Inaccuracy

[lostparts]

I have a board 17.5 x 11.25 out of this board I wanted to do a design in the middle a carve region 8.5 x 3

It is carving now but the carving size width is 1.75 instead of the wanted 3???

What am I doing wrong????

[mtylerfl]

I have a board 17.5 x 11.25 out of this board I wanted to do a design in the middle a carve region 8.5 x 3

It is carving now but the carving size width is 1.75 instead of the wanted 3???

What am I doing wrong????

You allowed scaling of the project, is my guess (triggered possibly by erroneous response to Stay Under Rollers vs. how you laid out your design). Perhaps the following article will be helpful in preventing this in the future:

ISSUE 18 March 2009 – Scaling and How to Avoid It!

Holler if you still have questions after reading the article.

[lostparts]

Tried again on the back of same board.. it gives two options scale to length or to load a new board. I HAVE TONS OF EXTRA BOARD ON THE MACHINE why wont it cut correctly?????? Sorry still very confused

[bergerud]

Your virtual board in Designer is too big?? The machine wants to fit the whole virtual board onto the real board. The solution to your problem is probably to make the virtual board smaller.

[lostparts]

ohhh got it lol thanks

[mtylerfl]

Tried again on the back of same board.. it gives two options scale to length or to load a new board. I HAVE TONS OF EXTRA BOARD ON THE MACHINE why wont it cut correctly?????? Sorry still very confused

It will become clear what's happening if you read the article. It's OK to have a board too big (the REAL board...not the virtual board)...it is NOT OK to have a board too small (again, the REAL board). If the board is too big, you will always have the option to "Keep Original Size" and you can run the project successfully without any scaling.

[mtylerfl]

Your virtual board in Designer is too big?? The machine wants to fit the whole virtual board onto the real board. The solution to your problem is probably to make the virtual board smaller.

Absolutely correct. On the very first page of the article I linked to, there is an illustration showing how the virtual board is laid out vs. the REAL board (which is, of course, larger).

[lostparts]

I am having a hard time remembering this!! Anyone know why this happens? My shopbot you just toss in the material and stand away!

[lynnfrwd]

Your machine sees the virtual board as the whole project; not just the little design in the middle of it.

If your virtual board is even a hair bigger than your actual board, it will scale.

[mtylerfl]

I am having a hard time remembering this!! Anyone know why this happens? My shopbot you just toss in the material and stand away!

It's a little hard to remember the details when you are first starting out, but after you do a few projects you'll wonder how you ever thought it was "hard"!

I have a ShopBot, too. One of the "Buddy" models, which as you may know, feeds the material in the x-axis just like the CarveWright does (albeit not via traction belts and rollers). Although we don't need to add an extra 7" to the length of the material for our ShopBots, we do have allow enough extra material to accomodate hold-down screws or clamps to the machine bed (unless you own a vacuum hold down system).

So, there are similarities, and there are differences, between the two CNC systems. I design monthly projects for both types. I do find myself having to "mentally adjust" to each one when embarking on my twice-a-month design process!

Remember, this forum is a wealth of knowledge and helpful people. Everyone will scramble to help you when you have questions, so don't be shy. Do read the Tips & Tricks, though. they will help you avoid a lot of 'pilot errors'.