PLEASE PLEASE HELP ME SOLVE THIS ISSUE GUYS!!!

[ohiococonut]

Kudos to you guys for trying to help him out!

I read about some of the problems newbies have and more often than not I can't help. I'm still a newbie myself and I don't know that much about the system. On top of that I have not had that much trouble with mine. Rest assured if I do have problems I'll come here first.

[Snap-On]

I know you got the problem fixed, but I just wanted to add one more thing to remember.

When you create a toolpath, in the "Cutting Depths" section at the top there is a "Start Depth (D)" setting.
Normally, this is set at "0" but I have a problem with my machine and sometimes I have to put the "Start Depth" at -0.020" to get the machine to correctly carve on a certain area of the machine (the X and Y axis seems to be bent about 0.020" to 0.030" in one section on my machine).

That "Start Depth (D)" can be used for increasing or decreasing the cutting depth of the entire toolpath. Just FYI.

[4DThinker]

Good tip, SnapOn. Just to note though that with V-Carving it is best to use 0 for the start depth. I'll agree though that on profile cuts where you want to make sure you get all the way through an extra .02 or so can make sure you do. The first 3 months or so of cutting I frequently had areas when using the whole cutting zone that would not cut all the way through, although most would. I have since milled the MDF cutting area flat to the CNC and now if one section gets through then the whole area does.

[Eagle55]

Thats certainly a good way for various problems to be solved. More than likely rather than bent, the deck is likely unlevel as most have found. I have a problem of similar indications and just haven't taken the steps to level the bed yet. And for most of my situations I can't just cut deeper like that. I do a lot of engraving and when it is just cut deeper it still cuts unevenly, and with letter engraving it look bolder on the deep spots which makes the project look funny. What I do is put the material in place and use a dial micrometer chucked up in the router to measure the slope and put folded paper shims that measure the thickness needed, then check it again. I usually achieve plus or minus .005" which makes engraving and other patterns look correct. You can get it closer to that but I find that does just fine and is relatively easy to get.

Roger

[BillK]

I have leveled my table, but some times the error is in the material you are cutting, so no amount of leveling the workpiece will solve that. I usually follow two courses of action in that case:

1. you can take a light leveling cut on the face, I usuall go about 0.035", but I don't use this method that often.

2. my prefered method is to break the project up into about three sections, then zero Z in the center of each section and then V-Carve. If you are making a unique one of project, I find this works the best without the extra work of planing the work piece first, or trying to level it. I have cut a few jobs with 4 diferent sections. If I'm doing multiples, scarf board fixture and pre-planing are the way to go.

[Buc]

If I am running a job with fine detail carving on the surface, I always surface the material with the shark. .020" to .030", just to be safe.

Buc