Hi. I make stuff. My problem was carving on big 9mm or 6mm sheets of MDF. The problem is not very flat surface. you could see differences after carving with V bit. See the 1 picture
So i`ve made my self a jig (? not sure how to call it) for auto levelling on wood.
bCNC does a job and makes a height map!
i don’t think this is an issue. wasteboard is pretty flat all ready. problem is with clamping material, what bends thin mdf a little bit
Has nothing to do with waste board being flat your z axis is not perpendicular to your wasteboard because your machine is not square along your x and y axis , skimming is the answer take a big .75” flat bit and skim about .01” off of the surface of your waste board , I usually keep a .5” thick piece of mdf on top of my wasteboard so that I don’t ruin the inventables one once you skim cut it you will not have this issue at all and no need for mapping out the surface, your machine needs to be mechanically straight before you try cutting precise parts.
x y and z are square to wasteboard i check square every some time… i am not reporting any issue with my x-carve but showing the way autoleveler can be used on wood, not only on metal parts
Your autolevel solution for wood surfaces is very nice indeed. And there may be a need for it you wanted to engrave on a piece of wooden material that was intentionally not flat.
But for the vast majority of us we all use materials that are flat. If they are not flat we make them flat (with surface planer or by machining flat) before we attempt to carve on them. If the material is not lying flat on the wasteboard that is a work holding failure that is easy to fix with double sided tape (or it’s equivalent) or by using additional surface clamps.
this is a very neat ideal, and I would like to thank you for posting and sharing this. I usually just use aluminium tape to do this but this is an even better Ideal if needed. again thanks.
And you can use it multiple times. I’m glad someone likes it 
You had a problem and found a solution that worked for you. I like the idea and appreciate you sharing it. You never know when this can come in handy.
I agree with @RobertCanning that a smaller base would work with more precision. but you also use what you have and see that you are using a stock probe base “puck”. you might consider making a very small one just for this as it would allow your surface variations to be more accurate.
great concept.
Cool solution, I’m not sure why you’re getting so much criticism! I don’t have all the tools needed to dimension stock so am often at the mercy of the lumber yard to get the dimensioned material. It is often slightly warped even after picking through the entire stack of material. Strategic clamping can only get you so far.
Of course, I agree with everyone who mentioned that this is no replacement for a properly tuned machine. It is another technique for the toolbox if the problem arises though.
If the wood has an irregular surface and you do not have a planer then use the X-Carve to remove however much material from the surface to give you a nice flat surface to work with.
I usually buy 1/2" plywood from a big box store to make monogram signs and whatnot and it never fails that it is bowed up in the middle. No matter how much double sided tape I put on it I can’t get the middle to stick. I suppose I could throw a screw in the middle but that isn’t ideal most of the time. This makes it to where I have to sit and watch a carve and pause it from time to time to make sure it’s not cutting through my tabs, super annoying. I could see this working for something like that but it’s a bit outside my comfort zone on how to figure out.
I guess maybe I could just try buying plywood from somewhere else. 
i use it usually if i cut using vbit on 4 or 6mm mdf to make sure i`ve got perfect likes like in the Artcam project, not bigger and not smaller than it should be. I make stuff for kids to sell on amazon, Each one is about 200x200mm and i carve about 15 a time on big 6mm mdf sheet. I want them to look all perfectly the same like on the listing picture. That’s why i found this leveling think useful.
It’s super cool. How difficult is it to use and setup? Is there any sort of instructional on this? I’d just like to try it to see how it works.
Genius!!
That’s what I love about this community, collective ideas. I wouldn’t have thought of that.
That sounds awesome, I saw a guy do this with Mach 3. How hard is it to figure out? Or is it just a setting in VCarve?
And then just use the zero plate on the wasteboard instead of the work material?
Yep but if you’re using a 3 axis plate from Charley, you need to flip it or adjust your Z thickness.
