I did a diamond circle square test on my HDM today and found that it isn’t cutting well at all.
The measurements for the 2x2in the square were around 1.85 and 2.20 inches and the circle had a groove cut into it. I did the cut in MDF on HDM softwood settings in Carbide Create, which I know isn’t idea for an accuracy test but I feel like it shouldn’t be this off.
The table that my HDM rests on isn’t perfectly flat, I tried to offset that by placing my HDM on a 3/4 MDF board with foam underneath to level it out. It dosen’t get it perfectly level but I plan to shim the frame of the machine. The table also shakes a little as the HDM cuts which might be part of the issue, but considering how rigid the HDM is I don’t think it would be causing this much of an innaccuracy
There was another post similar to the problem I’m having, but the fix was to tighten the belts, which i don’t have. I checked all the bolts I could see and they were all tight. I’ve mainly been doing rectangular wood cutting where accuracy wasn’t too much of an issue, and considering that the machine was trammed out of the factory I didn’t worry too much about it. But now that I’m planning to start cutting aluminum, I ran a test to be sure.
The one thing I didn’t check, I think i may have found the source of the problem. The left coupler is either completely loose or broken, spinning it through the stepper doesn’t move the left ball screw at all. Weird that it came from the factory like this though
Tightened the nut and ran the same file, results are a lot better. The squares are within 5 hundredths on each side which I’ll attribute to the machine not being flat/using MDF. Thanks!
I think it’s because I was doing a quick measurement with calibers and the burr still on. I’m going to do an actual test on aluminum once I get some stock.
