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interloper
11-16-2019, 11:47 AM
Hello guys! I'm back on here after several years of "taking a break". Glad to fire up this machine again (and it did just fine. Kept a cover on it ;)). Also hinting my machine and project designer are of the older variety (Designer 1.187)

So we have a metal shop and I used a machine break to bend a simple U-channel out of 18 gauge stainless flat sheet to hold some mason jars. My intent was to carve the side profile of this channel into 2 pieces of wood and fit the metal into these slots to be mounted on a wall. The stainless is thick so the 90s and hems have radii I can't easily duplicate by hand. I tried cutting a sample piece of it using the scanning tool, but that didn't work so well. All I need is a single path using the 1/16th carving bit to mill 1cm deep. Am I missing something?

Other thing I tried: I have the STL designer and tried to drag the scanned image into sketchup and take the average surface area of what scanning probe got keeping the path less than 1/16". I created a plane out of that and pulled it out to the 1cm thickness. It cuts but the path is still wider than the 1/16". The slot comes out to about as wide as using the 1/8th straight cutting bit. Ideally, I wanted the slot to be as tight as possible and not have to use any filler to compensate. The tighter slot also means better structural integrity for my application

Any help please? I think I'm overthinking this, and surely I'm over-provisioned for such a seemingly simple task?

Edit: Added some photos for context. Can ignore the sliding rails and covering cabinet in the sketchup pic for this.
fwharris
11-16-2019, 12:09 PM
The diameter of the 1/16" tapered carving bit is for the tip of the bit. The deeper it goes into the wood the wider the cut will be at the top surface of the board because the diameter of the bit get bigger at that point.
interloper
11-16-2019, 12:28 PM
Yes, I understand that. At 1cm it's slightly less than 1/8". But it's at that 1cm depth where I wanted the 1/16". Instead I see the bit roving through the path twice when coming at the perpendicular cut (on the x axis of machine) opening the path more than the bit profile itself. I will also squeeze a fastener on the back side through the wood for retention if I can get the steel to sit in that 1/16" path. I edited the initial post to include some more context and photos. Thank you
fwharris
11-16-2019, 12:41 PM
This is because you are doing it as a pattern/raster carve. Look at trying it as a line/vector "cut" with a 1/16" straight cutting bit.
interloper
11-16-2019, 01:31 PM
Ok, I just wanted to be sure that if my line is less than 1/16" it'll only pass through that bit once. I'll go ahead and order the 1/16th and give that a try. Thank you

Edit: I see the bits have changed since I last used this. Know if these colleted bits work with my quick change adapters?
fwharris
11-16-2019, 03:52 PM
Ok, I just wanted to be sure that if my line is less than 1/16" it'll only pass through that bit once. I'll go ahead and order the 1/16th and give that a try. Thank you

Edit: I see the bits have changed since I last used this. Know if these colleted bits work with my quick change adapters?

Well we got a problem then! CW does not sell any bits for the quick change chuck, only for the CarveTight chuck.

You can maybe try doing the line cut with the 1/16" tapered carving bit since you are not going that deep. Do it on a test piece of wood to see.
interloper
11-17-2019, 09:11 AM
Yes, I have already. The path comes out way too thick. I think I'm going to have to just barely touch the tip of the 1/16" carving then do it by hand. That's unfortunate. Maybe I'll get around to locating bits that'll work for this thing. Maybe it'll go back under the cover..

Thanks for the feedback, fwharris. I remember you from years ago
fwharris
11-17-2019, 10:23 AM
I am sorry that did not work out. Another option is to use a dremile tool to make the cuts. Hard to do trying to trace the lines though.

Did we meet in person or just here on the forum?
DianMayfield
11-17-2019, 11:36 AM
The 1/16 cutting bit comes with a split collet, it is not pressed into the standard collet -at least when i purchased them last year.
interloper
11-17-2019, 07:08 PM
Just on here. I spent a lot of time here some years ago and remember your involvement. Thanks for all that. And good see your interactions still.
The dremel is my next option. If any idea where I can buy bits for this thing, feel free to let me know.
Have a good one, amigo
Dirtpan
11-23-2019, 02:08 PM
This is because you are doing it as a pattern/raster carve. Look at trying it as a line/vector "cut" with a 1/16" straight cutting bit.

How do you make it do a line/vector cut?
fwharris
11-23-2019, 03:07 PM
How do you make it do a line/vector cut?


Draw your design using the drawing tools and then assign your bit of choice to the lines/vectors.

Import and image for tracing, draw your lines.

You can also import a DXF file and then assign your bit to the lines/vectors.

If you have a pattern you can do an outline and assign the bit.