Cutting Head and Depth Issues

[jmoriearty]

To start with, this is a C machine and has about 130 actual carving hours on it. Today I was carving a sign and about halfway through I had a z-axis stall. I went through my usual routine of maintenance. I cleaned and lubed the idler, the bearings, and the rails. I also cleaned the right cover interlock, just in case it was a cut motor issue (it's happened to me before). I started the sign again. When the CW was going through the bit set up, it didn't make it to the plate before going back up, like something is sticking and making it think it has hit bottom. So, I cleaned the idler again and worked the cutter up and down real well. I put the carving back in, I was going to let it air carve the portion that was already done. It went through the detection process while I was watching without any issue. However, when it carved, it was consistantly off on the depth, shaving off portions of the carving at the beginning of the project and even carving over an extra inch or so in the carve region.

My thought is that the cutter head assembly needs to be taken apart and thoroughly cleaned and lubed. Does anyone else have any suggestions before I dig in to this project? And if everyone concurs with me on this one, does anyone have any advice for the process (lessons learned the hard way and suggestions for lubrication)?

***On another note***

I noticed something today when getting ready to upload. I have a sign that sells VERY well. Today when I opened the file, the feet on the sign (see photo) weren't the same feet as have been on the other 20 or so that I have carved in the past. Does anyone know how this could happen? Could there be a problem with my design software? The feet are just different and no longer rounded out on the bottom.

[lynnfrwd]

I would talk to a hardware tech first about machine issue.

Software issue sounds like FLOOR FEATHERING might be causing the problem. It is available to be turned OFF in Designer 2.0.

[TerryT]

If you are using 1.87 and the problem is with the built in floor feathering ( that makes life better for all of us) my first suggestion would be to go back to 1.86. Short of that, try setting bit optimization to best. Hope that helps.

[DocWheeler]

Since both problems involve your Z axis, I'd check out the
motor since you said you'd checked the mechanical stuff.
Something is keeping the motor from lowering the chuck.

Since it seems to be in the same "depth" each time, bottom
of the feet and above the bit-plate, if it isn't the rails, it
must be either the belt or the motor (gears or sensor-disk).

Not sure if the wiring could get shorted-out without showing
other problems. Let us know what you find.

******

New thought; Did the bit touch the bit-plate on your last carve?
If not, that might be why the feet carved the way they did.

[jmoriearty]

Since both problems involve your Z axis, I'd check out the
motor since you said you'd checked the mechanical stuff.
Something is keeping the motor from lowering the chuck.

Since it seems to be in the same "depth" each time, bottom
of the feet and above the bit-plate, if it isn't the rails, it
must be either the belt or the motor (gears or sensor-disk).

Not sure if the wiring could get shorted-out without showing
other problems. Let us know what you find.

******

New thought; Did the bit touch the bit-plate on your last carve?
If not, that might be why the feet carved the way they did.

Actually, the carve that I posted is the proper one, one that has been in my computer for several months and carved many times. The feet actually appear different even in designer now. I didn't upgrade my software, still using 1.86.

It really doesn't act like a motor issue, more like it's hitting something. I'm seriously thinking debris somewhere that isn't instantly apparent. The belt is still in very good shape and the tension is good. The machine hasn't seen enough use yet to wear out a motor, at least I wouldn't think it has, that wouldn't be the case on any other machine. I'll give tech support a call sometime this week and see what kind of suggestions they have and see what we can find out. Thanks for the advice guys.

[fwharris]

Make sure the wires from the cut motor are tucked into the back corner. If they are sticking out the back of the Z motor will hit them and stop the truck travel.

[jmoriearty]

You know, that may very well be it! Now that I think of it, when it was homing it moved perfectly, but when it was guaging the bit depth it would mess up. I seriously think that must be it. I will head out in a minute and check it out. fwharris, you may very well be a genius!

[jmoriearty]

Well, it wasn't the cut motor wires. It was a good thought though. And, it's not doing it just on that one side like I thought. It's just very inconsistent and only happens when it is testing the bit depth and finding the surface. That's why I thought there may be some debris in there somewhere, causing intermittent resistance and confusing the machine. I'm going to call tech support in the morning before heading up to work at the store. Maybe it's simple and we can do it in an hour or less....lol.