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Thread: one wavy line of text on 3 line carve

  1. #21
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
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    West Central Illinois
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    Thanks for all your help. I think the problem is related to the proximity to the top edge of the board. No proof, and running out of things to look for. Have to get back to work. About thirty of these plaques to do in the next 10 days. Instead of having the machine determine the order of carving which meant that this line was the last line to carve in projects that use 3 separate carvings and takes approx an hour to complete. I am going to separate out this line and carve it first - a 3 min carve, then if it screws up, I waste a board and 3 minutes, not a board and 1 hour. I will probably try a different font. It's almost like the text function is bumping individual characters up and down.
    However, if you guys get any more ideas, please send them. I will give it a shot and report back progress later this week.
    Jerry
    Having fun with my CW now!
    C Machine spring of 2013, CarveTight, Rotary, designer 3.102, probe/PE,
    vector 2d, 3d advanced, conforming vectors, STL. Photo Explosion 4.
    HF 2hp dust collector. Headquartered in West-Central IL.

  2. #22
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    Aug 2013
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    West Central Illinois
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    Dan. no evidence of belt shift. and since in most cases prior to these tests, I had a line 2 at the top and two more lines of text (same font) at the bottom of the plaques that ALWAYS turn out OK. Hard to believe that It would only screw up on the last line. Top of board may still be a factor.
    Still love the UCB concept, even if I don't use it right. I haven't put a board on the belts in months. When you were first working on the design a couple of years ago, I picked up the concept. As I mentioned I've replaced the bottoms with Ultra-High Molecular Weight Polyethylene UHMW. I still use masking tape. Be interesting to see if these pieces survive the brass roller better. I've seen UHMW pieces 8"x8"x1" used in conveyers get folded to 90 deg and when they return to the inspection port, they are straight again. Tuff stuff!
    Thanks Jerry.

  3. #23
    Join Date
    Nov 2008
    Location
    Vancouver Island
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    I was thinking of embedding a strip of hard rubber under the base rail for the tracking roller.

    You know, with your repeated runs of the same project, and since you already have the clamping, you should consider the procedure:

    http://forum.carvewright.com/showthr...253#post249253

  4. #24
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    Aug 2013
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    West Central Illinois
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    Dan, I will let you know how the UHMW works out, should have an indication in a few weeks. It is available in strips and sheets in various thicknesses at many plastic supply houses. I happened to have 3/4 inch. Had to replace both rails since I had sanded them to get the brass roller grooves out. But if I was starting with a new fixture, only the roller rail would need to be special, the other only needs to be the same thickness.

  5. #25
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    Nov 2008
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    Vancouver Island
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    You know, my theory of poor tracking has to do with vibration confusing the tracking encoder. It is very hard to test as it would only happen for certain resonant frequencies. I bet the UHMW transmits vibration to the tracking roller more efficiently that wood does. I wonder, as an experiment, if you could try a few more layers of masking tape.

  6. #26
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    Aug 2013
    Location
    West Central Illinois
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    I've only had the 3/4" UHMW bottom rails on the carrier since Sat nite. One layer of masking tape. The carves that I did over the weekend reflected almost the same tendencies as the previous plywood rails. The plywood was replaced because I had seen tracking grooves in it and had sanded them down a couple of times. Saturday I was not sure that I would get the two rails equal or straight so I made new rails.
    Two carves today both came out ok, carve of whole plaque with May 3 set at .6 was OK, carve of whole plaque, same font "U.S. Air Force" set at .7 came out ok. Before I replaced the plywood bottom rails with UHMW I used 3-4 layers of masking tape.
    I will watch for faults that might be caused by vibration. Would a heavier fixture help dampen the vibration?
    I keep thinking the short distance from the end of the board is a factor, but can't prove anything. I was hoping someone would say, "O Yeah, don't ever use an 8 inch long board with text close to the top end, it causes erratic carving"!!!
    Jerry
    Having fun with my CW now!
    C Machine spring of 2013, CarveTight, Rotary, designer 3.102, probe/PE,
    vector 2d, 3d advanced, conforming vectors, STL. Photo Explosion 4.
    HF 2hp dust collector. Headquartered in West-Central IL.

  7. #27
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
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    NE PA USA
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    This is an interesting repeatable problem... It's not random it is a fixed problem every time... So....

