Head assembly is stuck

[odsratt]

Having problems with machine. Raised the head assembly up to clean out machine and to check sensors. after cleaning the head assembly will not go back down, it acts like it is under preasure. to top it off machine LED is reading in a foregin language. this is getting to be too much of a headache. All I wanted was nice machine to make simple projects. right now most of the stuff i make i can carve by hand using 1600 grit sandpaper faster than i can set them on software and carve them out. and then i still have to clean them up. A sledgehammer is looking good right now for my machine.

[AskBud]

Having problems with machine. Raised the head assembly up to clean out machine and to check sensors. after cleaning the head assembly will not go back down, it acts like it is under preasure. to top it off machine LED is reading in a foregin language. this is getting to be too much of a headache. All I wanted was nice machine to make simple projects. right now most of the stuff i make i can carve by hand using 1600 grit sandpaper faster than i can set them on software and carve them out. and then i still have to clean them up. A sledgehammer is looking good right now for my machine.

Use the hole in the threaded rod on the side oposite the keyboard to free the head (see attachment link below).
http://forum.carvewright.com/attachm...6&d=1272243840

On the LCD, Always - turn off machine before you insert or remove the card. See if that clears the problem.
AskBud

[odsratt]

Use the hole in the threaded rod on the side oposite the keyboard to free the head (see attachment link below).
http://forum.carvewright.com/attachm...6&d=1272243840

On the LCD, Always - turn off machine before you insert or remove the card. See if that clears the problem.
AskBud

Actually the LCD cleared up once the head was freed up. still frustrating that i can carve a small project by hand faster than i can do the set up work, run jigs, and everything on the machine. I gotthis to save time not be a time sink.

[Digitalwoodshop]

The more you learn about the machine the more you can do and the faster you can do stuff.

Spend some times watching AskBud's Videos and the read Tips and Tricks. That will help build you desire to use the machine.

Welcome and Good Luck,

AL

[jaroot]

This machine does have a steep learning curve. But it can do some amazing things. It can be frustrating as H@#$ at times. Ours has broken a couple of times. You kind of have to get to know the machine and learn its little idiosyncrasies. Keep in mind that the next closest thing cost well over $4K. Support on this forum is fantastic. Just stick with it and it won't take long. I believe that we have had ours for about two months and we've gone from turning money into sawdust to the point where the stuff we make is nearly worth having.

Good luck!
Attached is a pic of one of our latest projects.

Jim

[odsratt]

The basics i have covered. My problem is the time sink. I am making 1911 pistol grips and with a stopwatch the time it takes to 1: program the card with a pattern. 2: load into machine and load wood or material 3: run the project 4: clean up the finished project. I can do all of it by hand with a bandsaw, and sandpaper in half the time. the whole point of me buying the machine was to save time. Plus so far the scanner is not very accurate. sorry for the money i spent i expected a machine out of the box that would run near perfect copies of something I scanned or loaded not a 75% possible copy that needs as much work as a hand crafted project.

[Kix]

So..... what are you doing while the machine is running? If you are staring at the machine then you arent taking advantage of the benefits. Are you running pieces at night? Pistol grips arent that big, whats the time on a 10 pack of grips? Also, you are skilled at the bandsaw and handsanding technique, are you as comparably skilled at running the software? Whats the upside on taking that pattern and turning it into a font and using the centerline text feature, bet your production and quality goes up another 25%.

I agree that start up is tough. If you read cnc forums on the internet every single wise man says dont buy the machine if you have a job to do, because the time to learn how to use it and the frustration involved will kill the deal for you, even more so compunded by the fact that you have this deadline looming over you. Buy the machine, spend 6 months to a year playing with it without having any expectations of what your sucess will be, or knowing that your succes will be dependant on you putting in the time to learn and have patience.

I think all too often we (including me) see all the amazing potential this has and think they can get there right out of the box. I find that we have the same results as if someone gave my 6 year old a tuba. He can't carve wood with that either.

And it is just like anything new. Me buying a 10 ten thousand dollar double steel wall 12 foot long smoker barbecue on a trailer doesnt really make me a better cook. As a matter of fact it actually makes me a worse cook for a while until I get to know the thing and learn how to leverage the pro's and con's.


I hope I am not coming across like a jerk, but you are having what my wife and I call Transformer letdown. When my son gets a new Transformers action figure and he cant turn it from a robot into a car or jet or coffee maker or whatever he gets fairly frustrated. This all happens in the first twenty minutes of getting the new toy, and he doesnt understand that he needs to take the time and it will come with experience.

Just think about it, and cut your grips by hand while the machine is cutting them out at the same time so you arent painting yourself into a corner.

[odsratt]

What I am saying is during the time One set of grips can be cut one the carverwright. I can rip boards, cut and shape and sand 2 full pairs by hand. thats is a massive difference.. And I still have to sand and cleanup any imperfections the machine leaves behind. And i am not taking the time setup the program, precut boards for the carvewright or any other prepwork into consideration. As to the disapointment you bet. I was looking for a machine to reduce the ammout of hand labor and increase production times not double them.

[odsratt]

What i am looking for is a machine to run a 95% finsihed product that need maybe a single sanding and a finsih work not one that takes as long to clean-up as it does to make a compleat set by hand.
As far as skill level I bought my Carvewright and set it up before any other tool in my work area. I have more time on it than other tools. But they are intutive to use and much easier to learn.... that is what i was looking for in the carvewright load program, run and finish. Not load watch program butcher wood or materidal and spend hours trying to salvage the project by hand.... i can do that already LOL.

I still belive the machine is great, just for the cost it should be a lot more user friendly.

[Jeff_Birt]

I don't think you will find a more user friendly CNC machine. I work with all types of them and all types of software and the CW has them beat hands down when it comes to ease of use. Each piece of equipment takes time to get the most out of it though.

Many times with automated equipment you have to think a bit differently than when you are doing everything by hand. For instance, it might be much more productive to let the machine carve 2-4 sets of grips at a time to avoid all the the time spent loading unloading and prepping more/smaller pieces of stock.

Also keep in mind that as great as this little machine is, it is not a production machine. It wont be as fast as a $20K machine, but I think it provides more bang for the buck.