Hi folks. I have a number of 9cm square blocks that someone donated to me. I want to carve numbers into to use as large childrens toys.
Can someone guide me as to the best way to secure these to stop them moving.
I am using a fairly soft wood.
Cut depth about 4mm
Using a 1/8 bit…
Any help gratefully accepted.
Ian
Create a 5cm high bumber corner that the blocks can be clamped onto.
I would carve the bumper with the corner as XY0 so I know the reference point match that of the block.
Insert block 1, zero Z, carve, take out 1 and insert 2, repeat 
Something like this - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmilYcmczEY
I’d make a fixture with a cam clamp or other De sta Co type clamp to contain the block, and use carpet tape to hold the blocks down.
Place a dog one in the corner as the bit would leave a fillet.
Be careful. With that height you may crash at the top of your Z travel if you are using a stock X Carve.
I was doing something similar for some chess boards I was making. I took a scrap piece of pine and hollowed out 6 squares (using dogbone corners) the exact size of the blocks I was cutting on. This also levels out all the blocks so they are the same height. Using the same .crv file, I then put the design I wanted to cut into the center of the square so I knew everything would be lined up. I ran into some issues with the blocks having a little wiggle to them so ended up using the masking tape/CA glue method of holding down.
I really like the solution that was done in the video Haldor posted and would probably modify what I did to use clamps that were marked so I could cut more than 1 at a time. Those straight line clamps good pretty good, too.
ThanksMark. Had a look at that today and have ripped the blocks to 7cm. Ian
Thanks Haldor. I like this idea and its good to have a video to reference to. Cheers Ian
You may consider riser plates for your machine. They are an in-expensive mod.
Inexpensive in the USA, shipping to UK is over $150!
With an X Carve you can make your own from 1/4 aluminum plate. Just use longer screws to insure engagement.
Look at my post…
Simple and it worked fine for the entire project.
And my grand son is crazy about them…
Thanks Nic. I’ve been watching a few videos about using T-Track and clamps but haven’t taken the plunge yet. Ian
