One problem solved, on to the next one!

JamesMitchell · July 10, 2015, 12:26am

Thanks to Allen Massey we got the x-carve back to working. Now to figure out why it’s carving like this?

Kyis · July 16, 2015, 1:15am

I can’t tell if your tool as a flat at the end so I’m assuming it’s pretty sharp.
If you can see grooves I’m guessing either the step-over is too high or the bit angle is too sharp, especially since the depth is so shallow. If that was happening to me I would either reduce step-over or pick another tool. (I would probably go for a ball end, either just one or a big one followed by a smaller one)
If you want to stick with that tool I would go deeper, maybe not in one pass though.

When I’m testing stuff and it goes like this I try running the same tool path using another tool, keeping the same stock and position, just zeroing Z, it makes less material to remove, and if it looks like it doesn’t do any better I just abort and move on, nothing to lose really. ^^

Also sometimes the material just doesn’t want to cooperate (the kind that take longer to finish than to mill T_T), have you tried cleaning up all the fuzz on top to see if the overall shape did come out?

JamesMitchell · July 16, 2015, 1:39am

I don’t understand what you are getting at here? The bit is a ‘v’ bit and it is very pointed on the end. The problem is I am not getting any variance in the ‘Z’ direction, no up or down in the ‘Z’ axis just in the ‘X’ & ‘Y’ axis only.

JamesMitchell · July 16, 2015, 10:58am

Ok folks here is the latest, I heard from Vecric and they said my gcode file had the ‘up’/‘down’ commands in it, but my machine is not responding to the commands in the ‘Z’ axis. They say I may have a problem with my controller. Any suggestions anyone?

JarnoOoink · July 16, 2015, 11:27am

have you already checked for loose wires of the stepper motor on the g-shield ?

JamesMitchell · July 16, 2015, 11:41am

As of now there are no mechanical or electrical issues that I can verify. The machine works fine with easel carving name plates and so forth. It’s just when I try to do a photo carving with vcarve photo is when I have the problem.

picengravertoo · July 17, 2015, 12:30pm

PhotoVcarve generates a Rapid (G00) command at all edges of the engraving before reversing directions. Try reducing your accels for the Z axis as it may be loosing steps, or edit the gcode file and change all the G00 commands to a G01.

PicEngrave Pro 5 only generates a G01 command and just reverses directions at the edges without any retracting of your tool. Retracting is not necessary, except at the beginning and end of the file.

Zach_Kaplan · July 17, 2015, 12:52pm

@JamesMitchell can you please message me privately who you spoke with at Vectric. I’d like to reach out to them to review this situation together.

If the machine works properly with Easel it is not a mechanical problem.

Can you confirm it works properly with Easel?

Zach

AllenMassey · July 17, 2015, 2:17pm

James - I do not think there is anything wrong with your X-Carve. When I used the demo version of Photovcarve with a 90 deg bit I got the same results as you. The software is trying to make very narrow lines and with a 90 degree bit it knows that it cannot go very deep without making the line wider than it wants. So the result is the very shallow cuts you are seeing (berber carpet effect). I had much better results using a sharper vbit like the 30 degree. The sharper (more pointy) 30 degree bit can go much deeper and still keep the narrow line the software is trying to make.

If you watch the belt on top of the Z axis while the job is running you will see the zaxis is in constant motion (just a few mm up/down) the entire time the spindle is moving. So your machine is doing exactly what it is being told to do.

Kyis · July 17, 2015, 4:48pm

You could try OpenScam to simulate the toolpath and see how it cuts with that tool in an ideal world (setting openscam’s resolution pretty high to get details), it might just be the toolpath generation/tool like AllenMassey said.

JamesMitchell · July 17, 2015, 7:52pm

Zach, Yes my x-carve works fine with easel. It will cut what ever I can design in easel at the present. There is not a problem with the ‘Z’ axis responding to easel. I was in contact with Charlie Pullen at Vectric Support , attached are the emails we shared.

##- Please type your reply above this line -##
Your request (20405) has been replied to. To reopen this request, reply to this email.

Charlie Pullen (Vectric Ltd.)
Jul 16, 11:05

Hello James,

Glad to help, many thanks for letting us know,
and best of luck getting it working again!

Best Regards
Charlie

Vectric Software Support

James Mitchell
Jul 16, 10:31

Charlie,
Thank you for this information. I will contact Inventables and see what they can suggest for me to correct this problem. Thanks again for your assistance with this matter.
James Mitchell

Charlie Pullen (Vectric Ltd.)
Jul 16, 09:09

Hello James.

