So. I’m about 11 months into really digging in and learning the XCarve. I just realized that a few of my frustrations with my machine are due to the fact that I need to plane my wasteboard.
My only two questions…
Just a couple of suggestions:
You might want to practice on a piece of MDF first by making a large square, using the shapes tool and cut that out first, only cutting about 1/16 or less on each pass. If it only cuts part of the square then go another 1/16 inch until you cut the complete square out of MDF. If it only cuts part of the square at 1/16 inch that is a good indication that the waste board needs to be leveled.
After finishing, look at the smoothness of the cut you just made. If there are ridges, you may need to fix other issues before you start cutting into your waste board. There are other forum topics about adjustments to take the ridges out.
Inventables sells a 1 inch diameter, 1/4 inch shank, surfacing bit:
Hope this helps.
I hate to beat a dead horse here, because you’ve realized the issue here … but, I have to mention that the manual does include this as one of the steps in the “Calibration and Maintenance” section of the assembly manual.
Which kinda makes me think that you may want to also review the remainder of that section, specifically the belt tension and Vwheel adjustments. >> Calibration and Maintenance - X-Carve Assembly
1 > not too thorough, but you’re just making a rectangle in easel setting it to a VERY shallow depth (like 0.015" depth) and I suggest the parallel raster toolpath instead of the offset toolpath option that is usually the default… Oh and run the feed rate extra fast since the depth is thin it can support a faster feed.
Repeat this until the entire surface has been cut cleanly…
2 > I prefer this surfacing bit, the carbide inserts are pretty cheap to replace when the time comes, making it a pretty inexpensive bit in the long run and they cut really cleanly.
Thanks for the tips, Seth. When I did the planing function to my new machine, it left a raised lip along each y axis of the wasteboard, is that correct? It’s about an inch or so wide down the length of the wasteboard.
(sorry for hijacking your post, Joel)
Yes, the way the current X-Carve wasteboard is setup there will be raised edges left along the walls of the risers because the spindle cannot reach those areas. Inventables did modify the front and back a bit so that there is no lip in those areas so that longer boards can be used, the sides were not modified in the same manner. you could modify them by removing them and clamping them on top of the center area and using the cnc to carve down those raised sides a bit to make them a slightly lower area if you wanted, then mount them back into place.
