I’m incredibly frustrated. If I insert an svg into Easel, it’s not only a crapshoot whether I will get the same depth, but also the same shape. Because I am new to CNC carving, I originally wrote off the problems as “user error.” Today’s result suggests otherwise. I was feeling comfortable with my abilities when I took on a little job for a neighbor in making a retirement sign for a coworker. I created a design in illustrator and then imported the svg to easel. After the initial carve (90° bit, 70"pm at .09" depth), I went back over the lettering because it didn’t cut deep enough. Out of nowhere, the spindle took an errand turn on the second pass. It traced the entire path except the spot in the photo, which wasn’t even in the tool path. Yesterday I was cutting out wooden parts on 2x4 pieces of MDF. After two successful jobs, the third went haywire. Part of the job overlapped the correctly cut parts, which obviously ruined everything. Again, I can’t get any consistency. Same material, same bit, and same file, but I’m getting different results. In the attached photos, I didn’t even move the board or adjust the spindle. I reran the process at a deeper cut and it ran off the rails without explanation. Thank god it was just cheap pine. I’ve wasted nearly all my Sunday screwing around with a $40 job that I have to cut again after I run to Home Depot to buy a new board.
FYI, I have experience in industrial machine builds and could have built a machine for less but I didn’t want to tinker on a build. I wanted something that was ready to go out of the box. I have about a month tops to get this thing running in a trustworthy manner or it’s going back in the box and up for sale. At this point I definitely regret buying it.
