PLEASE HELP! Jagged cuts

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MCCORD07
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PLEASE HELP! Jagged cuts

Post by MCCORD07 »

Ok so I can’t for the life of me figure out the saw tooth jagged edges that I’m getting on some parts. The tree of life I’ve been working on cutting and it’s jagged on 90% of it around the leaves and other spots.
I'm running a trucut xt machine with powermax 65 with 45 amp fine tip, I have slowed the machine to 150ipm then 125, 100, even to 75ipm which I know is too slow but still the same affect. Acceleration has been dropped to 10 units. Ive gone over hardware to make sure its tight. Idk what else to do. please help!
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bad cut 2.jpg
bad cut 1.jpg
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Gamelord
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Re: PLEASE HELP! Jagged cuts

Post by Gamelord »

Either something is loose (you said you checked it all) or you may have slat wave. this is where the gantry changes direction and the change causes your slats in your table to wobble back and forth for a second, giving the jagged cuts.
I would bet that it is something loose though. It only happens on abrupt movement changes and only for a second before settling down.

Get a pen, strap it to your gantry and put it on a large piece of paper. draw a simple image like a large square. Find out if the jagged cuts are only one one axis or on both. If it is on one axis, only the two adjacent sides on opposite corners will have jagged cut marks. If both axis's then all four sides will have it. You can do the same with metal but that costs a lot more.

Once you figure out if it is one axis or two then you can start drilling down to find out where the real problem is. Most likely it is on your table and not something with the software. I double checked...triple checked my table for the same thing until I finally found that one of the set screws was just barely loose enough that the abrupt change in direction would allow for some "Slap" in the belts at direction changes. After finally finding it my table cut sharp and good...and my swearing cut down a bit.

Hope this puts you in the right direction.
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Redneck
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Re: PLEASE HELP! Jagged cuts

Post by Redneck »

I had that problem when I had the THC sensitivity set too high....... torch was pulsing up and down, creating what looked like a serrated edge.
jason.jason.p
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Re: PLEASE HELP! Jagged cuts

Post by jason.jason.p »

I have a trucut series one. Send over the dxf you're trying to cut and I'll see how it does on mine.
MCCORD07
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Re: PLEASE HELP! Jagged cuts

Post by MCCORD07 »

Jason pm sent
jimcolt
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Re: PLEASE HELP! Jagged cuts

Post by jimcolt »

Some info on your table (brand, model or homebuilt) cnc control, height control etc.....they are all different animals!

1. Cut a rectangle. Rotate the rectangle 45 degrees and cut again. If the one that was cut using true x and y axis was smooth, but the one that forced both axis to work hard to make the 45 degree sides looks rough, then you either have some mechanical backlash or a drive tuning issue.

2. Check backlash by moving the torch carriage by hand and feeling for any play or roughness in the motion. Do the same with the gantry.

3. Cut another part with your hand on the torch....feel any roughness (should be very smooth motion). If the z axis (height control) has a rapid oscillation....detune the height control or reduce z axis speed.

4. Pics of the roughness on your cuts will help us help you as well. Jim Colt Hypertherm
MCCORD07 wrote:Ok so I can’t for the life of me figure out the saw tooth jagged edges that I’m getting on some parts. The tree of life I’ve been working on cutting and it’s jagged on 90% of it around the leaves and other spots.
I'm running a trucut xt machine with powermax 65 with 45 amp fine tip, I have slowed the machine to 150ipm then 125, 100, even to 75ipm which I know is too slow but still the same affect. Acceleration has been dropped to 10 units. Ive gone over hardware to make sure its tight. Idk what else to do. please help!
MCCORD07
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Re: PLEASE HELP! Jagged cuts

Post by MCCORD07 »

jimcolt wrote:Some info on your table (brand, model or homebuilt) cnc control, height control etc.....they are all different animals!

1. Cut a rectangle. Rotate the rectangle 45 degrees and cut again. If the one that was cut using true x and y axis was smooth, but the one that forced both axis to work hard to make the 45 degree sides looks rough, then you either have some mechanical backlash or a drive tuning issue.

2. Check backlash by moving the torch carriage by hand and feeling for any play or roughness in the motion. Do the same with the gantry.

3. Cut another part with your hand on the torch....feel any roughness (should be very smooth motion). If the z axis (height control) has a rapid oscillation....detune the height control or reduce z axis speed.

4. Pics of the roughness on your cuts will help us help you as well. Jim Colt Hypertherm
MCCORD07 wrote:Ok so I can’t for the life of me figure out the saw tooth jagged edges that I’m getting on some parts. The tree of life I’ve been working on cutting and it’s jagged on 90% of it around the leaves and other spots.
I'm running a trucut xt machine with powermax 65 with 45 amp fine tip, I have slowed the machine to 150ipm then 125, 100, even to 75ipm which I know is too slow but still the same affect. Acceleration has been dropped to 10 units. Ive gone over hardware to make sure its tight. Idk what else to do. please help!

I posted some attachments of pics of the cuts I was getting. If they didn’t post I can email or pm them to you.

The machine that I’m running is a trucut xt with a powermax 65 Plasma. Thc brand I’m not sure off hand.

I’ll try doing some cuts and looking at those areas to see what it’s doing
MCCORD07
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Re: PLEASE HELP! Jagged cuts

Post by MCCORD07 »

Image
MCCORD07
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Re: PLEASE HELP! Jagged cuts

Post by MCCORD07 »

Image
jason.jason.p
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Re: PLEASE HELP! Jagged cuts

Post by jason.jason.p »

What size are you scaling the file to?
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Gamelord
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Re: PLEASE HELP! Jagged cuts

Post by Gamelord »

The cuts follow the direction of movement and happen right after an abrupt change in direction. You have something loose.
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MCCORD07
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Re: PLEASE HELP! Jagged cuts

Post by MCCORD07 »

jason.jason.p wrote:What size are you scaling the file to?
It’s scaled to 20” overall
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Re: PLEASE HELP! Jagged cuts

Post by abmetal »

I had the same problem. Our table is 8+ years old and some gears were showing some wear so I replaced them and it helped but the biggest improvement was just slowing the speed.

Allen
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