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Thread: OneFinity Elite arrived - finally...

  1. #31
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    That was an issue on some of the controller boxes on their original machines like mine, too. But before we throw them under the bus for not fixing what could be a long-known issue, I'll mention that Mini-Max had switch problems for years on some of their bandsaws, and I think still have problems, a company that has been around for decades, and not one just a few years old.

    I've not had any problems with the switches on my controller. Hopefully, neither will you.

    John

  2. #32
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    OneFinity seems to have the mentality of everyone has a 3d printer or would just buy 3d printed parts from other users if they don't. The home flag wire looks like it could easily have a plastic bracket that snaps into the small channels on the end of the rail. They were against drag chains until the elite machine was introduced. Before then customers were coming up with their own options. I think they like being a basic machine that their base customize. Now the company needs to think about making a version of each machine that's more polished.

  3. #33
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    Geesh, time sure flies! Can't believe it's been 10 days. Been very busy with non-woodwork work. In the spare hours in the evenings, I've been trying to do a crash course in CAD/CAM. Should have done a better job of learning prior to the CNC showing up. Using the 12 months free Carveco Maker license that was part of the initial Elite package. I've watched countless videos, some several times, while trying to create my first projects to scribe the cutting area and then surface the waistboard. Seems like no video gives the whole picture/process to accomplish a task so fitting it all together is a bit tedious. Just got past not being able to generate toolpaths in Carveco that the Masso controller could understand. The new controller uses different file formats for toolpaths than the old controller. Guess in retrospect, now that I have some level of knowledge about how things are working, that it makes perfect sense. Experienced CNCers probably know that without a second thought. Being all new to me, it took me a while, along with a plea for help on the Onefinity forums, to learn that the Masso controller has its own post-processors. Oh well... Onefinity tech support did say that Carveco will be soon supporting new Onefinity post processors with names that distinguish between the old BuildBot controller and the new Elite Masso controller.

    So I just successfully "air carved" a simple square to scribe the max cutting area. I should get the router trammed this afternoon, and hopefully a waist board down tomorrow. Here's hoping the weather forecast for rain tomorrow holds up..
    Brian

    "Any intelligent fool can make things bigger or more complicated...it takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." - E.F. Schumacher

  4. #34
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    Post processor selection is indeed a critical thing!

    For your learning pathway, try to "do" the projects (or similar with the same kinds of steps and cuts) as you work through the tutorials when time and material allows. You can cut foam insulation for practice or scrap lumber you did a quick glue up on, MDF for flat stuff including scraps you might have lying about etc. Nothing beats actually making stuff to learn, even if they are intentionally "throw away" projects. Some of this learning can be used to make things for the shop...stuff for organization of tools, fixtures/jigs, etc. It's all really good time spent and good for learning.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  5. #35
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    One thing I tell all new people on the OneFinity forum is to download their logo file and make it. It breaks up the process. You skip the design and creating the code part. But you'll go through the steps of loading a file you know works, you'll get to figure out how to zero the machine, and you'll get to learn about securing the wood to your spoil board. It feels good to tell it to run and watch your new toy make something. Then you can learn the other half.

  6. #36
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    My first CNC project was a tool holder for my bits, wrenches and what not. Super fun, excited for you!

  7. #37
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Becker View Post
    Post processor selection is indeed a critical thing!

    For your learning pathway, try to "do" the projects (or similar with the same kinds of steps and cuts) as you work through the tutorials when time and material allows. You can cut foam insulation for practice or scrap lumber you did a quick glue up on, MDF for flat stuff including scraps you might have lying about etc. Nothing beats actually making stuff to learn, even if they are intentionally "throw away" projects. Some of this learning can be used to make things for the shop...stuff for organization of tools, fixtures/jigs, etc. It's all really good time spent and good for learning.
    Thanks for the tip on using foam Jim. Never would have thought of that.

