Hi,
New to the land of Shapeoko XXL. I think I understand carbide create pretty well along with setting tool paths and running carbide motion. My issue is that I’m getting inconsistent results, which is occurring very consistently. I understand how to use the bit zero and the bit setter. This process always seems to goes as expected. I follow my prompts for Advanced V cares as instructed.
My issue is that despite all of that, sometimes I get a beautiful cut, sometimes my bit never touches the wood, and sometimes my depth is too deep. I can tell immediately at startup if the cut will be successful or not.
The machine is 3 weeks old so I would like to think noting is failing.
These problems are usually related to workflow, like how you set zero or how you manage the toolchanges. Can you run some short tests to give details on what you did when the Z height was off?
This often occurs immediately. When trying to narrow down the issues, I start fresh.
Power on Shapeoko
Launch Motion And Connect to cutter
After initialization, I probe for x y z zero.
Load the gcode
Start the job
I follow the prompts to insert tool and watch hit setter again. Then I enter through prompts or change bits as necessary.
The job starts and the bit goes through the motions without touching the stock.
Other times all of those things occur, and my cut is too deep.
Also, I occasionally see what I want when I run a small project to test.
The guys who answered already are your technical wizards…if this is a tech problem, they’ll help you find it. But before going tech, since you’re a new user, let’s just get some real basics out of the way…
Are you clamping your work down around the entire piece?
Did you flatten your spoilboard so that it’s parallel to the axis of your Shapeoko?
Either one of these can be non-tech reasons for the problems you’re describing.
Hi Gary,
Not using clamps. I’m using CA glue and painters tape on the whole piece. If there is noticeable warping or cupping, I’ve compensated with Brad nails.
I didn’t flatten the board intentionally. Just squared and leveled according to assembly instructions. Got the machine 3 weeks ago.
The CA Glue and painters tape should work just fine.
So the question is, do you see any trends in terms of location of the problems on your spoilboard? In other words, is it shallow on one side of the piece, too deep on the other? Is it always shallow when a part of the board is over a particular spot on the spoilboard? That kind of thing. Again, this is just trying to rule out the simple problem…it’s far more likely something that the other guys will help you find…but it’s worth looking at this - I’ve had similar problems and my problem was too thin a spoilboard that was flexing and never was flattened properly. When I replaced it and flattened it, all those inconsistencies went away and it became a pleasure to be able to predict results.