Ok guys, looking for some help here. It could very well be that I don’t actually have a problem other than a fundamental misunderstanding of how a CNC works, but I figured I’d ask anyway. I just got my X Carve about a week ago and I’m pretty new to CNC work in general.
So I’m trying to make a tray for holding all my work clamps and accessories. Rather than download somebody else’s I took a shot at designing my own. I measured all the pieces and added about a half a millimeter for clearance. I used Easel to do the design work and set it up for a single stage cut with a 1/8" upcut bit.
The problem I’m having is that my pockets are all about 1mm undersized. The ones in the picture should measure about 19.5mmx12mm
I’ve tried everything I know to do - adjusted belt tensions, adjusted V wheels, checked X/Y square, checked Z square to work surface, etc. It wasn’t all perfect and I had to make a few adjustments but none of it made any difference to the outcome.
I called customer support and they suggested I check the steps/mm calibration. I did this by installing a V-bit and bringing the Z axis down far enough to mark the wood, then bringing it up and moving the spindle over by 1 inch and measuring between the marks to confirm it moved exactly one inch. I checked this in both the X and Y axis and both were within a few thou, plenty close enough.
So the only thing I’m left with is maybe I just don’t understand how Easel calculates the tool path. Obviously I know that I can’t cut a square corner with a round mill, but I would expect to see more accuracy on the outer walls of the pocket, am I wrong here?
I downloaded a few files of where other people made a similar tool tray for the same parts and all their holes are actually oversized by about 1-1.5 mm even though their pictures seem to show a tighter tolerance. I’d like to not have to remember to oversize all my future pockets if possible, any ideas?
