What type of wood to use?

[Fireman Phil]

Hi all,

Can anyone tell me if Red Oak lumber carves okay? I have tried some white pine and poplar lumber. Did not get the results I thought I would. The pine chipped out very easy and the poplar was very 'fuzzy' looking. Any suggestions would help and be much appreciated.

-Phil

[Jeff_Birt]

I have only tried a few types of wood so far.

1 ) Red oak - Does OK, seems to chip out a lot due to the open cell structure of the wood. I think it would be OK for carving larger features.

2) Pine - To be more specific 'cabnit grade' or 'select' pine, not regular '1 by' stock. Does good, cleans up well with a wire bruch and Dremel tool with diamond bits. Stains well if a sanding sealer is used first.

3) Poplar - Does good, better than pine, still a little fuzzy. Cleans up with smae method as pine. I also use sanding sealer on poplar.

[Ron Smith]

Hi all,

Can anyone tell me if Red Oak lumber carves okay?

-Phil

Phil,
Look back through some of my posts in the Gallery. I've used red oak on a lot of my signs, and yes, I did have to use the brass brush to clean up some edges. A little brushing and minor sanding and I think they were fine. I have to keep telling myself this isn't a pristine cut a lot of the time due to the angle of the bit and the depth used, but seems to do fine for what I want. The maple and cherry have done better, being tight grained, but the oak is okay for most signs.
Ron

[hss1]

Ron, what type of bit did you use on your sign? The 1/16" carving bit or something else? I have seen signs posted here that look as if they have been done with a 60 degree routing bit, but I have been unable to find out how to routing down the center of a letter and choose a bit to do it. When I choose raster and then the invert option it then looks like what I want, but since it does not allow me to choose a bit I feel that the machine will want to use the 1/16" carving bit.

Any help would be greatly appriciated.

Thanks,

Henry S. Swearingen

[Kurtsara]

Ron, what type of bit did you use on your sign? The 1/16" carving bit or something else? I have seen signs posted here that look as if they have been done with a 60 degree routing bit, but I have been unable to find out how to routing down the center of a letter and choose a bit to do it. When I choose raster and then the invert option it then looks like what I want, but since it does not allow me to choose a bit I feel that the machine will want to use the 1/16" carving bit.

Any help would be greatly appriciated.

Thanks,

Henry S. Swearingen

If you are using the demo program you can pick 'Centerline' for your text and then select the 60 degree bit, the program that comes with the machine does not have 'Centerline' though

So make up some signs or carvings on the demo program and save them to your computer before you load the disc with the machine, you will not be able to edit the text if created with 'Centerline' with the demo once you load the program with the machine though

[rgant05]

Neither does the demo program that I am able to find

[newcarver]

Has anyone tried just using the demo software only?

[Kurtsara]

Neither does the demo program that I am able to find

When you click on the 'T' and the on the carving a box appears for you to type your text, on the right side is your choic of 'Rastor' 'Outline' or 'Centerline'

[rgant05]

Thats where I am looking and it only has Raster and Outline

[Kurtsara]

Thats where I am looking and it only has Raster and Outline

They must have changed the demo also

[DustMe]

According to the brochure I picked up at Sears when I ordered my machine it states, "Test can be rastered in, outlined, or even center-lined, for a variety of effects.” It also shows an example of all three types in the Designer.

[Ron Smith]

Ron, what type of bit did you use on your sign? The 1/16" carving bit or something else?

Henry,
I used the 1/16" carving bit for the oak leaves and the 60 degree bit for the lettering. The letters were done as Centerline in the designer. Nothing special done on any of them. Hope this helps.

Ron