How long can I pause a project

[happy]

Hey ya'll I am new to the forum and just got to say I have been reading the forum for about 7 months and there was always something there to answer my questions, but I need to know how long or how many times can you pause a project I have one that is going to take about 18 hrs and dont want to run the machine that long or leave it unattended any info would be appriciated

[jaroot]

Not speaking for anyone but myself, I've "paused" projects for several hours at a time. I've had some long carves that either got started too late in the evening or have had to attend to other things during the carve and paused the project for as long as 8 to 10 hrs. However, there is always the possibility that some one could come along and unplug or turn off the machine so keeping it secure should be a consideration.

[Deolman]

The biggest caution I could give you about pausing a project would be using a vacuum to clean out the sawdust. Every time I tried to do it my vacuum caused enough static to affect the operating system and I got a fatal error. FWIW, my vacuum was well grounded to the machine and it still caused problems. A powerfail would restart the CarveWright and leave you with a partially completed board you may not be able to recover from.

[cestout]

There should be no problem pausing for however long except for power failures, then you would have to start over and air-carve to the point where you left off. Or you could mask the carved area with a zero depth carved area. As for vacuuming; on long carves on wide boards I always "pause" several times to vacuum. Keep one hand on the metal of your machine and the other on the hose and stay in the carving area and away from the electronics. Dust thru the hose causes static to build up.
Clint

[Digitalwoodshop]

I have always wondered if a back up battery could be placed in the 5 and 12 volt line of the power supply so the machine could pause without the fear of loosing the project... But a power fail while cutting would kill the cut motor but the batteries would keep the computer wanting to cut and that would result in a snapped bit or a stall... IF you bought a UPS the AC Backup Power Supplies for a Computer and plugged the CW into that.... If the power did flicker you would not see it due to the batteries.... also called Power Conditioners.....

If I was doing a 18 hour project, I would invest in one..... The first Flicker saves your project and almost pays for the UPS.



AL

[happy]

Thanks for the info I am checking into a power conditioner

[BBrooks]

I have unintentionally (a.k.a. completely forgotten) paused for about 30 hours and it picked up right where I left off.
I hit stop and turned off the dust collector and just plain went about doing other things when interrupted with a small emergency.
Cheers,