Dual carve problems continue

Well, that certainly s’plains that! :kissing_closed_eyes:

For those of you that like watching my video’s, here is my latest product.

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Sam, had to use this medium as my email server is messed up at the present.

Okay fella’s, this is intended for inventables only to try and resolve my dual carve problem, so comments are not necessary for this video. Thank you!

Hey James, it looks like this video has been removed or didn’t link up correctly.

yes, my mistake, I’m re-loading it now! Give me about 30 minutes and it should be back!

Here you go, sorry for the interruption!

I haven’t seen all of your videos, @JamesMitchell, but in the ones I’ve watched, you cut the camera when you change bits between rough/detail cuts.

Are you changing bits with the machine powered off or on? I say that because whenever I’ve run a 2-stage cut I’ve always changed the bit with the machine powered on and the motors locked. That way I know that the machine is at X0, Y0. Once the bit is changed I turn the machine off and (carefully) manually wind the Z axis down till it touches the surface of the work. Paper is an awful method of zeroing the machine. You can get a feeler gauge from the auto parts store for a couple of dollars and that would be much much better than a piece of paper. I used to be a printer, meaning I ran a print shop with a few presses, and paper is such an unpredictable thing. It swells, it picks up oils from your fingers, it compresses when you pinch it (like between a milling bit and the surface of your work!) but not uniformly or consistently.
I don’t know if that’s what’s causing your problems, but I’m just saying that I’ve always zeroed to the actual surface of the wood and I haven’t had multiple depth problems like you’re having.

The other thing is, have you actually measured the diameter of your bits, like with a vernier gauge? If you tell Easel you’re using a .25" bit, but it’s actually .23", you’ll have all kinds of unpredictable cuts.

Isn’t it suppose to be 2016 :slight_smile:

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Not 2016 yet Alan. 58 more days, but some people are still in the last century. :moyai:

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Like us Jeff, never been adapted to 21st century.
If I carve Christmas sign, I would prepare for upcoming year.

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Ugh, no Christmas this year is still 2015!

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Mike, yes I leave machine on and lock motor’s and then carefully change bits. I don’t usually record this as it is usually a waste of video time. I will try the feeler gauge thing you suggested, I have several. Size of bits are the bit sold by inventables, I assume they are the sizes as marked.

This time of the year, you should’ve say good-by 2015. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

I just got a bit set from drillman1 on eBay with 8 bits, sized from 1/32 - 1/8. I didn’t think about this when I bought them, but they have that nice little depth gauge attached to the sleeve for all the bits (have seen others using on the forum). I just got them in so haven’t done a lot of testing, but this means I can keep the same zero point, swap bits and the Z zero will still be 100% accurate (put a caliper on the bits and they all have the exact same setting). And the bits are cheap. we’ll see how long they last

Has anyone considered the stress relieving of the material from the first cut will change depths when cutting the second cut? That is why there are inconsistent cutting depths in places. The only way to control that is with a more secure clamping method that will not allow your board to warp when cutting it.

I have been using paper to set the tool’s Z axis zero place for over 40 years now. I found if you keep the paper moving around when jogging down the Z axis in small incremental moves, you can get a precision feel when the tool just drags on it without any compression of the paper and tearing it. It’s not a good idea to do this with something metallic like a feeler guage, because if your over run the Z axis down against it with your tool bit, you could damage/chip your cutter. Using paper is more forgiving. If I’m working on a real expensive job, I use a $100 bill instead. :smiley:

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Damn, that’s why my Z zero is not consistent. I use $1 bill. :joy:

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Yep, being that cheap can cause you all kinds of trouble. LOL

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This is a little different from my usual cnc video, but there is some cnc included. You’ll see!

Do you use up cut or down cut bits on poplar?