My machine is possessed...changes cutting in middle of job?

[HandyManBill]

I am in the process of cutting a sign out of 1" HDU, am on the next to the last toolpath (60 degree V-Bit) around the letters and numbers, the pockets have all been cleared without a hitch, change the bit and it starts out fine, outlines a couple of letters and I feel good...start to sand another job while it is doing its thing, the cutting has just started getting louder so I walk to the front of the machine and it is NOW cutting about a half inch into the sign where it was at .15" before it became possessed (sorry I am trying to keep some humor before I explode). I checked my files to see what I did wrong, went back to Partworks and previewed the cutting several times but it looked to be fine.

I have attached some photos of the sign, if you have any ideas I am all ears, or I would be happy to send you the files to look at my email is

wbpatterson@prodigy.net

Thanks,
Bill

[jhedlund58]

did your bit slip? Clean collet etc.

[HandyManBill]

No, it is good and tight...noticed also that the location of the v-bit cut is off by about 4-5 inches?

[myxpykalix]

what version of the control software are you using?

[bleeth]

Bill:

You lost steps all around. You may not have that static electricity issue solved all the way yet. For the heck of it, run the program on a piece of mdf or something cheap with the dust collector off.
Picking up on Jack's question-If you recently upgraded to 3.8xx go back to 3.6xx.

[HandyManBill]

Thanks Jack and Dave,
I do have the latest upgrade which I believe is the 3.8XX and think it may have something to do with both issues since I have been running for about a year now with no problems...what do they say? If it ain't broke don't fix it.

Thanks again!
Bill

[myxpykalix]

This is exactly why i haven't upgraded yet ,even though there are some upgrades within i want to take advantage of. I'll wait till they get the bugs ironed out.
Also you need to remember to do your firmware

[wberminio]

I have been having issues with 3.8v
Tech support told me to go back to original version.
All fine now

[HandyManBill]

I could not get the previous version 3.6 to load the drivers...heck I could not even find the drivers so I called by son that lives in Dallas (300 miles away) and asked him for help since he is a computer tech guy. He was able to get on my computer via the internet and take control of it as if he were right here.

We (he) re-installed the 3.6 software, checked the drivers and com ports to make sure all was there, tried to launch it again but the same old message that the computer could not find the correct port the Shopbot was on. I told him if he would but the newest version 3.8.8 and let's try that again....he went to the website and asked me if I meant 3.8.10 "I said no they do not have anything that high"..he said "yes they do".

He installed 3.8.10 and it worked!!!! As a matter of fact it cuts even smoother than before (probably in my mind since I had not seen it run for a long time).

Thanks to all of you that offered suggestions on fixes. I have learned my lesson and will not upgrade unless I have another machine to run the program that I know that is working!

Thanks again!!!
Bill