Yep, I am a Newby and saw this unit one week ago Friday. Overwhelmed by what was available. Saturday, saw a demo. Picked up my unit a week later.
Thought I would share some first impressions and some tips I have not read about elsewhere.
Servo Motor Wiring
Dangling wires cause issues. Especially when a Strain Relief is not present. I put some cable ties on them and the motor.
How To Attach The Gantry
I laid an old blanket on the bed. Then, placed four bolts in what would be the top row of holes. Two per side. Flush with the inside edge. Aligned the Gantry Feet to fit over the Angles. Lifted the Gantry Top and aligned the first bolts in their holes. Placed the bolts, one per side in their holes. Put nuts on them. Loosely. Then, using these as a hinge,m lifted the Gantry completely and placed the other two bolts in their holes. Nuts. Wrenched. Done.
Y Axis Stability
When rocking the Gantry back and forth from the top, I was surprised to feel the amount of movement on the bearings along the Y-Axis guide shafts.
Plastic Clamp - Router
I ordered the aluminum version Sam Clark sells. I will also re-use the plastic one underneath the base with the aluminum version just above the base.
Jon ...
Woodbury Mn
(To Be Continued)
Last edited by McBuster on Sat Sep 07, 2013 8:25 pm, edited 4 times in total.
I now have my HD running in a temp status but made my first "Hello World" sign. So far, no holes in the bed, nor clamps cut in two. So far ...
Security and Registration etc ...
I have been around alot of development and installation dialogs. Whether Vectric or Wave, these folks need to take a Deep Breath and realize one thing. If, they want to collect Names and Addresses of users, the process could be alot simpler. A sixty character code is silly. And a Thirty Day window? For a unit I just paid alot of money for? Should be better. This process is the clumsiest I have ever seen. I may have Registered VCarve three times by now. As far as secret codes etc to actually run the machine, without the Control Box, nothing runs. What better Security does one need?
Control Box Power
Yes, one can install the software, attach and power on the Control Box without the X Y Z Servo Motors attached. And must be done if, you are going to use the software on a computer without the HD present.
Post Processor Files
Wow, overwhelming at best. For me, I will probably never work in Metric nor ever use the plethora of devices listed. By backing up the "PostP" Folder in its entirety, archiving it somewhere, all the Metric ".pp" Files can be deleted followed by all those you might not ever use. My Dropdown Box now contains the single ".pp" File I will always use. Much simpler. Locations for all these things can be found around page 110 of The Manual. One can always add back, a post processor needed at a future date.
Clamping The Work Piece
If, the base of your clamp is fastened to one of the extrusions and the head of the clamp is placed above another, you can force the top surface lower than the XYZ0. Placing the clamp parallel to the extrusion will create a better result.
Hard Stops On Each Axis
One should take the time to mark the Hard Stops at each end of each Axis. Use red tape, marker, whatever, but some form of visual indication how far to go manually before the servo motor is jammed.
Mini Tutorials
In the Shark Forum, CNC Shark Video section, Kim Adams has a wonderful series of tutorials. Clear, to the point, easy to understand. We need more of them to illustrate more features using the current software. Thanks Sam, sure came in handy.
Nice write-up Jon. One thing about the t-track is that you can slide some strips of HDPE, wood, or whatever into the slots between track sections to make them act more like a single connected mass. The strips should be snug, but aren't hard to make and is an easy upgrade to the bed.
"Plan A" is to make my own bed from 3/4" BB and glue together two pieces. I have a table saw and the cast iron surface is as flat as I got, so I will weight things down on it and let the glue do its job. Then, attach that to the saw. Maybe to the point I take the extruded bed off, and bolt this on. Minimizing Gantry height.
95% of my work will be in a Get-It-Done production mode and I will have various templates that will hold the pieces etc. All done with Part A? Mount Template "B" and start on Part B. Anyways, that's Plan A. Plan B? Well, don't have one yet. All my parts are about 10" square or less. And will be using BB for them. So the flatness should be pretty good one at a time. And I look forward doing 4-up or 6-up etc. If, the results are predictable.
Got the Control Panel and Touch Plate software Registered. New Wave was sure helpful with the latter. My Big Box upstairs, and the El Cheapo with the Shark, are all set to go with what I need for software and street legal things. all related files will be shared from my Server on the network.
Next, find a local source for 1/8" 1/4" 3/8" 1/2" and 3/4" Baltic Birch 4x8 sheets. Later tomorrow or Friday, I will start, in earnest, the bench to support the whole thing plus dust enclosure. A "Shark Tank" I believe. Plans are to have solid sides, far end and top and use styrofoam beadboard for sound absorption. Even 1/4" foam would do nicely. The front will be hinged to the top, the top front half will be hinged as well. Then, lift both panels on top of the box. Also, the front portion of each side will also be hinged outward for easy access to the guts.
