Latest work, made with my personal CNC (3018ProVer), wedding gift.
What went well and what went bad:
The bit vibrated itself free from my restraints and jumped up on my spoilboard lip, causing a huge gash (top right corner). I was able to identify where I left off in the Gcode and got the job to finish! Used woodglue & sawdust to fill the hole, but I think next time I’ll just use normal glue.
The job is taking 3 times longer to run than expected. Will troubleshoot why that is.
The end result is really beautiful, but I think it’s just not worth it to do that many passes… it’s just “too expensive” a gift to make, you know? Unless I’m getting paid per hour it’s just not worth it. I’ll learn more about how to do rough cuts in 3d, or directly avoid them and only do flat cuts and engraving runs.
My engraving cuts also left some material in the middle… will have to read up a bit more about how to make engraving cuts.
If anyone has any questions, I’m happy to answer them!
Using profile tools including v bits can help keep machining time down instead of very slow 3D contouring.
A trick to avoid v bit leftovers is to clear with an endmill afterwards (or before to allow the v bit to cut on one side only). On a 90 deg included angle bit, set “stock to leave” equal to depth of cut (plus a slight tolerance if required).
Yeah… clearing w/ endmills would have been a smart idea. Although, it is strange. Look at the "I"s in the date, it’s strange that there should be such a difference in widths. I daresay that some of them are double as fat. It’s possible that 10mm tall letters is just too small to have consistent results.
They are within 0.32% so not double The key, I believe, is they are done in opposite cutting direction. Up/down cutting once half the path has been cut or mechanical backlash can cause variations. Would be interesting to see the results from cutting them in the same direction. Note that the 4 I’s in a row cut left first, right first, right first, left first.
The key, I believe, is they are done in opposite cutting direction. Up/down cutting once half the path has been cut or mechanical backlash can cause variations. Would be interesting to see the results from cutting them in the same direction. Note that the 4 I’s in a row cut left first, right first, right first, left first.