Recover a project after breaking a bit???

[Lincoln96]

Is there a way to back up a CarveWright after replacing a broken bit? I pushed the stop button, but I didn't shut the power off or abort the carve. I looked though & searched the old posts, saw lots of broken bits, but no mention of recovery after breaking a bit.
I wasn't there when the bit broke, so the carve advanced about 1/2" on me from where it happened.

Can I change the bit, gently push the board back that 1/2" and tell the machine to resume?


If I start the whole thing over again without ever unloading the board, will it follow exactly the same path the second time around?

[Dale]

Make a copy of your MPC and on the new MPC place a zero carved region over the area that has already been carved. Make the zero carve region stop just short of where the actual carving stopped. The machine will act like the zero carve region is not part of the pattern and it will start carving where the zero carve region stops. I have used this several times and most of the time everything lines up

[fwharris]

As Dale said, draw a rectangle to cover the majority (95%) of what has been carved. Make the rectangle a carve region and then set the depth to zero 0 . Reload to the card and start it on the machine. You might need to cover some of the carved area with a strip of masking tape to fool the board sensor during the width measurement step.

[Dale]

Wow that looks nice and I can see why you don't want to give up one that one. Hope it works out for you and post a picture when you get it done. Good luck!

[Lincoln96]

Wow that looks nice and I can see why you don't want to give up one that one. Hope it works out for you and post a picture when you get it done. Good luck!

Thanks
It is birch so it would smell great in the fireplace, but I just can't do it. I'll fool the machine into finishing what it started. There's no great detail there, so as long as it comes out close, I can fix it up any mistakes with a rasp and sandpaper.

[oscarl48]

Good luck. I've only had to do this twice and both times it was close. Hopefully same for you.

[Lincoln96]

which is the best carving bit to use in hardwood? (maple) 1/16th or 3/16th?

[fwharris]

which is the best carving bit to use in hardwood? (maple) 1/16th or 3/16th?

Either! It all depends on how much detail there is in the design. If a lot of detail and you use the 3/16th the detail will not be carved as well.

[Lincoln96]

no fine detail to what I'm doing, just sweeping profiles. I'll go with the 3/16 for the harder woods.

[fwharris]

no fine detail to what I'm doing, just sweeping profiles. I'll go with the 3/16 for the harder woods.

Good choice if there no to little detail. Also, your carve time will be a lot faster