been having a couple of problems with our dovetail drawers.
first, we get alot of the smaller parts moving on us. not sure if it has something to do with the manner in which the parts are outlined or not, but unless i surface the table between each sheet, i will loose quite a few pieces per sheet.
second, the outline cuts seem to cut into the table much deeper than they should. if i run dovetail drawers, and then a sheet of cabinets, on the same spacer board, there is a very noticable difference between the depths of the outline passes. the dovetail drawers outlines seem to cut 2-3 times deeper into the spacer board.
was just talking with our service guy and he said that others in the area are having similar problems.
otherwise, everyone here loves the dovetail drawers, just hoping my life can be made a little easier in cutting them
For whatever reason after we flycut and changed the switchspoil our parts are coming out good. The problem on my end seemed to arise after upgrading to 5.12 control nest but I can't narrow down if that is the culprite. Your parts are probably moving because the skin is being cut thru on the first pass. This was happening to us as well. I hope this helps and it will help Ryan to know if anyone else is having this issue.
Hi Guys,
So Forrest, your saying you resurfaced and adjusted spoilboard thickness and your drawers went back to cutting well? I did not update control until a couple days ago and havent cut any dovetails that I remember having trouble with. I do have to run two kitchens Friday with dovetail drawers, so any heads up would be appreciated. As a side note, how is your man doing that got his hand chewed up, I hope he is healing well and back to work for you as I remember you saying he was one of your better mechanics..
Thanks
Hi Guys,
So Forrest, your saying you resurfaced and adjusted spoilboard thickness and your drawers went back to cutting well? I did not update control until a couple days ago and havent cut any dovetails that I remember having trouble with. I do have to run two kitchens Friday with dovetail drawers, so any heads up would be appreciated. As a side note, how is your man doing that got his hand chewed up, I hope he is healing well and back to work for you as I remember you saying he was one of your better mechanics..
Thanks
Just keep a look out for the depth issue on dovetails. The spoilboard and new switchspoil seemed to fix my problem but I'm still not sure what caused it. The odd thing is cab parts seemed to cut fine. If you notice on the first piece it cut thru the skin then you need to stop or you'll start losing parts.
My guy is doing fine and back to work. It was an unfortunate lesson but one that won't be repeated by anyone in my shop.
Thanks Forrest,
Glad your guy is back at it, I am sure he wishes he had a second chance to rethink that one. I resurfaced and measured tools, then cut 14 drawers this morning and they are beutiful. Must be my lucky day for ONCE!
Thanks again,
Forrest and I had discussed this issue over the phone and have questioned what could be the cause and/or if this was a coincidental situation.
I can say that I've recently cut a batch of dovetail drawers for a customer utilizing V5.12 without any issues. As I mentioned to Forrest, it is very important to reset the Automeasure switch (Set Switch Spoil value in M999) precisely, anytime flycutting the Spoilboard (approx. 3/4\" thick board placed directly on Alum. table). If you do not flycut the spoil and only flycut the wasteboard/handling sheet (approx. 1/4\" thick sheet on top of spoil), when finished flycutting, you simply need to use a vernier calipers and measure thickness and record value in Wasteboard Thickness in Control Nesting SETTINGS. I have found that when setting up the auto switch, you may have to go back into Set Switch value and tweak after cutting first batch of parts (this depending on what you see when measuring dado depths and cut through amts). This happens because when manually touching spoil surface with cutter (Vaccum ON), the spoil may not be pulled down onto the Alum. table surface, as much as it wil be when the vaccum is pulling with a sheet of cut material on top(more vaccum applied pulling everything down tighter). Also affecting depth cuts would be the type of material being machined (melamine, plywood, etc...), one may create better vaccum where surfaces meet. Also in need of consideration, if you have not flycut spoil or wasteboard for long period of time, you will need to consider moisture content in your shop and how this could affect the thickness of these materials.
As you all know, there are lots of variables here that we must watch. However, please contact me (email: program@thermwood.com) if you are unable to get things in line and I can work with you.