    Quote Originally Posted by Alex Zeller View Post
    One thing I tell all new people on the OneFinity forum is to download their logo file and make it. It breaks up the process. You skip the design and creating the code part. But you'll go through the steps of loading a file you know works, you'll get to figure out how to zero the machine, and you'll get to learn about securing the wood to your spoil board. It feels good to tell it to run and watch your new toy make something. Then you can learn the other half.
    Yep, their logo is going to be the first real carve after I get the waist board down. 1F included the code on a thumb drive they provide.
    Brian

    "Any intelligent fool can make things bigger or more complicated...it takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." - E.F. Schumacher

  8. #38
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    I only got an hour or so of play time yesterday. Decided to check the tram and scribe the cutting area. Using an Incra precision square, I squared up the the z carriage left to right a tiny bit. It looks like I need to also adjust front to back a tiny bit. There are adjustment screws on the X rail for this. However, reading on the 1F forums, there are several posts about these not being effective, and people are resorting to shims behind the z carriage. Decided I could proceed to getting the waist board down and then come back to this after doing a bit more research and also creating a tramming jig to really dial it in.
    Got everything set up, hit the run button, and promptly drilled a 1" deep hole in my table top... Still not quite sure why that happened, although I did realize that I had not re-zeroed the Z axis after setting the height to cut a few thousands deep. I had zeroed Z once prior to that and upon reflection it seems that the router should have raised, not lowered. Not going to post a photo of that to preserve a tiny bit of humility. I guess the silver lining is that I now have a permanent reminder of where 0,0 is on my table..

    Hopefully I can get the waist board down today, although I have to get the lawn mowed. It's growing like mad and it looks like this afternoon is the only dry time for the next several days. This is about the worst time of the year to take on something like this that takes some dedicated time. Oh well.
    Last edited by Brian Tymchak; 04-29-2023 at 8:30 AM.
    Brian

    "Any intelligent fool can make things bigger or more complicated...it takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." - E.F. Schumacher

  9. #39
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    Oh, I've never cut into my table !!! Ummm, OK, maybe once or twice. Don't worry about it, just try to figure out why it happened. Experience is the best teacher.

    The Z carriage on my machine did not need any adjustment front to back, but I helped another guy where we had to do that and there still wasn't enough adjustment so we had to shim it a little, as you discussed above. It's not a big deal, just added a few strips of paper, maybe 0.008" total, where needed.

    Tramming is pretty straightforward. I put a dial gage on a horizontal bar that clamped to a 1/4" rod in the router chuck. Swing it around and take measurements to the spoilboard. Adust the carriage, repeat until it's within a 0.001 or two. I think it took maybe 30 minutes, and I've never had reason to do it again.

    And, yes, the grass is growing incredibly fast, probably because it rains every other day here. I just bought a used Scag 36" walk behind to make the job less tedious.

    John

  10. #40
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    Jan 2014
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    Brian,
    I'm setting up my Onefinite (Elite Woodworker). Decided to scribe a square on the table top for the wasteboard (ala Mitz Pellicota). Created it in Carveco. When I ran it on the machine ,I realized I sized the material at 32.75" square, then created a 32" x 32" toolpath, so the square was now off by 3/8 ". Filled it with Durhams Rock Hard, sanded, fixed the program and re-cut. I'm the only one that will know it, well, except you guys...

    Brad
    Last edited by Brad Chenoweth; 05-02-2023 at 7:08 AM.

  11. #41
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    Quote Originally Posted by Brad Chenoweth View Post
    Brian,
    I'm setting up my Onefinite (Elite Woodworker). Decided to scribe a square on the table top for the wasteboard (ala Mitz Pellicota). Created it in Carveco. When I ran it on the machine ,I realized I sized the material at 32.75" square, then created a 32" x 32" toolpath, so the square was now off by 3/8 ". Filled it with Durhams Rock Hard, sanded, fixed the program and re-cut. I'm the only one that will know it, well, except you guys...

