Centerline Text won't carve

[bergerud]

Clearly, I have something here to learn.

[liquidguitars]

One of the new firmware options is Cal y. I think in order to program the eprom you need to turn off the unit after the calibrating routine. then power back up.

[bergerud]

It is on my list to better understand calibration. Later, I am off on a road trip to see the grandkids.

[liquidguitars]

Same here... Have a good time!

[RMarkey]

I think ya'll are talking about two different cal numbers here...

One is depth cal (0-6-2 in the firmware menu), which adjusts the relative depth of the sliding plate versus what was found in calibration - used in calculating the 'depth' of the board.

The adjustment we've sent (to very few customers, for our skeptics out there), adjusts the surface based on the stretch of the Z belt (another calibrated parameter) which is determined by the approximate distance from the mechanical plate and the calibration plate. In very few cases, those numbers were corrupt, and our automated tests here didn't catch it.

[Geomoo1]

OK! I've had it! So far this morning I have been on the phone with Connie and she sent the firmware file. Thanks, Connie!!! I uploaded it to the machine (3 times) as well as the user depth calibration using a digital micrometer to check the board thickness and a test V90 vector text carve after each upload and calibration. If anything it air carves even worse than before. I don't even get a partial carve like before starting this mess. Oh! By the way! Did I mention that now, during the test carve the machine stops and tells me to check the cut motor. What could be causing that now??????
Does anybody want a relatively new "C" machine....CHEAP!!!!?

[CNC Carver]

OK! I've had it! So far this morning I have been on the phone with Connie and she sent the firmware file. Thanks, Connie!!! I uploaded it to the machine (3 times) as well as the user depth calibration using a digital micrometer to check the board thickness and a test V90 vector text carve after each upload and calibration. If anything it air carves even worse than before. I don't even get a partial carve like before starting this mess. Oh! By the way! Did I mention that now, during the test carve the machine stops and tells me to check the cut motor. What could be causing that now??????
Does anybody want a relatively new "C" machine....CHEAP!!!!?

How CHEAP?? I may be interested if the price is right. Take a few days to calm down before you answer. You'll be glad that you did with the next great creation to come off the machine.

[Jeff_Birt]

When ever I get frustrated with a machine I like to take a break, maybe have a cup of coffee and then start from scratch. One thing I do is always assume the problem lies between my two ears. This is not always the case but most of the time it is, that is just human nature. This can come from misunderstanding some directions to skipping a step in something I do all the time. By assuming I'm doing something wrong it is easier to eliminate the most frequent causes of problems first. Not that the point is to place blame but rather to eliminate the most obvious things first.

With the machine, start with the most basic things and work forward. I like to start with making sure the machine is clean, no matter what the machine is. Clean everything up, lubricate what gets lubricated and then check how smooth each axis moves (on the CarveWright I would include the bit touch plate and pressure rollers). I can't count the number of times I have located a problem just by doing these things, on machine from the size of a CarveWright to a machine that is 12'x40'. When cleaning don't get too rambunctious with high pressure air, you can often cause more problems by blowing dirt into al the nooks and crannies rather than blowing it out.

Once things mechanically seem in good shape. Then go over the operational steps. In the case of the CW I would ask myself is my board flat, is it contacting the aux roller, do I have 'stay under rollers' selected, is my board long/heavy enough I should be using some roller stands to help support it?

Then I try to understand where the problem appears to be happening. What is the machine doing at this point? What could be going wrong? In this case the bit touches down on the bit plate to get an idea of where the end of the bit is, then the bit touches down on the board to find out where the top of the board is. If the bit plate is not slipping out all the way or something is wonky where it is touching the top of the board then you could have a problem. If there is some dirt/sawdust in the moving parts of the Z axis it might cause it to catch/stick when moving and the machine might mistake that for finding the board. Pay close attention to this part of the machine operation to see if all looks well.

[Geomoo1]

Well, boys and girls. We continue our saga of “How not to carve centerline text”. Sub-titled “Air Carving”.
I have spent the last two days talking to tech about this problem. Thinking back I think the problem has always been there. I tried a through carve once and it didn't cut all the way through. Being new to the machine I figured that was just the way it worked. It really showed up the first time I tried to use centerline text in a project. To bring everybody up to speed here is a rundown of what has not worked so far...

1. 
   
   1. 
      
      1. I did the 1” square by 1/4” and 1” square by 1/2” deep depth tests with the 1/16 carving bit as discussed on the forum and on each depth it came up 3/16 and 7/16 respectively or 1/16” shallow on each carve depth. This was on a very flat board. A good clue as to why the centerline text is only partially carving since it is usually not very deep anyway.
      2. I applied the firmware calibration file sent to me by Connie... no change. Same tests. Same results, twice.
      3. I did the user depth re-calibrate (0-6-2 on the keypad) three times using a digital micrometer to measure the board thickness... no change. Same tests. Same results.
      4. I did a test carve with centerline text only on a board and the results are attached below along with the mpc used. Same results.
      5. So far, yesterday (Monday) tech had me send them the original project mpc attached on my first post of this thread and today they asked for the test carve mpc attached here. He said he would have to talk to a software engineer and get back to me. I get the distinct feeling that, so far, they don't have a clue what to do next. Nor, do I.
      
      
   
   

It seems I have spent more time on the phone with tech since I got this machine than I have doing projects. Please forgive me if I sound negative, but it took me, literally, over a month to be able to complete my first carve due to first a faulty flash card and then a faulty power supply on top of that. Granted both were replaced after I sent them in for testing, but it seems one thing after another.


I NEED SOME RELIEF!!!! Please!!! Does anyone have an idea how to fix this? As it stands I just wasted my money on the centerline text and conforming vector software.

Centerline Test.mpc What I wanted... What I got...

[liquidguitars]

As the v bit travels to touch the bit plate is it smooth or does it jump or stick a little as it goes down?