Calibration issue (long tiling cuts)

X-Carve Troubleshooting
1

I have noticed a small error in my calibration when cutting long “Y” cuts. For example, I need to cut a dado into a board 40" long. Since I can’t cut a 40" long dado in one pass, I cut part of it, scoot the board down, cut some more, securing the board each step of the way.

In preparation I have created a fence on my X-Carve, as seen in the first picture.

IMG_3665
IMG_36653024×4032 2.02 MB

You see two boards screwed into place. The leftmost one is out of the way (behind the brackets holding the left rails), and the next one over can be removed and replaced, if needed. After adding the second from the left board (not the one with the dado), I took the X-Carve and told it to cut it down so that I had a machine created reference fence. This board hasn’t been removed during any of this cutting.

Near the bottom of this picture, and more closely visible in the next, you will see a slight jog in the cut, which amounts to an offset of 0.044"

IMG_3664
IMG_36643024×4032 2.06 MB

I see this repeatedly when I have to do this type tiling operation. If it makes a difference, the dado is made with an operation that cuts a 24" long slot, then I just adjust the board for the next cut and run the same program. Obviously, there is some overlap in the length and thus air cutting. I don’t need to do this a lot, so I’m not too worried about making it more efficient at this point.

Is there any calibration adjustments I can look at the minimize or eliminate this error? Or, is this just inherent with this design of CNC?

I love my X-Carve, but this is a disappointment.

Thanks in advance

3

Your stop board is out of alignment. With your stop board mounted in place cut a strait line on it with the xcarve.

3 Likes
4

@RobertCanning. I can try that. Thanks. That said. I am using the X-Carve dust collector and it’s great! Hardly any stray dust. But, I will see about putting a chamfer on the board regardless.

5

@ChrisRice. Thanks, but as I mentioned in my original post, that’s exactly how I created my stop board. Sorry if that wasn’t clearer. That’s what I meant when I said:

I took the X-Carve and told it to cut it down so that I had a machine created reference fence. This board hasn’t been removed during any of this cutting.

7

Is that a fresh cut on the stop? I ask because it’s really easy to get the machine out of line a little bit.

9

Bring the x axis towards the front as far as you can. Is the left side closer to the y riser plates than the right side. It wouldn’t need to be much to cause that.