Thank you for sending over your GCode file.
In this file I can confirm that there are Z Move commands that will give the carving you are looking for,
so I believe the issue is either in the controller and its connection to the CNC machine or the Motors for the Z Axis.

Could this be related to the issue you had with the machine not moving correctly earlier?
Unfortunately for hardware related issues there is not much support we can give,
though I’m sure some of our forum users am have seen similar issues as you are experiencing and can offer some assistance.

I hope this helps,

Best Regards
Charlie

Vectric Software Support

Jamesrmitchell0718
Jul 15, 20:34

Charlie,

I realized that about the time I sent it to you, but I thought I would let you think I am a dummy for doing that! Hopefully I have it copied now? As for the ‘Z’ motion, that is my problem, there is no ‘Z’ movement at all, just the X/Y movement. So???

James

From: “James Mitchell” jamesrmitchell1845@comcast.net
To: jamesrmitchell0718@comcast.net
Sent: Wednesday, July 15, 2015 1:25:17 PM
Subject: Fwd: [Vectric Ltd.] Problems with vcarve photo

Begin forwarded message:

From: Vectric Support support@vectric.com

Subject: [Vectric Ltd.] Re: Problems with vcarve photo

Date: July 15, 2015 at 8:59:00 AM CDT

To: James Mitchell jamesrmitchell1845@comcast.net

Reply-To: Vectric Support support@vectric.com

Attachment(s)
PhotoVCarve5.tap
Charlie Pullen (Vectric Ltd.)
Jul 15, 13:58

Hello James,

You need to copy the .tap file and attach it to the email for me to be able to see it i’m afraid.
Unfortunately I cannot connect to your PC from here and get at the file location you quoted in your last email.

Looking at your previous carving however, I can see that there is the feed to and from the carving also carved into the wood.
Is your machine making any Z movements at all during operation?

Also what is the exact name of the Post Processor you select in PhotoVCarve?

Many Thanks.

Best Regards
Charlie

Vectric Software Support

Jamesrmitchell0718
Jul 15, 01:53

Charlie,

Let me try this for you; The file on my ugs is: C:\Program Files\PhotoVcarve Trail\Sample Files\PhotoVcarve8.tap,

I don’t know if this will give you anything, but?

James

From: “James Mitchell” jamesrmitchell1845@comcast.net
To: jamesrmitchell0718@comcast.net
Sent: Tuesday, July 14, 2015 4:29:54 PM
Subject: Fwd: [Vectric Ltd.] Problems with vcarve photo

Begin forwarded message:

From: Vectric Support support@vectric.com

Subject: [Vectric Ltd.] Re: Problems with vcarve photo

Date: July 14, 2015 at 3:38:48 AM CDT

To: James Mitchell jamesrmitchell1845@comcast.net

Reply-To: Vectric Support support@vectric.com

James Mitchell
Jul 15, 01:36

Charlie,
First I want to thank you for your assistance lately. I have been unable to set up my email on my old pc as of yet, so I must communicate with you through my iMAC computer email. Now, I have read all you have sent me several times and I have looked at the online tutorials multiple times and I have set up my vcarve ‘exactly’ as they have shown online. I am using a universal gcode sender (UGS) for all my gcode work. When I send to carve, this is all I get!

So I don’t know what is happening, but it is not carving other than the outline of the head! I even set up vcarve as per the tutorial settings and it still just carves these diagonal lines across the wood. No increase in depth to delineate dark to light area’s or facial features, i.e.; nose, eyes, chin, ect. I wish I could send you the file from my pc but that is not possible at the present.

James Mitchell

On Jul 13, 2015, at 1:00 PM, James Mitchell jamesrmitchell1845@comcast.net wrote:

Charlie,

Sorry, to answer your question, it is my desire to do photo carving in wood of friends and family members. Also photo carving’s of points of interest and pets!

James Mitchell

On Jul 13, 2015, at 12:01 PM, Vectric Support support@vectric.com wrote:

Attachment(s)
IMG_0106.jpeg
Charlie Pullen (Vectric Ltd.)
Jul 14, 08:38

Hello James,

So for a photo like that, you would follow the advice in my previous email.
Use a Ball Nose bit and a line Spacing setting of between 8% and 30%
(8 % will be quite fine and take some time but should give the best results, while 30% is very rough but should take a relatively short amount of time)
The Ball nose will give a smoother results and looking at the image you supplied the maker of that image has also used some finish on their wood to bring out the best results.

The finish you can use will depend on the wood you are using though and there are better people than us to advise on the physical aspects of the wood.

PhotoVCarve is a bit of an artform to get the best results, and there are a number of users discussing their work on our user forums which may help as well.