    Brad
    I also used Mitz's video as a guide. I've been a little frustrated with myself at the lack of progress I was making so I just went ahead and laid down the waist board without fixing the oops.

    I've been working thru tramming the router. Had to leave that partly finished Monday evening. Hope to finish that up this afternoon.

    I've also added a RowdyRoman dust boom but realized I made an error in ordering on that. I didn't scroll down far enough in the model list to see there was a version specific for the Elites. Peter Romano has been excellent in exchanging the parts. I should get that finished up in the next few days. I've held off surfacing the waist board until I get the tramming done and the DC all set up so that I don't have to guide the hose out of the way thru the exercise. The dust boom also solves the routing of the power cord for the router. No need to worry about getting a shielded power cord long enough to route thru the drag chains.
    Last edited by Brian Tymchak; 05-03-2023 at 1:57 PM.
    Brian

    "Any intelligent fool can make things bigger or more complicated...it takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." - E.F. Schumacher

  12. #42
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    Back to it

    Had to take time away from playing with the toy. Real work and a few other things ganged up on me. But I got back to it this week. Trammed the unit, finished setting up the dust collection, learned how to use the touch probe, created the waistboard surfacing toolpath using Mitz's YouTube video, and today got to trying the CNC out. Doing lots of learning at this point so I dry ran the program a few times to iron out a few CAM mistakes. Finally, decided to give it a go for real.

    So, it's taking it's first cuts on it's maiden voyage. I noticed it left an uncut strip in the middle and also it seemed to be cutting a little deeper than I intended. Ok, more things to figure out in Carveco. And then about a third of the way through the job, the router just quit. Wasn't quite sure what had happened at first. Just noticed things had gotten quieter all of a sudden and there was a low grinding sound. Hit the stop button and saw what was going on.

    image_50426113.jpg

    So frustrating. I fiddled a bit with router but it seems dead. No magic smoke. Not hot. Just stopped spinning. Shut down the CNC, turned off the lights, and went to watch the Guardians' game.

    Now that I've spent a little bit of time with the CNC, I've found a few things that aren't great.


    • I got the heavy duty Z slider as part of the initial Elite package. Ordered the Suck It dust boot along with it. Turns out the knobs of the screws that attach the boot side brackets interfere with the slider gantry as it moves up/down. Had to file off the back corners of the knobs to clear. Odd that wasn't caught and corrected by 1F. Must not have done much testing before pushing it out the door.
    • Along the same lines, with the dust boot attached and the hose attached to the boot, when homing the machine to 0,0 (front left corner), it crashes into the back of the controller. I have to make sure I rotate the screen away to clear when homing. The arm to the screen should be maybe 6" longer to clear everything without adjusting the screen. Maybe I'll make one.
    • This is my first CNC so I can't make comparisons to other User Interfaces, but I do have professional experience in UI design. The Masso UI, IMHO, could use a review by a human factors engineer or 2. Just seems like I have to jump from screen to screen to get a job ready to run. Maybe it will get better with time.
    • I got a Rowdy Roman dust boom with clips to hold the dust hose. One of the clips broke while trying to get the hose into it. And with the boom attached at the back right corner, it doesn't rotate out of the way all that well when the unit moves back to that corner. Probably won't be doing much work that pushes the unit that far back so it's not a major issue. May have to re-engineer that a bit in the future.
    Brian

    "Any intelligent fool can make things bigger or more complicated...it takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." - E.F. Schumacher

  13. #43
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    Brian, often things that seem wrong turn out to be correct after we look at them a few times. It's hard to believe 1F pushed out a system where the components don't work properly together. Send tech support an email about the Suckit. They typically answer within a few hours, even on weekends.

    John

  14. #44
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    Quote Originally Posted by Brian Tymchak View Post

    So, it's taking it's first cuts on it's maiden voyage.... And then about a third of the way through the job, the router just quit. Wasn't quite sure what had happened at first. Just noticed things had gotten quieter all of a sudden and there was a low grinding sound. Hit the stop button and saw what was going on.

