Not cutting where I want it to

[KarenW]

Uhmmm. I'm really confused now....
I'll go and play with it to see if I can gather what you are saying.

Mark your center on your board.
Clamp and square your board to the table.
Open the Shark controller program.
Using the second tab (Jog), move your bit left/right (X), front/back (Y), up/down (Z) until the tip of your bit is in the center of the mark on your wood. Various ways to set the Z - some use a touch-plate. Some use a piece of paper. Some use a feeler gauge. When it's where you want it, click the XYZ0 button on the left side of the screen - that sets your X,Y and Z and if you don't, all your jogging around won't matter.
But before you do any of that, reset your z zero to the top of your work surface. You have it set to the tabletop in your photo

[BillK]

You also may want to download the shark owners manual here: http://nextwaveautomation.com/Downloads ... .5.0.9.pdf

There's a great section starting on page 92 that helps you use the control panel, but I recommend reading through the entire document.

I agree with everyone else, you have not set your X zero and Y zero correctly. You also may have not set Z zero correctly since you have chosen the table top as a zero point and not the top of your board.

[dlavergne]

** UPDATE**

I was able to fiddle around with it and was able to make my first piece. I didn't realize that every axis needed to be set (zero). Thanks for the assistance.

Anyhow, I followed the instruction on the disc ("How to Make a Nameplate") and my results came out like the attached picture. Its supposed to read: Dr. LaVergne but it didn't cut out the middle of the letters. Any clue what I did wrong?


Thanks again folks. Much appreciated..,.

[Bob]

dlavergne,
Where do you live? Anywhere near Sheboygan, or Milwaukee. or Wisconsin?

Since you have a Piranha, it can be a little confusing using the Shark manual. The Shark and Piranha control panels are not alike. They are a little similar, but will be confusing when starting this adventure. Here is the Piranha manual: http://shop.nextwaveautomation.com/shop ... x?recid=29

The basic setup in VCarve, and Cut 2D are the same when planning your project.

Bob

[Bob]

dlavergne,
Sawdust is good, and the cutting is getting done on your project.

It looks like your work might be shifting around while being cut...check clamping pressure.

It also looks like you may be trying to cut outside the machining area of your table.

Have you tried to CAREFULLY, SLOWLY jog your unplugged, turned off, router around over the table to determine the limits of where it can carve?
Bob

[Bob]

dlavergne,
After you have checked and corrected positioning and clamping, it's time to check your drawing file.
Would you post your Cut 2D file here?
How did the preview look in Cut 2D?
How big is your sign?
Bob

[Bob]

Did your Cut2D preview look like this?
Or, like this?

Or, something else?
Bob

[studio-n]

The touch plate only sets Z zero.
Did you also set X and Y by jogging to the center of your material?
Bob

Thanks Bob,

I did not (nor do i know how) set the X and Y. Could you briefly explain?

look at page 14 of the online manual. Use the X and y buttons to position your bit. Then use the Zero XYZ to set the zeros.
You can then use your touch plate to correctly set your Z zero.

The zero X and Y are RELATIVE to how you set your job start datum. In this case your center of the job. I find it more difficult to find the center
without a lot of back and forth. I generally use the lower left hand corner for my job start. Cheers!

[Bob]

While the Piranha control panel does essentially the same thing as the Shark control panels, they both look very different.

Piranha control panel

The Piranha control panel is located on the pendant.
Bob

[dlavergne]

dr1.bmp

Did your Cut2D preview look like this?
Or, like this?

dr2.JPG

Or, something else?
Bob

Bob,
It was previewing like the 1st picture but I realized that the bit I am using (90 degree V bit 1/4" shank) was too big. I purchased the Rockler Sign Making bit set and will need to get a different bit to make those letters as in the videos (I'm assuming).