I hope this helps,

Best Regards
Charlie

Vectric Software Support

James Mitchell
Jul 13, 18:01

Charlie,

Sorry, to answer your question, it is my desire to do photo carving in wood of friends and family members. Also photo carving’s of points of interest and pets!

James Mitchell

James Mitchell
Jul 13, 17:55

Charlie, Hope this is what you are referring to. This is from ‘vcarve photo’ page on the internet.

Here are a couple of .jpg shots I just took. This is the best result I’ve had from using a ‘v’ bit. That is the ‘baby’ photo in vcarve photo trail software.

This is what I get when I try uploading my own photo and carving it. This is after software put ‘watermarks’ on the photo. Ignore the dark text, this is a scrap piece of wood I was using. As you can see it only gives me this diagonal lines cutting at .02 inch depth!

Hope this help you.

James Mitchell

Attachment(s)
th.jpeg
IMG_0104.jpeg
IMG_0105.jpeg
Charlie Pullen (Vectric Ltd.)
Jul 13, 17:01

Hello James.

Sorry, I was not clear on what I was asking.
I was hoping that if you could link an image of someone else’s completed work that you wanted to do yourself,
it would give me an idea of what you were looking to make and what settings I could suggest to make that happen.

For example, if you were looking to create a lithophane then you would want to use a ballnose bit (for better detail)
and a Line spacing setting of about 8% to 30% (you can use the mouse to click into the % box and type in a setting
lower than 100% for detailed work though the smaller the number the longer the cutting time).

I’ve included an attachment link to an example with the settings I have used for the image (just a stock image of some penguins).

Best Regards
Charlie

Vectric Software Support

Attachment(s)
Capture.JPG
James Mitchell
Jul 13, 16:48

Charlie,
I do appreciate you trying to help me and all, but I don’t know how to copy the file from your ‘free trial’ to send to you. It is just the baby photo and the puppy photo that is included with the software. I tried downloading a photo of mine but it would not let me do that without putting a watermark on it and that was ok but it just cut 33 degree groves across the wood and there was no definition at all. I tried cutting with an end mill, the baby, and I got an almost rendition of the baby in the wood. I see all these folks in the vcarve photo forum and they don’t seem to be having a problem at all getting amazing results from your software, so I am just at a loss as to where I am going wrong. Would a .jpg photo of my end results be of any help to you? Again, thank you for your efforts and hopefully soon I will come to a resolution to this delima.
James Mitchell

Charlie Pullen (Vectric Ltd.)
Jul 13, 16:18

Hello James,

It sounds as though you are not looking to make a Photo VGrooving if an endmill gave better results.
Do you have an example of what you are trying to make that you can link me to?

If I can see what the end result you are looking to make is I should be able to give some advice to help with that.

Best Regards
Charlie

Vectric Software Support

James Mitchell
Jul 11, 09:22

Charlie,
I gave up on the ‘v’ bit and tried a straight end mill 1/16” diameter and got much better results. Not what I want just yet, but a better outcome overall.
James Mitchell

Charlie Pullen (Vectric Ltd.)
Jul 9, 08:29

Hello James.

Try running it with a Maximum depth of 0.2" which should give you a deep cut with only a few lines for the test.
Did you manage to resolve the erratic cutter movement?
I have heard that the Inventables support team are quite good and definitely worth contacting if you have not done so already.
Best Regards
Charlie

Vectric Software Support

James Mitchell
Jul 8, 17:43

Charlie,
I set the depth of cut the first time to .04 inch, then I tried .08 inch and neither seemed to matter. I am using a 60 degree V bit to cut with.
Regards,
James

Charlie Pullen (Vectric Ltd.)
Jul 8, 13:44

Hello James,

What are you setting the Max Depth of cut to in PhotoVCarve?
(On step 3)
Also, am I correct in thinking you are using a 60deg VBit?

Best Regards
Charlie

Vectric Software Support

James Mitchell
Jul 7, 20:32

Charlie,
Thanks for your reply. As I don’t have email on the pc I am using to run my Inventables X-Carve cnc I cannot send the file you requested. What I have done is remove (deleted) the free vcarve photo software and will reload (install) it in awhile to see if that clears up the problem. I got the software to work somewhat, problem being I couldn’t get ant depth of cut. It would run the full cycle but it just skimmed the surface (about 1/64” or so deep) of the wood. I looked at several of the tutorials on you tube and tried to set everything up per those instructions but it doesn’t seem to work just right. At first I thought it would make more than one pass, but I now realize it cuts in one pass. So what ever is going on, it’s not correct. The wood I am using is just scrap as I try to figure out the software procedure. Thanks again for your reply and I will keep trying.

