So, have had the machine for a month, shapeoko xxl doing well,Now Both futura and arial font in carbide create and vcarve desktop do this same thing of mostly missing characters at the ends of lines and the material and the table are level. Is more visible with smaller fonts.
I have tried turning everything off and on without success. tried different gcode files.
I am using a 60 degree 1/2 inch vee bit from freud on all the lettering. Speed is 22000 , feed rate about 50 and plunge about 20.
Help, am kind of stuck here.
Belt tension — the Z-axis should be guitar string tight (but careful not to bend the motor shaft): http://docs.carbide3d.com/assembly/shapeoko/xxl/step-5-belting/ on deep cuts it may help to remove one spring from the Z-axis temporarily, esp. if one hasn’t added a spoilboard on top of the wasteboard — it also helps to install the router as low as possible (installing the Makita adapter upside down will help). Some folks have found it helps to remove the M4 Z-axis tension bolt, apply a thin bead of threadlock along the length of the threads, then reinstalling it after it has dried.
I have been a fine woodworker and luthier for a long time and this cnc stuff is a real paradigm shift in work flow, accuracy etc. I really like it but I feel like I am a first year medical student all over again. All seems to be working now. I guess the material was really uneven. Usually catch stuff like that. In mdf it seems to be working well. I did go through all the tightening procedures and found almost none loose. I also checked the spoil board again with a dial indicator for level and it is.
I hope all is tight and calibrated now.
Thanks for bearing with me, such a newbee. I do love vcarve though.
Two things can cause this… slipping and material surface not being level/flat.
It’s hard to tell from the pics because it’s apparent that you ran several test runs, so I can’t be sure.
If, for example, the right hand pic was all one carve, then I would say your material was not level to the machine. This is assuming it finished one line before moving on to the next. Either your wasteboard is not leveled properly, the material was thinner on the right than on the left, or the clamping allowed the material to lift on the left side during the carve. It’s interesting thought that the Hebrews 4:12 came out fine while the line above it did not. To test to see if the problem, zero your v-bit on the right side and manually jog it to the left side… does the v-bit point drag into the material as you progress from right to left? If yes, then the surface of the material is not level
If, however, you ran each line as a test, and zero’d the v-bit each time before running the next line, then you have a slipping belt. An easy test to confirm this is to carve a line, then send the bit back to the original zero, and come down 6mm so you’re at what the machine thinks is 0,0,0. If the bit is not zero’d properly to the material, then you know it gained height as it went along… and you need to follow the slippage troubleshooting Will posted.
Edit: I just realized you’d already resolved your issue… one thing I would suggest measure that board to see if it really is thinner on one side than the other. If it is not, and you already checked your wasteboard to ensure it’s level, then your clamping is allowing the material to lift on the left side… those smooth MDF brackets may be the issue. Try gluing some thin strips of high grit (220) sandpaper to the edges to give them some grip.
It’s not so much that the surface is level, but that it is perpendicular to the Z axis. If you level all the rails, and level the surface, then it is (ie. if the rails, and the surface are all level, it must be perpendicular) The easiest way to get to perpendicularity is to surface the wasteboard with the router and an appropriate toolpath.
Anything we can help with, or you just mean finding material that’s a uniform thickness? Easy fix for that: level both sides before painting and the subsequent v-carve. In my experience, leveling material before working with it is an essential part of any project. For especially warped material, wedges under the bow or around the edge for cupped material keeps everything solid so you get a clean leveling pass.
