Couple sign I did for a friend.

[jaustin]

Justin,

The plaques came out really good. You mentioned that the machine marks were difficult to sand out. What quality setting did you use when you uploaded the project to the memory card? Even though it takes considerably longer, I almost always use "Optimal" except for projects with little or no detail. Even then, the flat areas will still have machine marks. The settings actually change what is called the bit "step-over" and it's usually measured in percentages. So a 10% step-over for a 1/16" bit will be considerably less than a 10% step-over for the 3/16 bit. It's actually telling the machine how much the bit should over lap the previous pass and since the carving bits have a ball nose there will always be machining lines. Using the optimal setting will not completely eliminate them but it will reduce the amount of sanding. Did I mention "I hate to sand"?

Steve I didn't use optimal can't remember which it was but think it was normal and still was a 4 hr carve.
I think the marks are from the table and the sandpaper are not level. I am going to adjust the tables tonight since I have another sign to do tomorrow.

[oscarl48]

It does come down to a question on what you are willing to live with. 2-3x (optimal, best) the times in carving for little to no tool marks or 1x (normal) for a quicker carve but plenty of tool marks and some sanding (or a lot of sanding). I hate to sand but I hate spending hours baby sitting the machine. It is a bad idea to leave the machine unattended while carving since that just encourages the gremlins to play havoc.

I'm the opposite of Steve. If its small I may go with higher quality carving but if a larger carve I know I will go with normal and do some sanding but it will save me hours of machine carving.

But I also don't focus on plaques. My carvings are used to decorate larger woodworking pieces.

You can also incorporate the tool marks into the piece. The family crests I have been doing actually look pretty good with some tools marks (rustic look). I only sand the really bad places. Win-win for me.

[SteveNelson46]

Steve I didn't use optimal can't remember which it was but think it was normal and still was a 4 hr carve.
I think the marks are from the table and the sandpaper are not level. I am going to adjust the tables tonight since I have another sign to do tomorrow.

If the infeed and outfeed tables are not level with the belts it may cause tracking issues but probably will not cause the machining marks that are shown in your pics. On the next carve try using the optimal setting for a comparison. It will take longer but you should see a reduction in sanding time. Loose bearings on the Z and Y trucks can cause problems also.