Need help. First time carving a project so be gentle. I am on my finish pass and half way thru the carve my 1/32 but just broke. I paused the project but have no clue what to do now. How do I change the bit and start the carve again at where I paused. I don’t see a way to move the z axis up so I can change bit. What steps need to be taken PLEASE!
You will just need to push the done or finished button. That should take you back to your x and y position. Then you can raise the bit and reset the z and start over. I wish you good luck if you are using a 1/32 bit they have a great tendency to break. Also welcome to the forums.
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Thank you. So I will have to start the carve over again from beginning of the finish pass? Sounds like I will need to hit cancel or stop then change bit, redo the z probe and then hit xy from last setting.
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That is what you need to do. As far as start from the start you will need to do that or if you can cover up what is already carved that will save you some time if you can do that.
How did you get half way through the job using a 1/32" bit? 
I had 4 - 1/32" bits and broke everyone of them, 3 as soon as the carve started and the other one I hit with the wrench and it broke. 
Instead of using a 1/32" bit you could try a V bit.
Russell
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You have to go “r…e…a…l…l…y… …s…l…o…w” with the feed/speed. I used a 1/32" bit on a detail pass years ago to carve an emblem substantially deep into a piece of slate on a piece that was for my groomsman. As a side note, there’s a neodymium magnet embedded behind the emblem to catch the falling caps.
You can do it, but @RussellCrawford is correct, if you even look at a 1/32" bit disdainfully it will shatter.
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Brandon Parker
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Any recommendations on feed/speeds for 1/32? I want to give it one more chance before possibly buying a tapered bull nose? Read in some forums these are stronger and do a similar job to the spiral 1/32 bits.
Currently at 20 ipm, dewalt router 1.5, DOC is 50% of 1/32 (whatever that is), and I think my plunge was at 9. Can get exact numbers a little later.
@ChrisGrant, what is the material? The router should pretty much always be on 1 for Speed on an X-Carve.
My project above was from about six years ago and I did not save the project. The material was obviously slate and I believe I used something like 5 ipm for the feed rate and something just as slow or slower for the plunger. I do not think I adjusted the stepover, but one could do this to lower the load on the bit as well.
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Brandon Parker
Was cutting into poplar, just something I had laying around. Still a newbie so learning as I go for the feed/speeds. What’sa god rule of thumb for plunge depth on the smaller spiral bits?
Here’s the project I was working on, detail cut was completed on the left with only rough cut on the right.
the taper design of a TBN spreads the side load up the bit and into the larger diameter shaft, making it stronger than a bit even a bit twice its size…
50% of 1/32 = 1/64
Based on that last part Is it safe to assume that you aren’t doing the CAD/CAM within Easel? If so, which software is being used?
Personally, I would do that design using 2 bits; a larger endmill like maybe a 1/8" and a V bit. (the steeper the angle, the more forgiving the vbit is to having imperfect top of the workpiece… personally I like the look of a 90, but that requires me to surface the workpiece, then stain while it’s still in place, and then to do the vbit carving all without removing from the cnc… IF you don’t want to do all that then you can use a steeper angle vbit, like a 30 or 60)
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