    So frustrating. I fiddled a bit with router but it seems dead. No magic smoke. Not hot. Just stopped spinning. Shut down the CNC, turned off the lights, and went to watch the Guardians' game.
    Pulled the router off the CNC with the intent of shipping to Makita for warranty work. Decided to plug it in and try it one last time and, wouldn't you know, it runs. Changed speed settings and flipped on/off several times to exercise the switch. No problems. So, must be heat related.

    Started googling around for heat problems on the Makita RT0701c and found several posts on OneFinity forum of routers in CNCs melting down. I didn't notice much heat on the unit, so I'm thinking that there might a short somewhere. There was also several mentions that using the Makita router in a CNC voids the warranty on the router. Have to admit that seeing all the videos using Makita router led me to believe that was an accepted usage of the router. Makita warns of running the router for long periods of time at low speed as the fan won't move enough air to keep it cool. I was running a 1" surfacing bit @ 70 in/min on the 3 setting, which is about 17k rpm, with DOC = .038 in. The DOC is about 2x what I set for finished depth in the toolpath, but I think 1/32" shouldn't have been a problem.

    So, you guys out there with the 1F machines, are you using the Makita router or a spindle? I have long term plans of going to a spindle, but I want to learn a lot more before shelling the $$ out for that.
    Last edited by Brian Tymchak; 06-12-2023 at 3:04 PM.
    Brian

    "Any intelligent fool can make things bigger or more complicated...it takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." - E.F. Schumacher

  15. #45
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    Quote Originally Posted by Brian Tymchak View Post
    Pulled the router off the CNC with the intent of shipping to Makita for warranty work. Decided to plug it in and try it one last time and, wouldn't you know, it runs. Changed speed settings and flipped on/off several times to exercise the switch. No problems. So, must be heat related.

    Started googling around for heat problems on the Makita RT0701c and found several posts on OneFinity forum of routers in CNCs melting down. I didn't notice much heat on the unit, so I'm thinking that there might a short somewhere. There was also several mentions that using the Makita router in a CNC voids the warranty on the router. Have to admit that seeing all the videos using Makita router led me to believe that was an accepted usage of the router. Makita warns of running the router for long periods of time at low speed as the fan won't move enough air to keep it cool. I was running a 1" surfacing bit @ 70 in/min on the 3 setting, which is about 17k rpm, with DOC = .038 in. The DOC is about 2x what I set for finished depth in the toolpath, but I think 1/32" shouldn't have been a problem.

    So, you guys out there with the 1F machines, are you using the Makita router or a spindle? I have long term plans of going to a spindle, but I want to learn a lot more before shelling the $$ out for that.

    I've been using a Makita router for over a year now with zero issues, maybe 200 running hours. Your speed and DOC with the surfacing bit is about the same as I use, except I only run at aroung 2 on the speed setting. I have run 3D carves with it for 15 hours straight, paused for the night, and then done it again the next day, repeat, for 60 hours. The body on mine barely gets warm during those long finishing runs; the bit isn't doing much work so the load on the router in really low. The most heat comes from deep pocket or profile passes, like 1/4" DOC with a 1/4" bit running at 150 ipm. I too, plan to upgrade to a spindle someday, but there's no reason to start out with one. I keep checking the brushes on mine; they are still fine. Folks will tell you a spindle is quieter. It is - until the bit hits the wood. On 3D finishing carves where little wood is being removed, however, it would be much quieter, and that might be my greatest motivation to get one. For the typical furniture type projects I do, however, I don't see much advantage.

    I think you have short somewhere, too, probably in the power cord. Surprisingly, it's not so uncommon. The speed adjustment units can go south, too, but that's not likely to be the cause if it now works. Another possibility could be dust in the switch but that usually takes a lot of use before it becomes a problem.

    John

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