anyone had experience using a 1/32" bit to follow a path

[Jrdarrah]

I've been thinking of a project I'd like to tackle that has a small cartoon character that I ran through Adobe Illustrator then through Jeffery Litz AI2MPC program. It is small enough that some of the lines are pretty tight for even a 1/16" bit. I want to give it a try with some 1/32" bits I just ordered. My plan is to tell CW SW that it is a 1/16" bit then I'll load the 1/32". To slow the machine down I will choose the optimal setting when uploading. I tried to specify a max pass depth when selecting the bit but I keep getting a unknown (59) error. I'd like to do multiple small passes but CW doesn't want to cooperate so for now I'm doing 1 pass at 0.02.

Are there any techniques that any of you have found to work to get a good clean path. I'd like to minimize the fuzz that will need to be sanded since the groove won't be too deep. I thought of applying something like danish oil to the surface to harden it up before carving. My plan for finishing is to use some black testor's model paint to fill in the routed groove and sand the excess off the surface with a fine grit sandpaper. This has worked fine for me on some other projects, but with a 1/16" bit.

[Router-Jim]

First off I don't think choosing optimum for a vector path is going to slow the machine down. That being said, I would choose optimum anyway.

One of the things I have found is when using a 1/32 bit is when it goes to find the surface it "pokes" in a couple of hundreths so your .02" will probably end up actually .04".

Lastly to keep your paint from wicking into the surrounding wood use a sanding sealer or shellac. Apply it before carving and after, then when dry proceed with your painting plan.

[dbfletcher]

I'm sure the "official" stance is that it is not reccommended. I dont have any expeience with a bit the samll, but the 1/16 seems to work ok at shallow depths. Please let us know how any of your trials would out... and any lessons learned from your experiences.

[Jrdarrah]

What woods do you use? I'm planning on using some very old cyprus which on other carvings has produced good results with little sanding requried. Hope that translates well to this project.

Where did you buy your 1/32" bits? Are they ball or straight?

[RMarkey]

This may sound odd, but if you want to fake out the firmware, set the bit in designer as the 1/4" ballnose. It should carve at a constant 1/10"/s. Test on scrap wood first.

The 1/16" carving bit will trace a vector at variable speed, from 1/10"/s to 6/10"/s on optimal quality. At shallow depths like you're using, it will go max speed.

...oh, and the error is because you're carving too shallow. You need to go 1/16" deep at least. If you tried to sand after painting, you'd remove the detail, probably.

I've recently carved an English lion dxf with a 22.5 degree v bit at 1/16". It carved deeper because the tip penetrated the wood on the surface touch. I protected the tip by taping scrap wood on the touch plate.

[spalted]

I just posted a reply in another thread regarding finishing wood to prevent it from fuzzing.
I think your danish oil idea should work. For deeper penetration I had thought about trying minwax wood hardener or a thinned down oil varnish.

When I have finished end grain logs slabs, Sikkens SRD will wick through a 3/4" slab, that is end grain though.

[Digitalwoodshop]

This would be a great place to ask LHR to give us a "Delicate Mode" to be able to use finer bits and make the bit plate more sensitive and to not smash the fine tip into the metal bit plate and smash the finer tip into the grain of the wood. "Delicate Mode" would require spotless rails and belts to keep speed bumps in the rails or belts from causing a false "BUMP" of the bit plate and wood surface.

Even giving US control of the BUMP.... either by a keypad control of deactivating the servo motor and letting the user manually pushing the fine tip down to the bit plate and the board by pushing down on the FLEX SHAFT..... with the cover closed.

I am using the 1/16 inch end mill bit to cut out the FRP Tags I use and I did see the speed change.... Trying the 1/4 inch fake out for the slow constant speed is something worth looking into.... Thanks for that tip...

AL

[RMarkey]

No go on a 'delicate' mode. Tried that a while ago with other bits I was testing. As for the bit plate, I could have told it to 'cut out' the project and it would have used the 1/8" bit to touch, skipping the 22.5 degree. That on a piece of hardwood would account for less than 1/32" error on the v bit depth.

Improvement ideas are always appreciated, though.

[cnsranch]

Hey, Metallus -

While we're at it, was I dreaming a while back, or did I see some info on a forth-coming 3/16" cutting bit and the software to match it?

[RMarkey]

You were dreaming. :-)

[spalted]

Hey, Metallus -

While we're at it, was I dreaming a while back, or did I see some info on a forth-coming 3/16" cutting bit and the software to match it?

I like my CW just as much as you Jerry,but I have to admit.......... my dreams a WAY better than yours!:D

[Router-Jim]

I like my CW just as much as you Jerry,but I have to admit.......... my dreams a WAY better than yours!:D

LOL. Now that right there is funny.

[Jrdarrah]

the 1/32 bit appears to be a bust (or at least a break). Metallus where did you get the 22.5 deg V-bit? It dawned on me that if I use that geometry I can sand the surface down to make the carving more refined since the groove will get narrower as it gets deeper.

