I’m making pockets for a dowel that measures .640" . Every time the machine makes the pocket, it’s about .015 too large. What is causing the machine to make the holes too big? I have the correct bit and the dimensions are correct.
What kind of machine? If it’s belt drive, have you calibrated for belt stretch?
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I like to sneak up on fit, so dowel holes get cut undersize, then measured, then the geometry adjusted and the holes recut until they fit as desired.
I have the Shapeoko 5.
So its pretty much trial and error and i shouldnt worry about the inaccuracies?
Do you have a dial indicator, and a solid (dowel) bit? You could check for runout at the tip, that could produce oversize holes.
Shapeoko 5 and it’s about a year old
I have a dial indicator but not familiar with the rest of your suggestion
Have you tried cutting a slot and measuring it?
Probably you could dial this in by duplicating the tool and adjusting its diameter to match the measurement of how it is cutting.
When I rotate by hand, I get about 0.008 difference all the way around. That with using the precision collets. The dowel is the one that came with the bitsetter BitZero.
If you don’t have a dowel, you could measure a bit just above the flutes. That won’t tell you how much the tip is moving, bit it will give you an idea of how much movement there is. On my machine I get about 0.003 just below the collet, so that measurement would not be affected much by any deficiencies in the dowel.
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