Planning to buy soon but need some help

[wynpotter]

I have a certain project that I'm planning to buy a Cw for. I need some help finding the correct tutorial or help. To simplify imagine I want to use a 1in thick board 12 in by 12 in. Into this board I want to cut away the area around a series of solid circles, leaving them raised. Each circle will be about 1/2 in in diameter and the cut down will be about1/4 in deep.
Since this is so new to me I don't know how to design this project to do a vector cut to accomplish this task. In the real layout the circles may be stars or leaves or other silhouette images, some solid, some with openings like the vein of a leaf.
I think the 1/16 bit I heard of will give the detail but wondered if this needs to be a rough pass then a detail pass using 2 different bits.
Since I have never worked with a cnc machine I could use some help finding the right software tutorials.
Thanks for any help
Wyndham

[zan29]

Is there a image you could post so we could have a better idea of what you're trying to accomplish?

[bergerud]

This sounds like a very interesting project. I do not think there are any tutorials on doing such a thing with vector cuts. Does it have to be vector cuts? A raster carving would not be so hard.

Yes, please post a picture of what you are thinking and I will give it a go.

[Mike58]

I have a certain project that I'm planning to buy a Cw for. I need some help finding the correct tutorial or help. To simplify imagine I want to use a 1in thick board 12 in by 12 in. Into this board I want to cut away the area around a series of solid circles, leaving them raised. Each circle will be about 1/2 in in diameter and the cut down will be about1/4 in deep.
Since this is so new to me I don't know how to design this project to do a vector cut to accomplish this task. In the real layout the circles may be stars or leaves or other silhouette images, some solid, some with openings like the vein of a leaf.
I think the 1/16 bit I heard of will give the detail but wondered if this needs to be a rough pass then a detail pass using 2 different bits.
Since I have never worked with a cnc machine I could use some help finding the right software tutorials.
Thanks for any help
Wyndham

From what I have been seeing on a project that I am working on, I don't think you will want to try to vector cut this. I have cut a round stepped pocket for a light socket and a rectangular slot out of MDF (cheap for prototyping) and everything will pack full of the carvings. For a slot or small area this wouldn't really become too big an issue, but to do a large area I think you will find the carvings not being removed may create problems. There is a great deal more effort involved in designing such a thing too, because you must create each path for the bit manually rather than create a carving region that you can place other objects in and change the depth of each of them to achieve the desired results.

Frankly, I have spent MORE time trying to save machine carving time by vectoring paths than I will save in machine time I believe at this point unless I get to making many of the items. I have about gave up on the idea even though the vector time was about 1/3 the raster time. Layout is kicking my butt. You cannot control what happens when. The machine doesn't carve objects out in the order you have them in the carving list.

I can layout in Corel Draw exactly how things will be processed by my laser as to the order and direction the vectors are cut. I have done it many times and cut laser time by over 1/2 by eliminating a lot of wasted movement. You cannot do the same with this.

[DickB]

I've done a clock face something like your description but with more material cut away. I used a combination of the 1/16" carving bit to carve out the recessed areas, and the 1/8" cutting bit to clean up the sides of the circles. The reason for the cleanup is that the carving bit is tapered and I wanted the circles to have straight not slanted sides. I have used this teqnique often.



Layout of your project would not be hard. Have you played with a trial version of the software? If you do, I could post a file for you to take a look at.

Or, come to the Conference! I am one of the presenters, and the design and machining of this clock including it's face is part of my presentation.

[Mike58]

I've done a clock face something like your description but with more material cut away. I used a combination of the 1/16" carving bit to carve out the recessed areas, and the 1/8" cutting bit to clean up the sides of the circles. The reason for the cleanup is that the carving bit is tapered and I wanted the circles to have straight not slanted sides. I have used this teqnique often.



Layout of your project would not be hard. Have you played with a trial version of the software? If you do, I could post a file for you to take a look at.

Or, come to the Conference! I am one of the presenters, and the design and machining of this clock including it's face is part of my presentation.

Your approach does make sense for getting straight sides, which was one of the things I needed for the socket for the light bulb base to sit in. I worked that out and I am quite pleased with the 1/8" cutting bit cutting the .5" deep socket I needed. the other areas I was attempting to speed up the process by eliminating the raster time to cut out a rectangle shaped slot. the carving cuts out .5" wide then has to jump to the other side 10" away to do the other side until it gets to the ends that run 5" across the board. The vector path was much faster to do as far as machine time, but laying out stepped paths a problem for me.

To clarify, first prototype was rastered and took over 2 hours. Second was vectored only and took 58 minutes I think. I am doing to pieces back to back if you will and one needs the pocket for the light bulb socket and a wire path out to the edge. Not a problem. Both have a routed edge on 3 sides (basically doing a rectangle with the back of each part turned in to the center then a cut path cuts between them to separate them) and the cut path follows this same vector path. What I mistakenly didn't realize is one side needs the routed edge on the bottom, the other on the top edge. When I worked the path around them bottom as a rectangle it wasn't too hard to step and repeat another pass with the 1/8" bit. But now I need to break the two parts apart in the slot being cut out in them both now, and do one on the front side of the board, and the other on the back side of the board. When I place a line and assign the 1/8" cutting bit to a open vector line, I cannot inset the bit, it will only go down the center of the line. So now I am trying to offset the line to allow for the bit so I get a specific width slot, and it seems something always happening that produces the wrong or unintended results.
In regard to your remarks and rastering then vectoring to get the straight edge I agree, and that will certainly work. I was looking to vector only to cut 1/8" wide x .25" deep in a single pass. The cutting bit removes material much faster than the carving bit (minding a reasonable depth).

Your idea maybe just what he is looking for, which will also allow the carving regions to be placed as I mentioned and not cut out areas that you want proud of the carved area.

[wynpotter]

I'll sketch out something tonight and post it. It was my thought that a vector path would be cleaner but creating the path maybe a maze I'm not equip to deal with.
thanks for the info. Wyndham

[DickB]

the other areas I was attempting to speed up the process by eliminating the raster time to cut out a rectangle shaped slot. the carving cuts out .5" wide then has to jump to the other side 10" away to do the other side until it gets to the ends that run 5" across the board.

I wonder about splitting the project up into two or more mpcs to avoid the jump. If the board were not removed between projects, it should be accurate, and I would think it would machine considerably faster.

[wynpotter]

Here's an example of a possible project. If I were to make a wooden stamp where the image is the face of the wood block and area around the image is cut away 1/4 in to 1/2 deep. Would a raster or vector be the better way to cut. Would it make any sense to do a vector cut around an out line of the image with a 1/16 in tool then use a raster to cut the major work. As I say, I'm just starting to understand cnc. Just dl'd a trial version software, I'll start learning it tomorrow night.
Thanks for the help, I need it
Wyndham

[Mike58]

you should raster engrave and add a small possibly medium draft to the carve region. That will taper the sides some and make it fatter deeper. That is how stamps are done. I don't think vector carving will give a good result here.