Help! My tars are turning out like starfish on my flag. I am using a 90 degree v carve bit. Everything is tight.
Sorry About the picture.
How are you setting the z height?
Also, can you share the file for me to look at
Your z zero is set too low, or your z is topping out and loosing steps, or the bit slipped down in the collet
Most likely is z zero issue…
Here’s how I make flags so much less work than strips 
All of your stars are consistent. The z axis is not being set correctly. The vbit needs to come to the surface to get that sharp point. Your carving is not doing that. If it was skipping steps then you would most likely have inconsistent stars.
Easel - Copy of 50 stars American flag FINAL.html (142.1 KB)
Hopefully this is what you are asking for. Thank you very much for your help.
How do set it correctly . I am zeroing on the x y axis and putting the bit on the surface before raising and carving. please excuse my ignorance I am new to carving.
I am just using the default z retract height adjustment.
that file won’t work as intended, You’d need to share the link as shown here:
https://inventables.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360023445034-How-to-make-your-Easel-project-accessible-to-everyone-making-your-Easel-project-public-
depending on how your design is configured, your Z location may be at a lower (Z Height) place in your board than the actual carve area… If you notice in my video, when I go to set Z zero for the stars, I place the spindle in the center of the Union to set Z Zero. this is one of the reasons I prefer to use the separate program to send the gcode, but this can also be done in Easel IF you are using a Probe, OR if you adjust the design so that the Union is centered over X0,Y0.
OR the other issue may be that your retract height is so high that it is hitting the top physical stop and loosing steps, but the available space is something that you would need to confirm, and then adjust the origin and safety heights if necessary.
If you manually set your z axis to the surface of the project and then raise the bit that could be the problem because the gcode may have the safety height in the code which may cause the machine to be carving at an elevated position. That would produce the results shown in the picture. If you search the project page under my name you will find a union that is ready to carve using easel or you can create the gcode and use UGS as the sender.
Ok so I downloaded the g code and got perfect stars for the first 2 rows then it started to starfish but only a little. The rest of the run had perfect stars mixed with starfish. Ugg!! So I re-tightened the bolts on the arrange and will try again. I am using the screwed up flag as a test piece.
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Thank you for all the suggestions. I think I am close to figuring it out.
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Keep in mind that your board may have highs and lows. It not uncommon to have thick and thin places on a board. You can skim it first to get it perfectly flat first
Thank you Phil for all your advise. My stars are perfect now! I am using your solid board method.
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