About to take the plunge. Two pre-sale questions first.

[cnsranch]

Support is just common sense - when you have a long, heavy board, and the machine needs to measure the entire length, think about what happens when all but 3.5" of that board is sticking out of one end or the other - waaay too much weight for the machine to handle. The end comes off the tracking roller, compresses the back or front roller too much, etc. So, you put a couple of rollers about three feet or so from each end to keep the board level through the machine.

[Cavallo]

Kinda like what dad does with the planer. I was just wondering about the minutiae. "Three feet or so from each end" is a huge clue, thanks. Is there some type/brand of roller that works best? I'm sure dad knows, but since I have your attention…

[myshop1044]

Cavallo you also should know about the weight of the board, I think the limit is 20 lb. I have done 6' and 8' boards
but they are 3/4" thick, so the weight is not there. I have 2 roller stands that I use in my shop, I place them about 3' to 4'
from each end of the machine and make sure they are level with the machine, this should take care of your needs
for long boards.
Perry B.

[Cavallo]

But, with rollers used properly, the weight wouldn't matter, right? I could carve a 12-foot ironwood plank...

[myshop1044]

t's not the rollers persay it is the weight of the board, the machine has to push and pull the baord
back and forth.

Perry B.

[Cavallo]

Aha. Linear momentum. I blame Newton.

[Digitalwoodshop]

Watch a NORMAL board carve or Vector Cut or even Centerline Text, the Whole Board needs to be moved in the X Direction. A Ironwood Board could max out the Weight Limit... Add to that if you don't have a Dust Collector and Sawdust built up between the Rollers in the Bit Area are like driving through Sand or Snow... Much Harder...

For a Bigger Plank Sign think of making letters that Attach to the Plank... Make them of the same Wood and PLAN for Expansion in Width in your mounting of the Letters to prevent Cracking Letters. Make sure the Grain of the Cut Letters is the same as the Base Substrate... I am a big FAN of PVC Signs... Since the Expensive PVC can be purchased in 4 x 8 Sheets.

I had a request to carve Business names in Oak Planks used on Dump Truck Side Protection boards.. Other than cutting a Template to use a manual Router... That was the only option... I mention this as if your Ironwood has letters you could cut hardboard Templates and use a Bearing Bit to cut the actual letters. And for stuff like the inside of the O or A you can attach that center piece with double stick tape and your handheld router will float over it no problem.

Good Luck,

AL

[Cavallo]

I was just using ironwood as an extreme example of dense wood to try and work. I get what you're saying, though. But again, I don't see myself doing much in the way of text or signage. My uses would likely be more furniture/architectural. I could see wanting to do maximum possible lengths of complex moulding, for example, and maximize production by doing multiple strips at once. For that, I may want to do, say, a 12' long oak plank. I'll just have to mind the weight limit. Although, I can envision a way around the problem without suspending the laws of physics. I'll have a lot of experimenting to do.

[Digitalwoodshop]

With that thought in mind... Doing say a group of 3 or 4 on a 12 foot board would take many hours.... A better way in my opinion would be to make a light weight sled with side rails out of thin plywood and have a 3 inch wide blank Hot Melt Glued to the sled in the center.

The method to the madness here is it is going to take pretty much the same time cutting 4 sets in width along a 12 foot sled. 4 times as along with a single strip. You will thank me when you get a power glitch or power failure in a 60 hour carve and will need to Air Cut back over the previous cut stuff again..... Some help can be had by making a new mpc and putting a Zero Depth Carve Region over the carved stuff... If it was a single carve you could always make a new mpc and pick up close to where it ended.

And you should never let this machine run un attended.... I listen in the next building 20 feet away with a wireless intercom with a Smoke Detector over the machine. Cutting a VERY Long Carve has been known to cause the Flex Shaft to fail from lack of lubrication. Where with shorter single carve I ALWAYS check on the machine and "Pet the Snake" as in feel for a Warm Flex Shaft and know that when it finished I put a dab of Chain Lube in the center of the core before it cools off.

Never let the machine run un attended over night... A guy posted last summer where His machine was left running in a outside un attached Shop and came back to find the Fire Department just leaving....

And you will want to plan on getting some kind of Dust Collection... A few threads on that.

I have had 2 almost fires with my carving machine.... One right after a repair and the flex shaft was real soft from sitting in the hot sun and I whipped it off the table to install in the machine and KINKED the inner damper spring. First Carve the kink rubbed with the center core and my smoke detector went off as I was 10 feet away.. Black Smoke from the Rubber.... 2nd the lower Bearing Damper came out of the Z Truck... A Corrugated piece of metal around the lower bearing designed to take up shock. The flopping bit almost caught the wood on fire. Here is a picture of it... I have had a few come out, all when using the QC that was worn most likely... The one time it was doing a cut path when it blackened the wood slopping around.... Didn't sound right and I ran for the machine caught it in time.

Good Luck,

AL

[Cavallo]

Hmm. 60 hour carve. I see what you mean. That may not be practical. The dust collection was a given from the beginning. I found that out in my initial round of research. Also, molybdenum lubricant for the shaft.

I had also read about the potentially fiery problems of an unattended run. Somewhat as you describe, I had thought about remote monitoring. A wifi webcam could help. The smoke detector is a good idea. I might even be able to cobble together a cutoff with a thermistor to directly monitor the shaft temperature. Has anyone gone that far? I'd hate to reinvent the wheel.