Questions about the Attached Project

[Ivanq]

I found the instructions for this kind of project on the CW WEB site under 'Projects' and thought I'd try it on a piece of poplar. However some questions come to mind.

I would like to use a sled on this project but I think I've read where you can't use 'cut path' with a sled. Although this pattern has cuts that are clear though the board it's using a 'carve region'. The board is .75 and the 'carve region' is .8 (instructions stated not to go too deep as machine damage may occur). My question is if the sled restrictions are the same for both 'cut path' and 'carve region'?

I left the .5 ‘frame to allow use of the rollers. I plan to cut the frame off with other tools after the carve.

I'm a little worried about pieces coming off during this type of carve.

As a note I seem to prefer the 60 degree bit for this font using Centerline.

If you see anything wrong with this project I sure would like to know as this is my first attempt at carving clear though the board.

Thank You in Advance
Cliff in Roswell

[rjustice]

Ivanq,
This is not using the cutpath routine, It is simply cutting in a raster motion, through the board as it goes across. The further you get into the carving the more fragile it will become, but at first it will be very strong and shouldnt be a problem. With that said, I dont know if this is a proven pattern or not. The attachement points to the frame, and to some of the tree limbs going into the leaves look pretty small... The only way to now for sure on something like this is to try it.

Note that this will cut into your sled, so if you are not wanting that to happen perhaps screw another board to the bottom of it that will be scrap. Be cautious with screw placement, to keep bit from hitting them. (keep outside the carve region)... Some people are using carpet tape etc. but with this being so fragile, i dont think you would get it seperated from the tape without breaking it, if you tape the detail down in the middle..

The 60 degree bit will simply cut a little deeper, and give you more pronounced look to small letters... a good choice for something like this in my opinion...

Good luck, and post pictures if you choose to carve this...

Ron

[JOHNB]

It Seems This Pattern Has No Outline Except For A Large Rectangle Around It......maybe Because It's Not Meant To Be Cutout With The Cc.....i Never Did A Cutout. I'd Be Very Careful With This One...no Tabs...maybe Cut Down So Far, Then Finish With Scroll/band Saw?

[rjustice]

That is why the depth is called out at .8 and the board thickness is .75, to make it cut through. I have always chose to have something under it rather than cutting into air. I've done this on 3 different designs personally, but not this one, and it worked fine. Mine were were not quite as fragile though. Also, the tabs, are where it is left connected to the rectangular outside frame... Again this is pretty fragile where the limbs connect to the leaves. especially on the left side...

Ron

[JOHNB]

Hows About Cutting It Maybe Like .7 Deep?
AND DIFFENTLY KEEP UNDER ROLLERS!!!

I GUESS I SPOKE TO FAST, I SEE HOW IT'S ALL CONNECTED NOW...THANKS RJUSTICE

[mtylerfl]

Hello Ivanq,

I saw that you posted an mpc file with our commercial oaktree pattern on it.

I know you may not have thought or known about that, but I need you to edit your post and remove the mpc. <EDIT: a forum administrator has already removed the mpc)

What you CAN do in the future, is post a screenshot of your project so that you can still let people see what you are talking about, but without enabling the ability to download an mpc that contains a commercial pattern.

Now, I would like to help you with your question about the cutout of the pattern...

The oak tree pattern was not intentionally designed for a cutout, however, it certainly can be done. What you will want to do is NOT cutout the tiny sections where the branches are too thin to hold together under the stress of the machine cutting process.

Rather, you can go ahead and cut out the larger areas that have enough substantial material to hold, then after your project comes off the machine, manually carve out the tiny areas with a Dremel tool.

That way, you will have control over how much material (wood) is removed, and you can leave the thin branches a little wider than the original pattern if necessary.

Another thought - you can create a carved recess in the tiny areas (without going all the way through the board). That will reduce the time to manually remove material with your Dremel.

Hope that helps!

Thanks in advance for removing your mpc from the public forum.

[Ivanq]

I never thought about someone somehow using the commercial graphic that I used in the MPC file I posted. Apologies to mtylerfl (http://forum.carvewright.com/member.php?u=1130). I guess I was intent on the project problems. Still too new at this craft.

As to the carving I'm not sure what I'll do yet as there are several alternatives. Need to play with it some more.

Thanks,
Cliff in Roswell

[mtylerfl]

I never thought about someone somehow using the commercial graphic that I used in the MPC file I posted. Apologies to mtylerfl (http://forum.carvewright.com/member.php?u=1130). I guess I was intent on the project problems. Still too new at this craft.

As to the carving I'm not sure what I'll do yet as there are several alternatives. Need to play with it some more.

Thanks,
Cliff in Roswell

Hello Cliff,

No problem, and your project looks great, by the way! Believe me, there are days when I feel "new" at this too! Don't worry about it and have fun.

Try what I suggested about the small-area cutouts. I'm sure it will come out fine for you. The finished piece will be a project you can be very proud of. Please post a picture of it in the Gallery section when you're done.

Also, don't hesitate to ask for help with anything. All of us need some feedback and assistance from each other at times. Everyone here is glad to help you with anything!

[BobHill]

Cliff,

Also remember that to the machine, the sled IS the wood as far as it's concerned, so rather than it measuring what YOU want carved, it measures the sled, thus if you ask it to do a Cut Path, it's going to try to cut to the depth of what it sees as the wood (and if the height of the sides plus the bottom is higher than 1" then it'll only cut to the 1" below the top, regardless of where your project wood is.

Bob

[Jeff_Birt]

Using cut-out with a sled is tricky. As Bob mentioned the machine measures the thickness of the sled and work piece (by touching the bit to the surface of the board and then to the top of the rear guide plate). It will attempt to cut through the entire measured thickness. If the total thickness of your sled andn stock is > 1" the machine will error out. You can get around this by making your sled 14.5" wide. The machine realizes that it can't reach the rear guide ans it will prompt you for the thickness of the stock (you can type it in on the machine key pad).

[mtylerfl]

Cliff,

Also remember that to the machine, the sled IS the wood as far as it's concerned, so rather than it measuring what YOU want carved, it measures the sled, thus if you ask it to do a Cut Path, it's going to try to cut to the depth of what it sees as the wood (and if the height of the sides plus the bottom is higher than 1" then it'll only cut to the 1" below the top, regardless of where your project wood is.

Bob

Hello Cliff,

It is not necessary to use a sled on that particular project, nor do I think it advisable for the way it is currently laid out.

Again, I would use the standard "cut path" procedure (no sled), while observing the cautions mentioned before about not letting the machine cut out any areas that wouldn't have enough material to hold things together during the cutout procedure.

I would do a carve region for any 'unsafe' areas, leaving enough material to prevent pieces coming loose, but removing most so that it would be easy to remove the remaining wood manually with a Dremel-type tool.

[Dirtydan]

If the wood is 0.750 thick, just set all your cut path/carve out depths to 0.745. This will require a little sanding on the back side to remove a paper thin layer of wood in those areas.

[mtylerfl]

Hello,

Also, you may want to reduce the size of the outline of the carve regions a little so you can be sure enough wood is left to keep the small areas attached after manual removal.