"BEST" carve on designer and "DRAFT" carve on the machine.

[badger2424]

Hey guys, I was wondering if it makes any difference in time and quality if I set up my designer project at best carve, upload at draft, and my machine default at draft. Will the draft at upload and on the machine cancel the designers setting of best? Also there are some parts of the carve I need to better than other parts but the upload carve quality only generalizes. Why do we have to go through designating what carve gets good, better, or best, if it is thrown together as one carve at upload?

[mtylerfl]

Hey guys, I was wondering if it makes any difference in time and quality if I set up my designer project at best carve, upload at draft, and my machine default at draft. Will the draft at upload and on the machine cancel the designers setting of best?

Hi Badger,

What a lot of folks don't understand, is the difference between the "Bit Optimization" settings and the Carve Quality settings when uploading...they are completely unrelated settings. So, no, the "Draft" quality setting (when uploading) does not affect the "Bit Optimization: Best" setting you assign to patterns in your project. However, the Draft quality carve setting usually yields a fairly "rough" result and I don't use it myself.

- Warning! Mini-Tutorial Ahead -

Let me see if I can explain the differences between "Bit Optimization" and "Carve Quality" settings...

When using Bit Optimization, this tells the software that you want it to take into account the geometry of the bit you are using (typically this will be the 1/16" Tapered Carving Bit). The higher setting you use, the more accurately the software calculates how it can achieve the most detail of a pattern without the taper of the bit 'getting in the way' of those details. The default setting for Bit Optimization is "None" which I assume means there is no consideration calculated for the bit geometry.

A well-crafted pattern will benefit from setting the Bit Optimization to Best. This is very commonly overlooked by users. I have seen dozens of carved projects where you can see just by looking at a photo, that the user neglected to use the "Bit Optimization: Best" on their patterns in the project. However, you can (and should) try all the various settings and view the on-screen preview to verify what looks 'best' to you.

Conversely, some "homemade" patterns look rather poor when Bit Optimization is set to 'Best'. This is usually because there are undesirable artifacts in the pattern that you really don't want and the Best setting will carve all the 'artifact trash' faithfully. Using a lower (or None) Bit Optimization setting can actually improve the appearance of certain non-professional and/or homemade patterns. Here again, trying the different settings and previewing them before finalizing a project is always a good idea.

Now, the Carve Settings (Draft, Normal, Best and Optimal) when uploading a project do something completely different. These settings determine how much "overlap" the carving bit uses when performing a carve. It may also affect other things like feed/speed for the carving bit and other bits, but I do not know by how much. From my personal observations, it appears the XYZ movements are faster compared between lower and higher quality settings.

Primarily, the carve settings have to do with the percentage of the carving bit overlap with each pass. This is called "step over" in CNC lingo. The lower your Carve Quality setting, the less the bit overlaps a previous pass with each new pass. A tight (small) percentage will yield a higher quality finish and better detail, depending on what is being carved. Some CNC control software allows for separate "roughing passes" (large step over) and a final "finish pass" (small step over). That's not so much to do with the final quality result as it is to do with preventing bit breakage of smaller diameter bits that are used for getting into the small details with other CNC machines.

The CarveWright 1/16" Tapered Carving Bit is very robust and I have rarely heard of an individual breaking one (I have never broken a carving bit). Other CNC users may not use such a robust bit and without a roughing pass to remove much of the material with a larger diameter bit first, can break a small diameter bit within seconds if it plunges too far into a "raw" board.

Of course the smaller the step over (higher quality settings = smaller step over), the longer a carve will take. You have to decide whether the extra time is worth the finer finish fresh off the machine, or if you can save time by carving "rougher" and taking extra time sanding later. Another reason to use higher quality carve settings is whether the project has a lot of fine lines/details that may have a tendency to chip out when using lower quality settings.

I hope this mini-tutorial/explanation helps!

[cnsranch]

Well done, MT.

Thanks.

[JDPratt]

Good info, you schooled me. I thought they were the same thing and that I was good by just entering the carve quality in designer at upload. Thanks for the info.

[dbfletcher]

I agree it is great info... but I think it wasnt his original question. I'm pretty sure he was asking about how whatever settings we choose in designer affect options on the keypad on the machine itself. (keypad - options (0) - carve quality) FWIW, my machine is set to "default" and I have never changed it. So I certainly cant answer his question.

[badger2424]

Thanks MT, great tutorial, thinking about the carve, what I was looking for was why couldn't you have some designs in a carve best and some good, but thinking about it, you can't because they might be on the same carve line, and that wouldn't work. Thanks guys for the info!!!

[mtylerfl]

I agree it is great info... but I think it wasnt his original question. I'm pretty sure he was asking about how whatever settings we choose in designer affect options on the keypad on the machine itself. (keypad - options (0) - carve quality) FWIW, my machine is set to "default" and I have never changed it. So I certainly cant answer his question.

Hi Doug,

Yes, he did ask both whether the draft at upload and on the machine cancel the Designer's setting of best. I should have addressed that in the original response. Answer is no - neither scenario will change or affect the settings made in Designer. This begs the question, "So, just what are those keypad quality settings for?" I seem to recall that I was told the keypad carve quality settings do not do anything at all, but that was a couple years or so ago. Perhaps a CW Tech will chime in to confirm if this is the case.

[CarverJerry]

I thought it was for the probe??????

CJ

[Digitalwoodshop]

GREAT INFO.....

And with the Best you see the final depth pass goes SLOWER then the cuts getting to the final cut depth....

I set a carving to Normal by accident one day and was shocked how FAST the Y and Z were moving.... SO the harder the material.... LIKE Cast Acrylic, or OAK.... I would try the step above BEST just to see how much better it cuts. IF you have the time....

I always use Best.

AL

[Deolman]

As usual MT your input is greatly appreciated. Your explanations have always been helpful.