Great CMC Test Cutting Idea!!

[MaJa]

Getting ready to cut my first 8-ply mat on my Wizard. Was going to call wonderful tech to have them walk me through it. The day ran away and they are all off enjoying their weekends.

So, I use our handy-dandy search feature and found some good info.

This is from Shayla in 2008 and I felt it bared repeating:

Even if you only have one piece of mat, you can still make practice cuts.

You put your mat in and design a very small opening that will be cut out of where the fallout will be. Always be sure to select that the wizard won't cut the outside for this tiny window! If my real mat border was going to be three inches, I'd figure that with the inch and a half the Wizard bumps it in so that they can cut the border, the window of that real mat is going to be at about four and a half inches into the board. So I'd design my test window to start at about five and a half inches in, with plenty of room away from the good window. I usually make them about an inch and a half high by two wide, but that could vary depending on your board size. This way, you can practice and still have the part you're going to need be in good shape.

THANKS Shayla!! I never thought of that and I know I should of!! You rock!

 

[Merlin Framers]

Valiani CMC Test Cut

Another very good test cut/calibration technique that should work on any CMC is as follows.
Set up a 4 x 4 grid. 40mm borders. 40mm x 40mm apertures. 4mm spacings.
This produces the following:


The bottom two rows we use the cutting blade.
Row three for a 'V' groove check
Row four (top row) for the Pen head.

This will give a very quick visual check of any over/undercuts and any alignment problems
Also because of the 4mm spacing between apertures any 'hooking' is immediately apparent.

 

[artfolio]

Great ideas.

I always keep a few A4 fallouts handy and usually do a test-cut before any serious work. I like to cut a small window first then move out in increments of 10mm as I make corrections. This way I can easily compare the cuts.

Just as a side-question - does anyone else find that the Wizard needs the rotation adjusted fairly frequently?

 

[wpfay]

Ken from Wizard was just at my shop and gave the 8000, Shagundela, her first real tune up in 6 years. The apertures are still about .05" off on 8-ply, but I can live with that.
Properly tuned the Wizard should cut 8-ply (thickness varies by manufacturer) at 21-22 depth setting. We just got through cutting 180+ 8-ply Artique mats for a museum job, and only had one bad cut and that was due to a dull blade. We have since started changing blades more frequently and checking the blade carrier for signs of wear. Ken also instructed us on the proper way to load the blade in the carrier to minimize wear.
I would think that having to adjust rotation often is not the norm.

 

[MaJa]

Mine cut great at 21 ... once I realized I needed to use the yellow cartridge (lol).

Thanks to Shayla I only used one mat!