Leveled table
Verified machine square
Trammed spindle
Surfaced waste board. When surfacing, McFly cut deeper into MDF as Y axis moved toward
the back of machine.
Waste board surface came out smooth. Tramming good.
I surfaced an 8" x 14" x 1" piece of ash on both sides. It came out looking good but 0.015"
thinner at the back. The surfaced board lays perfectly flat on waste board.
Does this indicate the Y rails are not level? or not parallel to base frame?
Photo of the part in question?
Show how it was clamped for cutting?
It was clamped down using Crush-It essential clamp set.
After surfacing the first side, flipped over front to back. The board laid flat on waste board, held down and clamped back down. No movement.
The board was removed to take measurements.
How long of a straight edge do you have access to? Run a straight edge down the length of the spoil board from front to rear and see if there is a gap under or if the straight edge rocks to either end.
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Likely the easiest thing to do is to use a quality level and get your spoilboard physically level. Then put your level on the Y rail and if necessary adjust it to be level. If the two surfaces are not parallel you will never get anything flat. If you spoilboard is NOT level after getting it level and/or the rail you will likely need to tram the spoilboard again. One other possibility is your spoilboard is not level but is parallel with the Y rail. In that case leave things alone. Wixey makes some little angle blocks that will give you both absolute level and relative level. A long level would certainly tell you if things are level but not tell you the exact angle like the Wixey.
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Thanks for the reply.
I have a 38" Powertec straight edge. I placed it on every spoil board slat. No rocking on ends and no gaps visible with flashlight behind straight edge.
I surfaced the spoil board which was the first indication to me that I had a problem.
As the cutter moved toward the back the deeper the cuts became.
Thanks
I used a 4’ and a 2’ bubble level. Also used a Huepar digital angle gauge very similar to the one you showed.
The biggest error found with angle gauge was 0.07 degrees.
Think I used the wrong title for this subject. It doesn’t seem to be a leveling problem.
It seems to me that the Y bearing rails are not parallel to bed frame. Not sure that can be fixed.
That’s a tough one, if your cross braces are all tight prior to putting on the T track and then the spoil board, I’m not sure how the Y axis cuts deeper to the rear of the machine. Are all the spoil board pieces down tight? Is there a chance something got under them to actually raise them to account for the deeper cut towards the rear?
It would seem they are parallel after you leveled the bed? Jog the X axis around and measure the height from the same point across the bed. As long as the measurement is the same the machine should cut level,
I attached a test indicator to spindle mount. Zeroed indicator at front center on aluminum part of t-tack. The back of machine measures 0.037" higher than front.
It appears to me that the Y rails are off.
Will they still be off after the MDF has been cut level with the machine’s movement?
As will suggests, what is the measurement after leveling the spoil boards? 0.037” is pretty small. What’s important is that the spoil board has a consistent measurement once leveled with the spindle as mentioned above.
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