James Mitchell

Charlie Pullen (Vectric Ltd.)
Jul 7, 08:41

Hello James.

Can you save your .pvc project from the PhotoVCarve Trial and send it over to me.
I can check your settings that way.If your files are over 6Mb in size then they are over the limit for the email system to deliver.
If you could please send use the files in question via a free Dropbox account (http://www.dropbox.com).
This will allow you to send us files of over 7MB.

When you go to send us the files from Dropbox, having uploaded them, please do not use the “Share File” options to link the file with our email address.
The Helpdesk email system automatically catches those requests and deletes them.
Instead, please copy the download link of your file and put it in your reply to this email.
We can then download your file and see what is going on for you.

A couple of points from the video.
You would not be able reuse a piece of wood for a second carving unless you re-flatten in between cuts.
When you change the Max Cut depth in a photo in PhotoVCarve you will notice that the Number of lines will change.
This leaves you with the lighter, more numerous cuts between the deeper cuts.

Another thing you may want to try is to tone the wood after a carving and then give it a light sanding which will take the tone off the tops of the grooves and help the cuts to stand out.
This does depend on the wood used, as some woods will have a strong grain that a tone will make stand out a lot, which can overpower a Photo VGrooving.

For your seconds half of the video, while we are not the best people to contact about this (as it is a machine issue rather than software),
I would guess this is either, the cables connecting the controller to the motors are slightly loose and overnight, or during your shutdown and startup, slipped some more.
This would give sporadic communications and stop it working as intended, and can be checked by just making sure all connections and wires are firmly in place and not damaged.

The other possibility that comes to mind is just that your controller software has not loaded the settings for your machine and so is using some defaults.

I would still recommend contacting your manufacturer however and link them to the video.
They are able to give a far more expert opinion then ourselves for your particular machine.

Best Regards
Charlie

Vectric Software Support

James Mitchell
Jul 6, 21:38

Dear Sirs,
I have, for now, the free trial version of vcarve photo. I am having problems that I can’t resolve with it. I have attached a short video that will explain my problem much better than I can in words. Please watch it to the end as another set of problems arose today and I am totally lost as to what is happening. Your help will be greatly appreciated.

Sincerely’
James Mitchell
407-754-7904

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JamesMitchell · July 22, 2015, 12:09am

Here’s another short video showing easel and x-carve working harmoniously together!

AllenMassey · July 22, 2015, 12:28am

PhotoVCarve demo 30Degree vbit.tap (428.3 KB)

Here is the gcode generated by PhotVcarve, it is expecting you to have a 4x4 inch piece of material at least 1/4 inch thick (thicker is fine).

The code is also expecting you to have a 30 degree vbit in your spindle.

So once you get your new vbit you can run this and see that PhotoVcarve does work on your machine.

But I must warn you, that the resulting picture is not that great. (for what it is and how it is created, I liked it) This is not a problem with your X-carve it is just a result of how PhotoVcarve works. Carving raster scan halftone images on a CNC machine in wood just does not produce a great image, the resolution is just not sufficient with this method of carving.

For better (photo resolution) images you will need to create lithophanes that require backlighting to see correctly. You cannot carve a lithophane on wood. You must use a translucent material like white corian.

If creating high resolution photos on wood is your real goal, you are going to need a laser cutter.

JamesMitchell · July 22, 2015, 1:53am

Thanks Allen, will give it a go when my 30 degree bits arrive. I know I’m not to expect photo quality carving, that said, I have seen some very nice photo carve renditions online so it all can’t be the finishing that makes them so.

AllenMassey · July 22, 2015, 1:55am

That is true, a lot depends on the picture you are trying to carve. High contrast Black and White pictures turn out best.

JamesMitchell · July 26, 2015, 1:41am

Well Allen my 30 degree vbits arrived today and I attempted using them to do the baby carving in vcarve photo with no better results than before. Now I could not figure out how to get this file from this page to the vcarve photo software to use it. Just me I guess? Anyway I set my vcarve to the parameters you had on the link you copied (.1 inch depth of carve) and tried carving the baby again. No change that I could see. I have (or will) post a short video showing the out come. I still don’t see how people get these photo quality carvings from vcarve because I’m sure missing the mark here! If this is all it does, well you can kiss that off!!! If you could/would private message me I will send you my cell number and maybe we could talk this thing through?

GaryMorris · February 15, 2016, 4:40am

This Gary Morris did you ever get it to work and if so can you help me please

JamesMitchell · March 13, 2016, 7:34pm

Gary, sorry for the delayed reply, but no it never did work. If you are referring to the photo carving. You will need to get a program just for that purpose. I believe that photo vcarve has a ‘photo carve’ program for about 150 dollars.