Material Thickness

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Melstefs
Posts: 5
Joined: Sat Nov 03, 2018 1:23 pm
Model of CNC Machine: V-Carve

Material Thickness

Post by Melstefs »

Hi,
New to VCarve Pro 9.5 and X-Carve. I am getting confused about what material thickness I have to set for both. My work piece is 3/4". I have another waste board under the work piece that's another 1/2". Been cutting to much into the actual waste board, that's why I added it. Now as I am routing the first path is way too deep. It's probably simple, but I cannot figure it out.
Thanks,
Stefan

garylmast
Vectric Wizard
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Location: Sandy, Utah

Re: Material Thickness

Post by garylmast »

Your material thickness does not include the spoilboard. Make sure when you do the job setup that you know where you set the Z-Zero Position. If you set it at the Material Surface but zero it at the Machine Bed, that might be the reason you're going to deep.

Gary
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Melstefs
Posts: 5
Joined: Sat Nov 03, 2018 1:23 pm
Model of CNC Machine: V-Carve

Re: Material Thickness

Post by Melstefs »

I set the material thickness to .75. Zeroed to the material. On the machine I zero to the material as well after I imported the GCode.

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martin54
Vectric Archimage
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Model of CNC Machine: Gerber 48, Triac PC, Isel fixed gantry
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Re: Material Thickness

Post by martin54 »

Have you measured the material to make sure it is actually 3/4" ? Often material sizes are given as a nominal value & the actual thickness can vary quite a bit. If you have measured the material & it is 3/4" thick then your problem lies elsewhere & could be a number of things.
How far into your spoilboard are you cutting because if you have the machine set up correctly & you zero the z axis correctly then you shouldn't really have any need to cut into the spoilboard at all providing you have toolpathed it correctly :lol: :lol:

laflippin
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Re: Material Thickness

Post by laflippin »

If you are making a final profile cut with the intention of removing a finished piece from the 0.75" blank you started with, then you would typically need to set the cut depth to just a bit more than the blank's thickness (for example, 0.77" if your blank is truly 0.75, and you would use tabs to hold the workpiece together while the profile cut is made). When you calculate a toolpath for something like that, Vectric will warn you that you are going to cut completely through the workpiece. You definitely need a spoil board for that sort of thing.

As per other advice to you, the only other possibility that comes to mind is: You don't simply zero the Z-axis once-and-done during a complex project that requires tool changes. Clearly, you need to re-zero your z-axis with reference to the original wood surface every time you change bits. If you make a large pocket cut at some point and then change tools for a different kind of cut, do not mistakenly re-zero your z-axis to the base of the new pocket!

Note in edit: Just re-read the OP and Stefan says this is happening on the first cut, so I guess that re-zeroing after tool changes is not the issue here. I'm stumped...if the blank is really 3/4" when you clamp it down to your CNC, and Vectric hasn't warned you that one of your toolpaths will cut through the workpiece, and you've correctly zeroed the z-axis to the workpiece surface...well, ....heck! Could this be a mechanical problem with the router mount?

Melstefs
Posts: 5
Joined: Sat Nov 03, 2018 1:23 pm
Model of CNC Machine: V-Carve

Re: Material Thickness

Post by Melstefs »

Thank you all very much! While browsing I came across a post regarding X-Carve post processor for the VCarve. Long story short, I installed the post processor (now I only have the X-Carve in mm and inches available, which is fine), re-checked all my numbers and re-exported the code. When I ran the carve the bit did not travel off the work piece anymore. That's all I have as an explanation since I did not change anything else.

garylmast
Vectric Wizard
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Joined: Fri Oct 23, 2009 4:03 pm
Location: Sandy, Utah

Re: Material Thickness

Post by garylmast »

Another possibly could be that you need to calibrate everything to make sure the travel on ALL axis are correct.

Gary

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