my improved sled

[karossii]

I haven't made one yet, so I could be wrong... But from what I've seen, the rails should be no more than 1", and 3/4" is usually better.

[sunmiztres]

I haven't made one yet, so I could be wrong... But from what I've seen, the rails should be no more than 1", and 3/4" is usually better.

This is what I was thinking but never read how wide they should be to keep the CW from picking them up. I will cut them down and see if it works. Thanks

[sunmiztres]

You could put some black tape or black paint on your railing to make it appear narrower to the optic sensor.

Hmmm interesting. Will give this a shot also.

[unitedcases]

Here is how I do it. I made mine 14.5 wide do that way I can max it out with the widest boards possible. I used a t track cutter to make some slots and bought some special rectangular nuts. Works great. Any size wood. I am about to make some longer ones.

[ladjr]

Does the CNC have any problem with the sled wider than your board

[lawrence]

for me, I got around the initial measurement by having the board measure width with the sled just inside the machine (the 4 inch rails give enough space to do so)

I'm not using them anymore as I no longer use my carvewright, so I have no clue if things have changed to make this still feasible.

Hope this helps,
Lawrence

[karossii]

I have a question - if I use 3/4" thick MDF for my sled rails, which is pretty near exactly 0.75" thick, and then put one-by lumber in it, which varies from 0.64 to -.725" thick in my experience, is there an issue with measuring the project boards? As long as I use jog to position to measure the depth, will it work alright?

Also, will a melamine base (white side down) alleviate the need for masking tape on the bottom of the sled?

[lynnfrwd]

Melamine may be slicker and make the tape more necessary.

[karossii]

I suppose that makes sense.

I am too used to using tape on the tops of boards to fool the photosensor, I was assuming that is why we also use it on the bottom. But of course I know there isn't a photosensor down there, lol... just one of those stupid things that made sense at the time, but not sure why or how in hindsight.

Although, while it is generally slicker, I do have the rubber belts, and it might actually provide good grip on those. But I don't know how it would interact with the tracking roller itself.

[fwharris]

I would stay away from having the white (slick) side down. If you do tape will be a must have for the brass roller edge.

When you state "jog to position to measure depth" are you talking about the board thickness measuring step? If so it should be no problem. You might get a message asking about "project or board" if you are doing any cut paths.

Depending on how you have the sled made up, how you place the board in the sled and how you tell the machine how you want the carving placed it will more than likely try to measure the board plus the sled for both the length and width.