First Project - looking for input!

[Scroll'ng Dave]

Okay Guys, I finally got my new CW ....YAHOO! After weeks of very impatient anticipation, I'm off and running! Here are two pixs from my first project. (It says: Dave's Workshop ...financed by Mom). I point that out just to be safe. The part you can read fairly easily is ok, but perhaps you can a recommend a better font? The second verbiage, down in the right hand corner, I can only assume my font size was too small for the CW. Would Centerline made a difference here?

I cut this out on a piece of 3/4" oak - the darkened area is the result of adding some (after the carve) WATCO Danish Oil, thinking it would make the imperfections stand out a little more clearly.

One more note - the Control Panel Quality setting was on 'Normal', should I have set this to 'Best'? My thinking is that it would not have made that much of a difference since again; the font was probably a poor choice?

One other thing, prior to running this initial project, I did a complete checkout of the machine checking for loose parts, head pressure, that sort of stuff ....I was extremely pleased and she ran like a top!

IMG A – is the complete project
IMG B – drills down a little closer to show details of the font used.


Thoughts? Comments? Suggestions? Suggestions? Suggestions?

Thanks, Dave

[Scroll'ng Dave]

Sorry guys, here is the .MPC file as well...

Thanks again, Dave

[Lin]

Looking good Dave,
You are now hooked. And the vortex has opened up....lol
I see you hail from Texas. Have you been scrolling long? Thinking maybe we may have already met on one of the scrolling boards a few years ago. My personally preference of hardwoods for the CW leans more for the tighter grained hardwoods like maple and cherry. I have also done a few pieces in pecan that came out very well but the one project I did in oak with lettering didn't do very well for me so I have stayed away from it since.
Lin

[SeaCapt97]

Oak has too much open grain. When carving you expose a great amount of end grain which is always kind of raggedy. Sticking with the close grained woods will help. Also I'm hooked on the "optimal" mode. It's Muuuuuch longer carve times but way less sanding.

Welcome to the insanity!

Bill

[Kenm810]

Hi Dave,

Looks like your off and running,
I know you've been reading the Forum posts, so I'm sure you'll be catching up to the rest of us in no-time.

Remember to keep an eye on the lube and temp of the Flex-Shaft
also Centerline with the 60 V-Groove bit is great for doing smaller text and fonts on your projects.
Thanks for Sharing your #1 Project with us :grin:

[Scroll'ng Dave]

Yes Lin, I am most certainly hooked! My wife & I are from San Antonio (Originaly Berwick & Doylestown, PA) and I have been scrolling for quite a few years. I started w/ a Delta, then graduated to a Dewalt and now I have Excalibur. I love to scroll, but I'm not into the big projects like victorian houses and stuff like that. We probably have met on other forums, but I haven't check them in quite a while...

Thanks!
Dave

[AskBud]

Hi dave,
Yes "Centerline" and v-bits (60 degree in particular) will be much better for your recessed text. It's money well spent, and takes less time to carve.

Do not use "Bold" on this small text as it just accentuates your problems.

On the main text (and any text) look at the sample, not the black box, for your first clue as to how the text will carve. What you chose has holes which will/could be worse on oak stock. Rather than BOLD consider using a "Draft" to give the base of the letters some width.
AskBud

[wasacop75]

Hey Dave.
Read all you can in this forum. It will more than answer your questions. You then will be able to confuse the rest of us with your wisdom.

Welcome.

[Scroll'ng Dave]

Thanks for the words of wisdom and the encouraging thoughts!

Bud, you said: “On the main text (and any text) look at the sample, not the black box, for your first clue as to how the text will carve.” Not sure I follow what your suggesting here, can you elaborate a bit for me?

Ken, In fact I was paying particular attention to the Flex-Shaft. It got a little warm, but never too hot, as near as I could tell anyhow. I think it was fine. How often does the shaft need to be lubed anyway?

Thanks again guys – I really appreciate it!

Dave

...and oh yah, this forum has been a wealth of knowledge. Thanks Mike!

[c6craig]

One of the things you will learn real quick is to actually examine the project board for things like text. Zoom in, use the rotate feature. What you see on your project board is what you are going to get. It's easy to open the text box and see the sample against the little black box, all text looks good like that. You have to be careful not to assume that the text is clear in the little black preview box and not check the actual project board. Sometimes they don't look the same :)

The only exception to the rule (That I can think of) is if you are "cheating" the system, such as assigning a 60 degree V bit but really feeding it a 22.5 degree V bit for smaller centerline text...Since it is outside the parameters of the software, it can't really show you an accurate preview, this is where scrap wood and test runs come in handy...

Happy carving,
Craig

[Kenm810]

Originally it was suggested to lube the F/S after every 20 hours of carving,
but like most I found that my machine and F/S can go 2 or 3 times that long, A few others have post much longer time between lubes.
I keep close tabs on mine with a hand held infrared thermometer -- it rarely ever gets 10 to 15 degrees above the surrounding air temperature winter or summer.
If it does I know its time to relube the Flex-Shaft. :wink:

Ps. After my first carving with the fresh lube, I pop the F/S and wipe out the top hat
to make sure no lube leaks down and gets into the bearing at the top of the carving head, -- thats a No-No

[AskBud]

It may not always hold true, but I watch the sample Font, in the White area. to know what may happen with the carve.
AskBud

[cnsranch]

Remember, Dave - WYSIWYG - zoom in close to your project and see how it will carve - the font you chose for the main part of the carve is designed to look a little strange - by changing the font, and adding some draft, it will clean up and not chip.

As far as the line at the bottom, look at the pic below - what it shows in Designer is exactly how it carved - you can use outline instead of raster, or a carve region like you did for the text above, and I've got that below, but frankly, Centerline is the way to go. That pic shows below as well.

Nice first try, you're learning, and the best part is that you didn't blame the machine for the problems :mrgreen: