Overlap problem with table surfacer

[angelosart]

I have an SB32 with PC router. Has anyone had this happen when surfacing a piece of wood....I used a 20% overlap...

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[Keith Larrett]

Your router is not perpendicular to the table surface. The following thread describes tramming.

http://www.talkshopbot.com/forum/showthread.php?17347-Cutting-Flattening-Plenum-Board&highlight=tramming

I've also found I get better surfacing results when surfacing up and down along the X axis compared to the inward spiral of the Tabletop Surfacer routine.

Check out "Pacos Surfacing Routine" at the link below. It works great.

http://pacosarea.blogspot.com/2007/02/surfacing-along-axis-shopbot-routine.html

[bleeth]

You also need to increase your overlap to avoid those bits at the corners being left.
Surfacing in x only is quicker but the spiral shows possible z alignment issues better.

[scottp55]

Angelo,
Also just doing a pocket routine in VCP offers a lot more options.
We dimension all our blanks to thickness that way, and have all our thickness's in that file for various pass depths/thickness's.
Offset whatever you need for bit to clean corners.
Plumb is crucial.
scott

[MogulTx]

If you had a 20% overlap, it should not have left the ridges in BETWEEN passes. They should have overlapped one another. Because of this, I suspect you may have a dimensional error on the diameter of the bit being used.... I would suggest that you go back to Aspire (or whichever design software you are using) Once the design is open (1) Go to "Toolpaths" select the option to edit the path you have created. (2) go to the bit selected and choose edit..(3) study the parameters for the bit... does the tool profile show the correct diameter? Aspire shows "stepover" meaning "how much of the bit width do you want to move over for each pass?" Does the stepover show a value less than 100%? Most people will step over about 8-9% I sometimes use 40% when I am pocketing something soft. I don't stepover 80% ( which would leave an "overlap" of about 20% of the bit width). In Aspire, that value is expressed in inches or mm and also in percent... Above it- under "Geometry" the diameter of the bit is expressed in inches or mm.... that needs to be checked. I would put a caliper on the bit to make sure the value is correct...

Best of luck on it. Please tell us what you discover as you figure the surfacing issue out...

Monty

[MogulTx]

Angelo: I could not see the details of the first pane. I went and blew it up in another screen. It shows you are using a 1.25" diameter bit.... Is that the bit you are actually using?

[angelosart]

First thanks for the help and responses.

This was not happening the day before, it had just started. First time its ever happened. Took a measurement on the surfacing bit and noticed a chip on both cutting blades. Must have hit something yesterday. It was a 1.25" bit as I entered in the table surfacing function.

Question: What sequence of steps do you guys take to make sure your router is perpendicular to the surface? I'm going to re-calibrate that as well. Will let you know how things turn out.

Thanks again.

[scottp55]

Angelo,
Wide gamut of ways from Flintstone on up.
This thread is pretty good;
http://forum.vectric.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=21172&hilit=trammel