    First thing I would do is place a 4 foot level in the machine and crank down lightly. Then check the in feed and out feed trays especially at the metal roller. I am suspecting that the ends of the jig is hitting the HIGH metal roller causing it to slip and off setting the jig causing the text problem.

    SO if I was troubleshooting this, I would switch jigs to a board type... This would be a piece of 1/8th inch plywood or 3/8 cut to board width. A Scrap Board the same thickness and width would be taped to the board with the good BLANK taped in the middle. I would measure from the X end of the board to the joint of the Blank. In designer I would draw a rectangle the same distance and place it on the right side of the screen at the board edge. Remember the top of the screen is the brass roller. I would place the text to the left of the rectangle. I would use PLACE ON END rather than center on board. Cut the project and see if this is actually a Software Problem with the FONT.... Place Masking Tape on the bottom brass roller edge of the plywood.

    What's different.... for one, the board is being held along the Y or width of the board. Using that thin wood rail jig could cause premature wearing of a THIN section of Rubber Rollers causing LESS SUPPORT...

    I draw rectangles on the board to use as tape measures.

    AL
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails DSC06602_WEB.jpg   DSC06601_WEB.jpg   DSC06603_WEB.jpg   Text in Place on End.jpg  

    Acc Board Holes.jpg   B3.jpg  
    Last edited by Digitalwoodshop; 01-30-2017 at 02:23 PM.
    Favorite Saying.... "It's ALL About the Brass Roller"..... And "Use MASKING TAPE" for board skipping in the X or breaking bits.

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  8. #28
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    Aug 2013
    Location
    West Central Illinois
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    Al, thanks for your input. The rollers on all four corners are approx. 1/4" below the bottom of the fixture. The bottom of the fixture is flat, and 23 1/2" long. The bottom rails on the fixtures are 1 3/16" wide x 3/4 thick. At this point I have moved the text to at least .6 attachment and have had no issues. Will have to test the board type sled later this week. If I have more issues I will post here. Yes the rubber rollers could become indented by the the top of the fixture. Will look into that.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Fixture clearance.jpg  

  9. #29
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    Dec 2006
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    Brunswick, GA
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    Hi Jerry,

    You have had a lot of great suggestions on things to check and test.

    I agree it's most likely a Brass Roller/position related problem (tipping, slipping, head pressure, rubber roller wear, etc. as already mentioned). I seriously doubt it's a font problem or an encoder problem. I am interested to hear the end of the story, once the problem is positively identified.

    There is something else that could possibly be a factor...workshop temperature. You mentioned the CW was 46° in one of your postings. That's too cold for 100% performance reliability 100% of the time. I am curious if the "good" ones were done when the shop was actually a bit warmer? I think the manual says 50° minimum operating temperature, however, I discovered on my own that the shop needs to be 55° or warmer to have 100% complete success. Wacky things can and do happen in a "too cold" environment. I know, I know, some folks run their machines in the cold and have had good luck. But, sooner or later...oopsy!

    If you do not nail down the problem after you have exhausted all the other suggestions, try moving the machine to a warmer area (let it warm up for several hours - overnight maybe) and run the project again to see if that makes any difference.
    Michael T
    Happy Carving!


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  10. #30
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
    Location
    West Central Illinois
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    Michael, thanks for the input. My shop is only heated during the day when I am using it. Typically I turn the heater on an hour before I go out to the shop. The temperature in the shop will typically drop to about 35-40 on a cold nite (20 deg outside). I have a temperature gauge on the z casting to observe the carving temperatures. It was at 46 deg as noted. the shop temp was approx. 55 at that time. I use a couple of fans to move the warm air around the shop (approx. 650 sq ft with 8'6" ceiling) and the general temp will run about 65-68 deg (sometimes to 70+). My experience has been the wavy text has come off at all times of the day and temperatures and will occur in between good carves. I will observe temperatures at the machine to see how it is affected. Al's point about trying the flat fixture may provide a clue if the wavy is not repeatable in the flat - then it would appear to be a fixture/tracking issue.
    Jerry
    Having fun with my CW now!
    C Machine spring of 2013, CarveTight, Rotary, designer 3.102, probe/PE,
    vector 2d, 3d advanced, conforming vectors, STL. Photo Explosion 4.
    HF 2hp dust collector. Headquartered in West-Central IL.

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