head pressure, level head, crank handle problems

[karossii]

Hi Guys!

It has been a loooooong time since I came on these forums. So much has happened with CW in the interim, I feel like I have no clue what's going on anymore (when did we get version 2, much less 3, of the designer? lol!)

So, a very few of you might remember me. I bought my "B" carvewright right before I moved into a house too small to use it (surprise move, not intended), and it ended up sitting in the box for 2 years. I finally moved again into a place where I could set it up, and got it running. I carved a few projects, had a lot of fun with the designer, and made a few bucks. Then I moved again, a year later, and it went back into storage. It then took another year before I pulled it out again. So out of the first 4 years I owned it, it was set up for slightly under one year, and actively used about half that time.

Then I sent it in for the upgrade to a carvetight, rubber belts, etc. That was at the end of 2012. It took longer to get back to me than I expected, and got to my house a few days before a major road trip I was taking, on the circuit for the Woodworking Shows for a couple months. I thought it might come in handy, so put it in the back of the van, still in the box from CW, and took off. I never even opened the box until the last show I was at - CW had a booth next to me and needed a bit and the allen wrench for the chuck. So I opened it up, grabbed it for him, and that was that. Another week of traveling and I got home, and pulled out my machine eager to get some carving done.

I carved one project - a simple sled for some 1/4" corian plates I had, I was going to do some lithos. It carved fine, but I had mismeasured my corian, and the sled's hole was slightly too small. So I made a new sled in designer, threw in the same piece of wood, and was going to just have it carve an extra 1/8" of width and 1/4" of length. But as I went to lower the head, it got halfway down and started ratcheting, like it was on the board. If I turned it very slowly, it would move a bit before ratcheting again. It moved up easily, but didn't want to go down. It was pretty cold in my garage, so I thought that might be the problem. I pulled the board and bit out, left for the day, and the next day started up a heater a few hours before I went in to have another go. Same thing.

So I turned to a friend who knows CWs in and out. He helped me with some troubleshooting - removed a shim from the crank handle, which made it worse, put it back and loosened the bolts on the guide rails, basic troubleshooting I was not aware of. Sure enough, it seemed to work. I was able to crank the head all the way down. It wasn't perfect, it would still stop and ratchet once and a while, but it was going up and down, and seemed to get adequate pressure on the board. So I cleaned it up, and came back the next day, again heating the garage up to 70 first.

I started the carve again, but as soon as I tried to run it, I got clear roller and board sensor errors, e49-0320, tracking roller error. I again turned to my friend for help, and he advised hitting the tracking rollers with the palm of my hand. I did that, gently then slightly harder - never very hard. And I still got those errors, as well as an edge detection failure once.

So I tried calling CW - but for some reason I can't remember (this was 15 months ago, so what I haven't got written down is pretty fuzzy!), I didn't get through and was going to call back later. And later went from days to weeks to months. So a week or two ago I decided I was going to stop putting it off. I contacted CW and told them what the situation was. And I was assured it was almost certainly an easy fix, that by traveling all over the country with it in a box was likely the culprit. And it probably was, to be honest, I had assumed that was at least part of the problem from the first. So I was sent a few pdfs on how to check and adjust head pressure and level the head.

I followed them precisely. One thing I noted which really concerned me, when I got the bottom plate off, the tie rod going across the bottom of the machine, had a screw with a washer which should have been holding it tight against the leadscrew on the right side of the machine (away from the keypad). That screw was not in its hole at all, but had minimal pressure halfway keeping the gears connected; it had been screwed between its hole and the plastic support next to it. There was a bundle of wires in a large heatshrink casing on top of that, and between the minimal pressure of the screw and washer not in its hole, and the wires, it had been holding the tie rod mostly in place. But I am pretty sure that was part of the issue. I cleaned that all up and put the screw in the hole, and tightened it down hand tight.

