V-Carve Help

[Red121]

Hi,
I am extremely new, 2 days new, to VCarve Pro. I tried to make two signs but it goes too deep. I’m using a 60 degree .5” Vee bit. I understand that V-Carve figures out the depth itself but it is much deeper than the preview and letters are going together. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. This never happened when I was using Carbide Create.

[mtylerfl]

Hi,

It looks like your Z-zero setting is not correct. How are you setting your v-bit’s Z-zero setting?...manually?...using a touch plate?...setting from the top of the material surface?...setting from your spoilboard (bottom of material)?

[Phil]

Your start depth is 0.03", it should be zero. Also how did you zero the Z axis prior to running the file?

Phil

[Red121]

I am using a probe from the top of the material. I've tried re zeroing it twice with the same results.

[Red121]

Your start depth is 0.03", it should be zero. Also how did you zero the Z axis prior to running the file?

Phil

I didn't even notice that! Thank you. I've been zeroing with a probe from the top of the material.

[mtylerfl]

Your start depth is 0.03", it should be zero. Also how did you zero the Z axis prior to running the file?

Phil

Hi Phil,

It’s not uncommon to set a small Start Depth for vcarves. I typically set a 0.01” to 0.02” Start Depth to allow for post-carve sanding. That way, no fine detail “disappears” after sanding is completed.

[mtylerfl]

Your start depth is 0.03", it should be zero. Also how did you zero the Z axis prior to running the file?

Phil

I didn't even notice that! Thank you. I've been zeroing with a probe from the top of the material.

Hi,

I noticed your Start Depth setting right away, but did not think that was the issue, as your carve appears to be deeper than normal overall.

The 0.03” Start Depth is less than 1/32” (a little more than what I usually set for a Start Depth), but I’m not certain that’s enough to cause your carve to appear so much deeper than expected.

Hard to say, though. If your lettering is really small, a 1/32” Start Depth would indeed have a profound effect for small lettering.

Your Toolpath Preview looks good (with your current Start Depth). That’s mainly why I don’t think the Start Depth you have is the root cause of your problem. The actual carve should match your Preview, as long as your Z-zero is set accurately.

Other things to check are your Z Home and Safe Z settings. If those are set too high, you could be hitting a Z Limit switch on your machine, which would throw off your Z-zero setting just prior to carving.

[Red121]

Your start depth is 0.03", it should be zero. Also how did you zero the Z axis prior to running the file?

Phil

I didn't even notice that! Thank you. I've been zeroing with a probe from the top of the material.

Hi,

I noticed your Start Depth setting right away, but did not think that was the issue, as your carve appears to be deeper than normal overall.

The 0.03” Start Depth is less than 1/32” (a little more than what I usually set for a Start Depth), but I’m not certain that’s enough to cause your carve to appear so much deeper than expected.

Hard to say, though. If your lettering is really small, a 1/32” Start Depth would indeed have a profound effect for small lettering.

Your Toolpath Preview looks good (with your current Start Depth). That’s mainly why I don’t think the Start Depth you have is the root cause of your problem. The actual carve should match your Preview, as long as your Z-zero is set accurately.

Other things to check are your Z Home and Safe Z settings. If those are set too high, you could be hitting a Z Limit switch on your machine, which would throw off your Z-zero setting just prior to carving.

Thank you. I'll have to check again when I get home. My wife and I have our first festival next Monday that we're going to sell at and I'm sorta freaking out now that this happened. Lol

[laflippin]

I may be missing something here, and it wouldn’t be the first time! But…you didn’t select a Flat Depth for this project. Why not specify a flat depth that is equal to the maximum depth that you want in your v-carved engravings?

Also, I noticed that in the “safe z” field, where z = 0.2”, your “z home” value is0.8”….does that simply add on to the 0.2” to give a depth of 0.28”?

[mtylerfl]

I may be missing something here, and it wouldn’t be the first time! But…you didn’t select a Flat Depth for this project. Why not specify a flat depth that is equal to the maximum depth that you want in your v-carved engravings?

Hi Lee,

I don’t think a Flat Depth is required for these particular carvings, as the Toolpath Previews show the lettering and designs will carve nicely without any Flat Depth.

I’m still of the opinion it is a Z-zero issue at the machine that is causing the problem. Assuming the correct PP is being used, etc.

[SteveNelson46]

It could also be that you are setting z-zero to the machine bed in the software and then setting z-zero to the material surface on the machine. They both need to be set to the same location.

[laflippin]

You may be right, Michael. I have never allowed the software to calculate the carve depth for my v-carve projects, I always specify it myself with the flat depth setting.

Is the OP’s problem related to the “z home” value = 0.8” ?

[mtylerfl]

...
Is the OP’s problem related to the “z home” value = 0.8” ?

Hi Lee,

It’s possible. I mentioned a few things for him to check/review, this being one of them. Steve also mentioned to check the Z-zero setting in the file vs the Z-zero setting at the machine. I thought of that, too, but figured once the OP checks all Z settings, he would be able to catch that as part of his forensic examination.

[adze_cnc]

Is the OP’s problem related to the “z home” value = 0.8” ?

At the risk of being proved wrong (infinitessimal risk in my estimation) I'm going to categorically say no.

Home / Start Position

This is the absolute position that the tool will start moving from and where the tool can be programmed to return to at the end of cutting the job.

It's also the height at which the spindle travels to an automatic tool-changer happen.

Why would a value that's alway above the material be related to how deeply you are cutting? The only way I could think is that on going "to the top" at the start it is "topping out" but the machine isn't registering that. Now, the absolute Z value is lower than the machine thinks it is. I don't know what the maximum z height on a Shapeoko is but I'd expect it to be a decent height.

To the original poster: between the time you viewed the preview until the time you cut the job did you change the toolpath in any way?

I ask this because the scrollwork and lettering of the 1st machined image is much closer (even allowing for extra depth of cut) than the 1st preview image. Leading me to believe there is a disconnect between the two images.

[laflippin]

Yes, I did see that you suggested checking the “Safe z” and z-home settings…I’m just not familiar the consequences of using (or misusing?) the Safe Z function.

As a practical matter, though, I might still suggest that the OP simply make sure that his z=0 is correlated to the workpiece surface (not the machine bed) and then set his own flat depth = 0.2” in the v-carve tool path.

Just saw your explanation of z-home, adze…thanks! I probably should stay out of this thread to avoid causing more confusion.