Thoughts are also on the new wood bed, plus the jigs each part will require. A jig will be fastened to the bed, with the lower left corner jamming into permanent guide rails on the bed. Then, clamp/bolt it down. Then, mount a blank, clamp it and start chewing away. That's the idea anyways. I hope to keep the parts flat one to the other and to the cutter.
Got the clamp for the router Sam Clark produces. That, is the best value in this whole adventure. I will try to mount it below the platform with the existing plastic one above. If, the two forward bolt's holes are holes, not slots, I will bore them out a little. The way I like to tighten clamps like this one, crack the two forward bolts loose. Tighten the clamp. Retighten the two bolts. If they remain tight, that places an awful strain on the clamping tabs as, the circumference of the clamp about the router, will hardly move. By using both clamps, the rigidity should be better.
I received both the MuscleChuck etc and the PreciseBits collets etc. Each serve a specific audience. I will be keeping the PreciseBits kit. Chuck, 1/2 1/4 1/8 collets. Wrench and lube. That will allow the possibility of less runout based on how the bit shank is supported so evenly.
Plywood Bed
Tomorrow, I start construction. I ordered 1/4-20 EZ Lok inserts. These will be used to hold the jigs, or clamps. Will use the Shark to drill all the holes I need. I am going to use a novel way of adjusting the bed geometric plane to the router travel.
Actual Usable Work Area
I spent some time and found that, hard stop to hard stop, the Work Area is 25" square. But, there is very little wiggle room beyond that. Almost none. I will use a 24 1/2" square area as the maximum size I can use on a consistent basis without ramming the Servo Motors up against the clutch.
Baltic Birch
Found a source for Baltic Birch panels in all the sizes, even 5/8", that I will need.
The front is in front. 29 3/4 wide by 36 deep. Two 3/4"layers of Baltic Birch glued together. The original bed of extruded slats will not be used. The actual Work Area is not 25" square, but 24 1/2".
The four holes in the corners are meant for 1/4-20 inserts on the bottom layer so a one inch long setscrew will be inserted from the bottom. The socket portion will be on the topside and using an Allen Wrench, I can make adjustments for co-planar thru the hole from the top. They will contact the four corners of the frame itself. Once level, one would tighten down the existing support bar to the frame, that is attached to the front and back bottom of the bed. I will also place an additional couple bolts near the center of the bar for reinforcement. I wished I could easily slot those holes. Maybe I will have to find another machine in the area.
The X and Y Edge Guides are indicated. They will be half inch wide, set in a groove 1/8" deep and about 1/8" high. All jigs will be set up against these edges.to establish the 0,0 origin.
The other 169 holes will have inserts in them on 2" centers. A Jig will be mounted at the Origin and at least, four nylon screws one at each corner will hold it in place vertically, and if necessary, Cam Clamps will be used for the horizontal.
I thought of a plastic material, but this was more available. My pieces are small, less than 12" on a side. If, after a few successes on 1-up, making 2-up or 4-up or 6-up becomes a problem with a wooden bed, then I would switch to a "Plan B"
Baltic Birch. The circled areas were problems that I covered on another post.
Note that I installed the aluminum bracket Sam sells. Above the bracket. I also installed the plastic version below, just to give things an extra oomph for solidity and dampening.
I used hex bolts and found the holes were 1/4" and not meant to be a clearance type hole. I drilled them out by 1/64". Both the bracket, aluminum clamp and the plastic bracket. Then on the support bracket I drilled the front two holes to 19/64". This allows both clamping bolts to have some sideways play. I tightened the back two bolts first, then the clamps, then the front two bolts.
.
Kinda resolved the B Birch issues by reducing speeds/feeds. I think that one is 98% right now. (200 holes, 4 bad ones?) Make that 99.9%.
In checking for anything loose that might have some give, I came across a very unsettling issue.
The Y Axis gantry, at the base, can be move +/- about 3/32". I looked beneath the base and the problem is, the way the crosspiece that connects to the gantry, the aluminum spacer and the plastic blocks, the two bolts are loose in their holes. The aluminum plates can move the 3/32" (or so) on top of the plastic.
Not a good thing, and will require alot of effort to fix.
I am sorry to hear about your issue.
If I understand you correctly you have a loose bolts on your base Y spar support piece.
We can help you fix this and align quickly.
The basics is you remove the top by taking out the 2 bolts in the front and back the attach the top to the base.
Then move base all the way to the back of the machine. This will allow it to be in the correct position.
then tighten the bolts.
If I am incorrect on the bolts you are talking about please contact us.
If you have questions call support 419 491-4520.