V-carve issues- I am out of ideas!

[Woodstag]

Hi all,

I hope you guys can help me.

Relative newbie to CNC and Vectric so I shall do my best to explain my issues.

I have been attempting to cut a simple sentence "IN MEMORY OF PAT' into an oak slab using the text tool and v-carve/engraving.
The text is 24mm in text height and in the Sans Serif font. Cut to 3mm deep.

The slab has been surfaced so is level to the bed/bit.

I am using new a 45* V bit from Amana Tool (RC-1145).

The sentence is being cut along the Y axis. This is where the problem started but also has the same issues when rotated 90* and cut along the X axis.

When the engraving is made (whether that be in oak or softer material such as ply/mdf) the cut of the first letter and occasionally other letters go awol.

The "I" is cut straight on the first pass, then the top squared off corners of the "I" are cut and then as the machine comes back down the 'I' it randomly moves towards the second letter ("N").

Occasionally the cut is faultless, but is only fine 1/10 times.

I have gone over the machine mechanically with the manufacturers assistance and we are both 99% certain it is nothing mechanical. Belts have been changed, rails greased and every possible bolt checked and tightened.

The issues coincided with the latest update, which may be a coincidence but leads me to believe something is bugged with either Vectric, Masso or the communication between them both.

Please see the images attached for examples of what is happening and any help would be greatly appreciated as Im at a loss as to what to try next.

Many thanks,

Gary.

[scotttarnor]

If the preview in Vcarve looks good and it carves correctly 1 out of 10 times it is not a Vectric software issue, looks to me like you are loosing steps, do you have any motors/fans or any thing that can produce noise on the same circuit?

[Woodstag]

Nothing obvious that could cause noise, machine was cutting fine before the update also.

The day before I had completed around 4/5 hours of cuts.

Ive ruled out static too.

I tried changing the font, importing the text and carving as an image... none of those resolved it.

I do agree that it seems to be missing steps though. It seems to get lost around the same place most times.

I am so confused as to what it could be.

[Rcnewcomb]

Can you post your CRV file?
(How do I upload files or photos to the forum?)

If the file is too large to upload here you can use a file sharing site such as drive.google.com, onedrive.com, or dropbox.com. They all have free accounts available

• Upload the file to the file sharing site
• Make the link shareable
• Share the link to the file here

[Woodstag]

File attached, Thank you!

[adze_cnc]

Look at the M in image two; the top I in image three; the N in image four. To me these all imply that something is moving. The material? A slipping belt? Something.

If you are using same g-code file and getting different results we can pretty much rule out VCarve. Given the large number of users cutting similar projects each day you'd figure that something as serious this in the software would be found by now.

What interests me is that these letter don't look as I would expect a "V-Carve / Engraving" toolpath to look even if the v-bit was improperly specified. The corners are not sharply cut where the two bevelled faces meet.

We haven't actually seen or had any information about what tool paths are involved.

EDIT: apparently a post came through while I was typing this.

[Woodstag]

The material was very well fixed. the scrap pieces that I run a ton of tests on were screwed to my bed so had absolutely no chance of moving.

I checked all the pulleys, grub screws, changed the belts and retentioned them... twice to be sure.

[Randy6911]

Are you using the correct post processor for your machine? Why do you have "project toolpath onto 3d model" selected? Take off flat depth. Troubleshoot one thing at a time. The toolpath preview looks ok on my software. Doesn't appear to me to be a Vectric problem at first glance.

[Woodstag]

Post processor is correct.

Also have reinstalled that to make sure.

[martin54]

Have you tried altering your tool settings to see if that makes a difference? Your DOC is set at 1/4" which means your cutting the full 5mm depth in one pass, this might ba a bit much for your machine, sorry I don't know the brand at all

[Woodstag]

I will try that, I have not had an issue for the last year doing similar and more labouring cuts.

I have also since changed the depth to 3mm with the same issues occurring.

Thank you all for your suggestions and help so far!

[SteveNelson46]

You have a flat depth set to 5mm and the deepest cut is only about 4mm so that setting isn't necessary. Also, you have "Project toolpath onto 3d model" selected and there is no 3d model to project onto so that setting isn't necessary either. Your feed rate is set to 30 inches per minute and your plunge rate is set to 15 inches per minute and your material is setup for mm. That could be an issue but probably not. I see nothing wrong with the preview so I'm pretty sure it's a machine issue. If it was a software issue there would be a lot more complaints.

[Leo]

Some suggestions were made.

I don't see anything wrong in the CRV file, except a few mishaps that are already mentioned.

No, the issue is not in the Vectric end of things.

You definitely have an issue at the machine end of things.
Maybe there is a control issue, but I think more on the mechanical end.


Things to investigate:
Loose router mount
broken of cracked router mount
cutter sticking out too far
broken or cracked collet
wrong collet for cutter
really badly worn or damaged cutter
material hold down - I know you said you checked, but HOW is it held down(this is what it looks like to me)
Machine bed moving during cut (how well is the machine bed secured)
Running machine from a USB stick - bad idea
Maybe missed steps - but I don't think so

[Adrian]

Presumably you're using the CanCam Masso post processor? I saved the toolpath with that post processor (the one that comes with VCarve) and ran it through two different simulators and it cut as expected.

Are you outputting directly to the machine or saving and loading the file from disc? If you are outputting directly and it's possible to load the file another way that would be worth a go to remove any communication gremlins from the equation.

[Woodstag]

Some suggestions were made.

I don't see anything wrong in the CRV file, except a few mishaps that are already mentioned.

No, the issue is not in the Vectric end of things.

You definitely have an issue at the machine end of things.
Maybe there is a control issue, but I think more on the mechanical end.


Things to investigate:
Loose router mount
broken of cracked router mount
cutter sticking out too far
broken or cracked collet
wrong collet for cutter
really badly worn or damaged cutter
material hold down - I know you said you checked, but HOW is it held down(this is what it looks like to me)
Machine bed moving during cut (how well is the machine bed secured)
Running machine from a USB stick - bad idea
Maybe missed steps - but I don't think so

Things to investigate:
Loose router mount Checked
broken of cracked router mount Checked
cutter sticking out too far Checked
broken or cracked collet Checked and tried a new collet
wrong collet for cutter Checked
really badly worn or damaged cutter New and correct bit
material hold down - I know you said you checked, but HOW is it held down(this is what it looks like to me)
Sacrifice board strips are T bolted down and a very very secure, the test pieces are then screwed to several strips of the surface board so definitely not the issue
Machine bed moving during cut (how well is the machine bed secured) Checked
Running machine from a USB stick - bad idea The only part that is USB is the file trasfer from Vcarve on my laptop, plugged into the port on the Masso G3 Controller
Maybe missed steps - but I don't think so unsure what would be causing this