Newbie can't center designs - I am SO FRUSTRATED!!!

[Coby]

I've had the Shark for about a month. My husband and I make Corian cutting boards and we want to use the Shark for cutting in designs and putting a trough an inch in from the sides all around to catch juices. We have yet to have one cut centered. The 3D view is spot on, but when it cuts it, it's not centered and neither are any designs we've tried to cut. I am using the bottom left corner as a start point. Actually when I used the center as a start point, thinking maybe I wasn't right on center using the bottom left corner...it actually cut the trough all the way off the piece. I am absolutely at my wits end trying to figure this out. I'm using a ball nose to cutout the trough and a v bit for designs. The material is 1/2" thick. I insert a rectangle shape, center it in the material, set the toolpath and preview - it looks perfect. Any suggestions? I'll attach the files if that helps. Thanks! Denise

[tonydude]

Have you checked the couplings on the shaft of the motors? They might be loose. Check everyone and tight them up real good. What are your speeds? Might be going too fast.

Tony

[Wolffie1]

Are you sending the router to XYZ0 before you start cutting?
Also, if the router happens to hit one of the end points, your setting will be off.
So far, any mishaps I have had (after having the faulty control box replaced) has been human error.

Cheers
Wolffie

[Coby]

I have used various speeds from 30 to 100%. When you say to set xyz0, I reset x and y to 0, am I also suppose to set z to 0? If so, that's could be the problem. I use the touchpad and the z is at .625, so I should be setting this to 0? I sure hope that's the answer to my problem. I know it's something I'm not doing right.
Thanks!

[BillK]

Coby,

It's easy to confirm if your 0,0,0 is in the right place, just tap "Move to 0,0,0" at the bottom of your control screen and see if you are in he right place without the router running. It sounds like you are in the right place, but this simple check will confirm.

It's important to check the couplings as Tony mentioned. You can't have any play between the motor shaft and the lead screws. These can become loose through over-torque, too heavy a cut at to high a speed, or by hitting the end limits of axis travel.

Make sure your part is positioned on the table so that the cutter can reach all cutting areas without the limits being hit.

One test you might be able to do: Set your 0,0,0. Jog at the fastest speed all the way back about 12 inches, then right, then forward, then back to 0,0,0. If you are not where you expect to be, examine the couplings.

[Bob]

I've made just about every mistake in the book.
One of them kind of sounds like your problem:
My solution was to to go to the job setup menu and uncheck the "use origin offset"
I had offset the center of the drawing which looked good in the preview, but looked bad in the final product. I didn't realize that I was setting X Y Z zero in the wrong place.

Remember: After unchecking the "use origin offset" button, re-center your drawing before calculating the tool path.

This might not be the cause of your problem, but it doesn't hurt to check.
Bob

[Coby]

To be clear, after I use the touchpad, and the z reads .625, I should zero this out? Would this be why the design isn't centered, because I've been leaving the z at .625 all this time?
I will check the shaft. I tried using the Origin Offset at one point to see if it made a difference, but it didn't. I'll be sure not to use it in the future. Thanks everyone for your help, I really appreciate it! I'll let you know if this solves the problem.

[PeteD]

The z position has nothing to do with what you cut being offset. The z is up and down, for depth. Souns to me like you ate trying to cut past the machine limits. Pete

[Eagle55]

If you post the CRV file it might help to see something that is a miss. like where you are zeroing vs where the program thinks you are zeroing. Also if you can show a picture of what you are getting, it might help.

Roger

[Coby]

I've attached the file for the cutting board trough and the deer. I've attached pics too. It's easy to see how off centered the deer head is. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I did a small 4" x 4" coaster with a dragonfly design, and that's way off too so it's not that I'm hitting the end. I center each piece on the working surface.

Deer Head 7 mins.crv

(2.37 MiB) Downloaded 335 times

Trough for 18 by 12.crv

(27 KiB) Downloaded 302 times