Aside from that, it did seem the level from left to right had been off slightly - I didn't measure it or anything, but it wasn't even 1/8" if that. But I got that balanced, wiped down and lubricated both lead screws and all four guide posts, plus all of the involved gears, with a white lithium grease spray I got. I went to double check the alignment before putting the sides back on, and noticed something - the back of the machine (with the exhaust port) is lower than the front. Left to right it is as perfectly level as I can get it, seems visually dead on. But when the head is cranked so both front posts are perfectly aligned with the flat notch at the top of the guide posts, then both rear posts are slightly below it. Maybe 1/32" or so, about the thickness of one of the spacer shims/washers that were on the top of the guide posts. I have no idea if I should be concerned with this or not. I know this is a precision machine, but I can't imagine that would be a major issue.

I still haven't booted it up, so I have no idea if I will still get any of those errors again. But I know I did correct a small misalignment (left to right). And I cleaned out a ton of greasy sawdust, from the leadscrews and the guide posts. So for my first time opening up the machine and tearing it apart, I'm happy so far. BUT - since I have the machine torn apart right now, I figured it would be best to pause, come here and ask. Before I put it back together. Is the front to back alignment an issue? Is it maybe something to do with the threads of the leadscrews, and it is supposed to be like that?

Are there any other things I should look at/do before putting it all back together?

[bergerud]

I do not think the front to back alignment is something you can adjust. I also do not think a small variation in the front to back makes any difference to how the machine operates. As long as the left to right is level and the head slides on the posts without binding, I think you are good.

[fwharris]

Ken,

It sounds like your CW did not like all of the traveling around and all of the bumps and bouncing caused the head to get out of alignment. Good job on getting it corrected. As for the offset from the front to back leveling, my machine also has a small difference. I believe it has been that way from day one.

[Digitalwoodshop]

First thing I would do is give the machine a good cleaning paying attention to the 4 smooth rails that the head slides up and down on and the 2 jacking screws cleaning the threads and applying new lubricant. The inside of the 4 smooth sleeve bearings get dry in storage and act as resistance when you crank up and down. Many have thoughts on the type of lubricant... many use dry lube but I use chain lube on the jacking screw and light machine oil on the 4 smooth rails after a coating of chain lube with molly... That will take care of the resistance causing the clicking. All that dry grease and oil cause DRAG giving you problems with the click giving you the correct pressure... If you have a scale mesure the pressure before you start with one click. Then after and you should see better numbers.... I don't remember the best number.... I go by feel and the sound of the X drive Motor for my machines. Too tight i loosen slightly... About 80 pounds I believe.

Head Level... Use the LCD and Sensor Data to touch the bit to each side of a wide board looking at head level.

Board Sensor.... The test, white copy paper cranked down on a board and Sensor Data a 156 is perfect. a 90 is a dirty lens... inside or outide... I use a knife to cut the back flap off the sensor and remove the window and clean it. Then seal with masking tape. The board sensor is just a flashlight and a photo detector... looking for reflected light... The 2 LED's are IR like your TV Remote Control and the Photo Dretector is between the LED's. It reads reflective light off the board. Things that can trip you up is if you use a DARK Board less light reflects back. Masking tape over the board will help that.... I use the white copy paper to measure as your brown board could be different than my brown board and paper is the standard. LED's in the early units snapped off.... not likely in a "B". Pinched Wires.... See where the wire was pulled down to help change the board sensor and the wire slid along the sharp metal edge... Eventually cutting into the wire... Causing problems.....

My number and email is on my web page below if you heed phone help.

AL

[karossii]

Thanks for all the advice! I have it as cleaned as I can with a shop rag, my air compressor hose has a crack in it, so I will get a new one tomorrow and blow it out, then reassemble. I relubed everything with a white lithium spray grease; it seems much cleaner than the gunk that was on it before - which was a sludge or slurry of thick grease and a ton of sawdust. I am waiting to close it up until after I blow it out with some air, to get to the places I couldn't reach by hand. I cleaned the rollers, the guide posts, the lead screws, the tie rod, the inside of the crank handle, and all the gears connecting all of the above; plus the area around the sensor (hope I don't have to cut mine open like you did, Al - but glad to see how to do it if I do need to), and the tracking roller. I wiped down the rubber belts, and the inside of the head cover - but those were mostly good.

I was getting 40-45 pounds of pressure before the cleaning. I still have the handle off of the machine, so I can't tell how much pressure I'll be getting yet, but I can tell the head moves up and down far easier than it did before. Hopefully it will be up to the recommended range!

[mtylerfl]

Ken, I wouldn't recommend lithium grease on the four posts - it's often a source of head pressure problems. Not so much in the summertime, but especially winter, when the shop gets cooler. that grease gets "gummy" from cold and also from sawdust build-up during normal use.

I prefer to use dry lube on the four posts myself (works well and is not affected by cold nor dust-attraction), but a good graphite lube or the chainlube with moly is fine too, like AL mentioned (although the latter two are messier than I like to deal with personally).

[karossii]

I got liquid wrench spray can of white lithium grease. It seems a LOT less thick and 'greasy' than what was on it previous. It almost seems like a dry lube, but not quite. http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/de...0415&ppt=C0139 is a link to the stuff I got.

I put a shop cloth in my hand around the post, sprayed the post and cloth, then rubbed it all the way around the post, repeated for all for posts and both lead screws. I then lowered the head all the way (turning the lead screw by hand, since both sides were removed and the crank handle not attached). I repeated the process, with a new shop cloth. I then raised and lowered the head assembly all the way up and down, then returned it to about halfway. The posts feel slick, but not wet or greasy. I then turned it over, with the bottom still off, and sprayed the lube (again, with a shop cloth behind to catch any excess) onto the gears on either side of the tie rod, and cranked it through a few revolutions up and down. Finally, I did the same on the gear which will engage the hand crank, and on the gears inside the hand crank too. Again, it doesn't feel wet, sticky, gummy, or greasy - just 'slick'...

So - did I do it all wrong? I wouldn't be surprised if I did, lol!

[unitedcases]

I got liquid wrench spray can of white lithium grease. It seems a LOT less thick and 'greasy' than what was on it previous. It almost seems like a dry lube, but not quite. http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/de...0415&ppt=C0139 is a link to the stuff I got.

I put a shop cloth in my hand around the post, sprayed the post and cloth, then rubbed it all the way around the post, repeated for all for posts and both lead screws. I then lowered the head all the way (turning the lead screw by hand, since both sides were removed and the crank handle not attached). I repeated the process, with a new shop cloth. I then raised and lowered the head assembly all the way up and down, then returned it to about halfway. The posts feel slick, but not wet or greasy. I then turned it over, with the bottom still off, and sprayed the lube (again, with a shop cloth behind to catch any excess) onto the gears on either side of the tie rod, and cranked it through a few revolutions up and down. Finally, I did the same on the gear which will engage the hand crank, and on the gears inside the hand crank too. Again, it doesn't feel wet, sticky, gummy, or greasy - just 'slick'...

So - did I do it all wrong? I wouldn't be surprised if I did, lol!

To chime in, I bought the same can and it doesn't work well. Doesn't hold up. You have to constantly relube. Like everyday. 3 in 1 oil won't steer you wrong.

[mtylerfl]

I
So - did I do it all wrong? I wouldn't be surprised if I did, lol!

If it's working for you, leave it be. You can always change your mind later if you need to.

Now, go have fun carving something!

[SteveNelson46]

I'm with Unitedcases. 3 in 1 works good. Awhile back I bought a 6 cans of Liquid Wrench spray lube with moly (the wrong stuff for the flex shaft) so I just use it for every day oil in the shop. It seems to work pretty good on the guide posts also. Dry lube will probably work the best but, you have to make sure there is absolutely no residue left from the wet lube before applying it. I do consultant work for the Carvewright here in town and I have had to clean up the mess several times.