1/4" material

[pilotcreek]

I am sure that someone out there in forum land can tell me how to make cut-outs in 1/4" material.........can you just double-stick-tape it to a piece of 1/2" or is that a no-no???

Thanks, Bill

[Ron]

yes, that will work or i use a hot glue gun...good luck

[pilotcreek]

Thanks Ron, So do I still tell the machine to cut 1/4" ???? Bill

[hotpop]

pilotcreek

You need to change your board thickness in Designer to 3/4". Also remember that if you are using the Cut Path command the machine will cut through both boards.

[mtylerfl]

pilotcreek

You need to change your board thickness in Designer to 3/4". Also remember that if you are using the Cut Path command the machine will cut through both boards.

Actually, that doesn't make sense, since the 1/4" piece would be cut free long before the cutting bit finishes cutting through the 3/4" combined thickness of both the stock and the sled.

You cannot use the normal cut path feature for this application (well, you CAN, but it would be of no useful benefit in this case). See the following copied from a previous post...


"When using a sled, there is currently no convenient method to use the actual cut path function on a sled-based project, so any cutouts probably will need to be done on a bandsaw/scrollsaw, or whatever.

That's because the machine will measure the total thickness of your board AND the sled combined, therefore causing the machine to try to do any cutpaths all the way through BOTH, which is what you DON't want.

Some folks have devised methods such as "fastening" a board to their sled with carpet tape or something similar, with a manually assigned 1/8" cutting bit to outlines and specifying a depth just beyond the thickness of the board stock so it won't cut all the way through the sled.

The potential problem with that method is that the machine cannot automatically leave the little "safety" tabs like it would on a normal cutpath. The cutout pieces could then fly around your machine like shrapnel and damage it and/or the bit if you have not carefully thought out WHERE to adhere the board to the sled."

[The "DH"]

I have done this with two 1/8 inch boards, I didn't use tape or cutpath. I put the total thickness in designer 1/4 inch, then outlined object, then selected 1/8 bit, set the depth for 1/8 and had my cutouts. The reason I didn't need tape was due to the fact that one side or the other of the cut out would be under a roller at all times.

[mikemel]

If you make a sled that is 14.5 inches wide the machine will prompt you for the thickness of the board. Enter .25 (not the total thickness of sled + board) and you will be able to get cutouts with the safety tabs and very little damage to your sled. I use this option frequently.

[mtylerfl]

If you make a sled that is 14.5 inches wide the machine will prompt you for the thickness of the board. Enter .25 (not the total thickness of sled + board) and you will be able to get cutouts with the safety tabs and very little damage to your sled. I use this option frequently.

Hello,

I recently tried that and the '14.5" width board trick' doesn't seem to work anymore. Have you tried it using 1.125 and it worked for you??

[pilotcreek]

Hi Michael,

What do you mean by "didn't work", did it not give you the prompt or did it cut all the way through the sled. I just got back to my shop and that was what I was going to try. I also played with it some more this morning and found that the machine will carve very close to 1/4" material (it does 3/ but will not quite get to 1/4", unfortunately I need it to do 1/4" in this case.

Thanks, Bill

[mtylerfl]

Hi Michael,

What do you mean by "didn't work", did it not give you the prompt or did it cut all the way through the sled. I just got back to my shop and that was what I was going to try. I also played with it some more this morning and found that the machine will carve very close to 1/4" material (it does 3/ but will not quite get to 1/4", unfortunately I need it to do 1/4" in this case.

Thanks, Bill

Hi Bill,

I don't get a prompt for the board thickness using a 14.5" wide board. A couple weeks ago when I discovered that the 14.5" width no longer gave the prompt, I called LHR and they said it would work if I removed the sliding guide plate and put a 15" wide board in the machine, but I have not verified that for myself. Glad to hear it's still working for you, somehow.

Also, happy to hear that you're successful with running 3/8" thick stock through the machine without a sled- I don't know of anyone else that has had your same success - seems the 1/2" thickness is the norm for the machine to function properly for the rest of us.

May I ask what version of Designer you are using, and what firmware version is on your card? Maybe you found the "magic formula"? It's a little puzzling why the rest of us can't seem to get the same results you are. Maybe it's the particular combination of software and firmware versions you are using??