Newbie on-board

[Bflat5]

I saw this machine on the DIY channel recently and had to have it. So, I go to Sears, buy it and get it home. Straight out of the box I set it up, install the software and just randomly selected an image to try it out.

I was kind of surprised at the detail it carved out, but this is not a difficult machine to use at all. I'm finding it really fun to play with.

So far no real problems with it. Had a rear roller error today, but I think that was just the piece of wood I was using. Used a different piece and it worked fine.

I've seen some very nice, highly detailed pieces, so now I'm wondering why mine are coming out a little jagged. Bad or dull carving bit?

[J_Man]

Probably the same reason I'm trying to figure out how to set up my own designs. The sample stuff gives you ok results, but you can see that the machine tries to give even better. The images for samples however just are not as good as you or I might do ourselves if we knew the software well enough right now. I'm brand new to the machine too so I'm learning.

I did That Last Supper image as my first "perfected sample" and it's lacking facial detail in the way I want it. The detail is trying to be there, but it needs tweaking to be better. You'll find there are 1.0 versions of designs for free and 2.0 version for sale. Now I'm not putting anyone down or saying anything about that, just pointing out another reason why "freebie patterns" are not as detailed as what other people are showing of their work.

[amanda0101]

I am pretty new compared to a lot of these guys too but I had this happen as well when I first started out. One of my problems was not fully understanding the depth and height features. I really had to play around with these (and still do sometimes) in order to find what works. The other thing is the type of wood that you use. I started with a cheap pine from Home Depot and all of my work was chipped or frayed, I know some people don't like the oaks but I usually use red oak and I don't have that problem anymore. If you are getting these types of occurances with text mostly, again depth is really important to prevent chipping. Also with centerline text there is much less of this problem than with the others. I would just play around with it for a while and figure out what works, it takes some time but eventually you will be able to figure out if it will chip or not be detailed enough just by looking at it in designer. Another thing that really helped me, and you probably already know this since I it was kind of a "duh" moment when I read it in the forum, but use the rotate tool and move the board in designer around, this will really enable you to see how high and deep the different parts of your carving will be. This helped me a lot with text. Oh also if you want the highest quality image make sure your bit optimization is set to "best" and that when you are uploading onto the card that the quality is also set to "best". Good luck!

[www.go3d.us]

Hi,
To carve a nice piece of wood it has to do a lots with setting (height, depth), bit type, bit optimization, the size of the piece and wood type you are using.
Normally for carving use the 1/16 taper bit. The machine has 3 setting, draft, normal and best. I use normal setting to save time but the final piece is a bit furry (carved on pine) but you can sand it off.

HT

[Bflat5]

Thanks for the replies. I'm not really adjusting the bit depth and the wood I'm using is pretty light. I was actually thinking it may be the wood, but I'll hold off buying the more expensive stuff until I get better understanding of the software, etc.

I was just playing with it trying to figure out the depth of different parts of the project. I'm trying carve a design, but actually cut out an outter design.

I've only had it 2 or 3 days now, so I'm sure it will all come together. If there's any other tips or suggestions though I'd certainly appreciate it. :)

[TerryT]

A common newbie mistake is to think you just put in a piece of wood and the machine will turn out a great work of art. But it takes practice with the machine to turn out the quality of work many of the members here have shown on the forum.

Most new users first attemps are on a piece of wood that is too small (using scraps to test) and making the patterns too small, too deep or not deep enough. It is like any other tool in your shop, the craftsmanship is in the experience and skill of the operator. With a little patience and practice you will get there. As for the free patterns you will find here, some are very good some not so good. Some of the best patterns I have were found on this forum for free.