So I was thinking I needed to square my xcarve. It’s second hand, and I’ve had a little funkiness with recent circles I’ve cut. The diagonal and side to side measurements seem to be fine. When I jog the machine along the y axis, it does so in a straight line, the correct distance. When I jog along the x axis, goes the proper distance, but at a slight diagonal, about 5mm deflection along 400mm travel. Does this make sense? Thoughts on how to tackle it?
Thanks
To start with how do you know it is off. Are you seeing this because it does not go straight with the printed lines on the waste board? Because it may not be square.
Visibly off according to the printed lines, but I also measured from the edge of the machine.
I believe pawpaws workshop has a video on squaring up the machine.
Yeah, I started using that, but the premise is that the diagonal measurements would be inconsistent, which doesn’t seem to be the case for me… @PhillipLunsford, your thoughts would be welcome…
@TerrenceKillian. You must start with a base line and verify that your machine is square. Watch my video will help. I do not use tape measure. Not accurate enough. Next you have to adjust the gantry. Belts and wheels must be adjusted. The gantry must remain square when you move it forward and back. From what you said, it sounds like something is loose and possibly out of square. The printed lines on the waste board means nothing.
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Hm, ok, I’ll give it a shot with the stick method.
You may want to do an accurate calibration of your X and Y axes. This would be the $100 and $101 settings. The numbers may not be or should not be the same, and accuracy there is what determines a circle’s accuracy.
You need to calculate and adjust them a few times accordingly to really dial it in. It’s a math ration calculation. What you want vs. what you are getting. Work on each one until each axis is the best you can get it, then try the circle.
The other thing is that any flex in the Z axis components will impact the circle’s shape. I adjust the wheels until they just rotate with finger pressure.
+1. do this first otherwise circles wont be truly circular, even on a squared machine.
To do a quick test for squareness ($100-101 values are irrelevant) is to carve out a rectangle and a matching rectangular pocket. Place the carved rectangle and flip it over and try to insert into pocket. If its square it will fit, otherwise your´ll see misaligned/skewed lines 