[dbfletcher]

the 1/32 bit appears to be a bust (or at least a break). Metallus where did you get the 22.5 deg V-bit? It dawned on me that if I use that geometry I can sand the surface down to make the carving more refined since the groove will get narrower as it gets deeper.

Here is an 18 degree bit that I use on really small text.

http://www.amazon.com/Amana-Tool-45783-Carving-Carbide/dp/B0025VK8PE

[Jrdarrah]

What do you use in the SW when you mount the 18deg bit? From Metallus post below it appears that the 1/4" ballnose goes the slowest.

[dbfletcher]

What do you use in the SW when you mount the 18deg bit? From Metallus post below it appears that the 1/4" ballnose goes the slowest.

I've mostly only used it for center-line text. I think i have used it both with 60 & 90 degree bit selection. I think it is one of those thing you just have to try to find out what works best for your particular setup.

[Jrdarrah]

I did some measurements on my experiment with the 1/32bit using some mdf. The carved grooves measured about 0.054" wide instead of the 0.03 that I was expecting which may have been because I was carving compressed sawdust not real wood. I ordered the 18 deg v-bit that was mentioned in an earlier post. Somewhere on one of the forums or newsletters I saw an article for creating dingbats from drawings. I'm going to see if I can dig it out and make my figure a rather large dingbat so I can attempt to duplicate the variation in the line depth on the original drawing by specifying it as a character with centerline.

To that end, dbfletcher, what kind of wood do you use that allows for a clean carve? I imagine that small letters would be hard to sand to remove fuzz. Do you pretreat the wood before carving?

[spalted]

Thanks for posting this I have been interested in trying this, but have not taken the time to do it yet.

Regarding the fuzz, some of us were just talking in another thread about how higher MC (moisture content) of the wood can create fuzz and lower carve quality. I think wood species is a big factor, but when your trying to tweek every last bit of quality out, dry wood comes into play to. The lower the MC the better it is going to machine, this applies to any machine not just the CW.

Another experiment I have yet to try is the pre treatment. I have wondered if Minwax wood hardener or a thinned wash coat or two of a oil varnish would penetrate and improve the cut in a shallow carve.

Edit: Also a treatment of PEG my work well, but it is expensive and time consuming, and may be a bit extreme for this purpose. It also creates other problems with finishing. But it may serve useful in the right circumstance.

[RMarkey]

We get bits from all over. I don't know where this one came from. I do a lot of experimenting. I've tested a few configurations, varying cutmotor speed and velocity. For those bits, I would (off the record) suggest the 60 or 90 bit selection for now - it combines lower rpms with slightly higher (variable) velocity.

I can also say I have destroyed/set fires/threw bits/melted flexshafts from a number of machines from all my testing, too. So... good luck!!! :-P

[Digitalwoodshop]

We get bits from all over. I don't know where this one came from. I do a lot of experimenting. I've tested a few configurations, varying cutmotor speed and velocity. For those bits, I would (off the record) suggest the 60 or 90 bit selection for now - it combines lower rpms with slightly higher (variable) velocity.

I can also say I have destroyed/set fires/threw bits/melted flexshafts from a number of machines from all my testing, too. So... good luck!!! :-P

That is another great tip..... The assigning the 1/4 inch bull nose when using the 1/16th end mill made for a 1 hour cut path but smooth edges. I will remember the V60 and 90 as another speed and RPM manipulation trick.

Thanks,

AL

[liquidguitars]

I can also say I have destroyed/set fires/threw bits/melted flexshafts from a number of machines from all my testing, too. So... good luck!!!

Now that's the ticket! :)

LG

[Jrdarrah]

I'm waiting on my new 18deg bit to arrive and have been playing with creating a font from the drawing. So far I've not broken the code to get CW to recognize the character I built. I can use my font in word or wordpad just fine so when I type a "P" it shows the drawing but in CW all I get is a generic "P" instead. I have another thread going to see if anyone can tell me what I might be doing wrong. I'll post the results of my test here when I'm done.

[dbfletcher]

My only suggestion is to exit and restart designer (reboot the entire computer may not be a bad idea either). I have had a few occasions where designer didnt recognize the new font correctly until after a restart (designer or computer)

[TIMCOSBY]

looks like a "1/32" bit slow velocity" in the bit section would be childs play for a programer???????

[Jrdarrah]

I tried using a 1/32" bit by specifying best quality and a 1/4" bit. It got through the carving just fine but I had a lot of fuzz (on mahogany) both with untreated and prefinished with danish oil. I chose mahogany for the test because I knew it would fuzz.

[Digitalwoodshop]

Was this a cut vector path artwork? How thick did you cut?

AL

[Jrdarrah]

yes, it is vector. 1/32" wide and about 0.031 deep.