The Universal Carrier Base

[bergerud]

I have made some shims to use with the UCB. There are cases where the decrease in roller pressure as the rollers roll off of the board result in carving depth change. These shims should have been part of the original project. I have added them to my list of changes.

One may or may not need to use them. Once made, however, they are easy to use and one just as well be safe and use them.

I worry about shims sliding off of the rails and so I made them with slots. You need some 1/4" thick material. The slots are 1/2" wide assuming that your carrier MDF is really 1/2" thick. If it is not. you will have to adjust the slot width on the mpc. Do this by dragging the yellow side handle on the long sides of the shims. (See the last picture.) The left side for the left two, the right side for the right two. Try and get the right number in the width box (rail width - 0.125). (Typing the number in the box does not properly scale the width, you must drag.) Some hand tuning or a few tries may be required. (Only 8 minutes to cut.) It is nice to have a set with a snug fit.

The four shims should not be used to set the board height. They may not all be exactly the same thickness. I think one should use a single shim at all four corners to set the rail heights.

Use is simple. After the board is measured, slide on the shims just before you clamp down the head.

(The front shims are different than the rear shims because of the stop blocks in the front of the carrier. Removing these stop blocks is on my list of changes and so the shims will be all the same for the improved UCB.)

[sunmiztres]

Thanks for the shims. I like the way you made them so they stay on. I am getting ready to start another carve using shims and looking forward to the carve being perfect. Thanks.

[sunmiztres]

Thanks for the shims. I like the way you made them so they stay on. I am getting ready to start another carve using shims and looking forward to the carve being perfect. Thanks.

I noticed you used 1/4 wood for the shims. I don't have any 1/4" wood. Can I use 1/2" wood and change the carving area to .375 instead of 1.25? I then used carve region to carve the side that goes in where the piece lays and made that .125 as in the original MPC.

[bergerud]

I noticed you used 1/4 wood for the shims. I don't have any 1/4" wood. Can I use 1/2" wood and change the carving area to .375 instead of 1.25? I then used carve region to carve the side that goes on the side where the piece lays and made that .125 as in the original MPC.

It seems ok to me. You might want to do a single one as a test first. Slot width and depth may need to be tweaked.

[oscarl48]

Dan thank you for doing this. You design keeps evolving better and better.

[bergerud]

You are too kind. It was an oversight on my part. There is no denying, firewood was made! With the help of forum members like sunmiztres, I hope get the bugs worked out.

[sunmiztres]

I used the shims and had a perfect carve. So happy. Thank you Bergerud for all the help.

[bergerud]

Well, that is great. I think the shims will provide a simple and reliable method of keeping the carrier level.

(Much simpler than having to worry about outfeed roller adjustments and where the board edges are on the carrier.)

[carrothers]

I bought the pattern a month of so ago and broke my carving bit twice....ready to try it again but I think you've made several updates to the original. Where do I go to get the latest? Thanks

[sunmiztres]

I bought the pattern a month of so ago and broke my carving bit twice....ready to try it again but I think you've made several updates to the original. Where do I go to get the latest? Thanks

I don't believe there was a main update to the original pattern, only the ACB. You can always re-download the pattern by going into the designer and then to Help tab and click on manage licenses. Go to web account login and after logging in you will see all the patterns or projects you bought with a download link.
As far as breaking bits. At what point in the process of loading your project is the bit breaking? One really needs to figure out why this is happening so it does not happen again. If you don't find out why it will certainly happen again. The pattern for UCB will not break a bit as long as you don't change anything about the pattern as far as the depth of the cut and you are using the correct size of wood the project calls for. Are you placing the bit all the way in the chuck? The only time I Have ever broken a bit was if I was carving to deep ( don't carve any deeper then .25", if you do you are risking breaking a bit), or if I used a screw to hold a board to a sled and the bit hit the screw because I did not place the screw in the correct location. There really are not to many ways to break a bit. If you follow the PDF included with the UCB project to a Tee you will be fine.