggravation
I still can’t get the connection between the chuck and the y axis errors.
When this happens, the carving goes crazy. It offsets the carved image for a while then carves a line off the the board toward the panel side and BINGO it gets an error code.

[DocWheeler]

miner4t9r,

Your description of what is happening to you sounds like the belt is jumping a cog. This could be from several causes, but my experience suggests that you either have something causing drag in the Y truck (bearings, dust on the tracks, or dust in the belt) and/or the machine screw holding the Y belt idler is loose. The screw is near the CutMotor and above the fiberboard cover, this screw needs to be tight. Loosen it up so the spring pulls on the belt and then tighten it firmly.

Just my thoughts,