Detail work and 1/32 end mill

That’s my plan. I funded the machine with projects, I need to get through this one. Which is basic and simple, I just need to learn speeds and feeds. After this, I’m going to play and learn. Plywood and scrap wood to practice on. I’m looking for tips and advice, I’ve gotten some good info. I’ve been watching tons of videos as well.

Speed and aggressiveness come with experience. Start slow and work your way up. different materials will react differently. All bits are not made the same. A $1 bit probably won’t be able to handle the same as an $8 bit. I haven’t done near as many projects as some of these guys but I learned quickly that the machine and bit will tell you when you’re pushing it too much. Take your time and build on your experience. Otherwise frustration will win and it counters progress.

Besides the bits that you can buy from Inventables, I invested in some Freud and Jerry tapered bits. See how each preforms. I did buy a set of Freud to play with as well. I like the tapered bits but when I start doing inlays I’m not sure how they’re going to work.

Since we’re talking bits and 1/32", mine are from Kodiak Cutting Tools. They’re upcut but they work for me. The 1/32" is about $9 each. I almost exclusively use them because, to me, they’re not terribly expensive, they’re USA made, they advertise tight tolerances and seem to market more to professional machinists.

2 Likes

Affordable! Thank you. What are you cutting on? For me it’ll mostly be Maple, Walnut and Cherry. I’ll be doing tests on birch plywood to find speeds and feeds. Thanks again.

So far, it’s been Pine and the edge glued panels (I wanna say Aspen) sold at Lowes. But I also am going to try my best to avoid the 1/32" bit if I can because they are fragile, seemingly you look at them wrong and they break. They also have a low length of cut which can limit their versatility so be careful you don’t exceed that (mine are only 1/8" length of cut)

In fact, my first carve was a 2 stage carve with a 1/4" and a 1/32".

1 Like

Hopefully this solves the problem.

2 Likes

This is just a test on plywood. But i needed to get the speed and feed rates figured out. I’m working on it still, my next test will be on actual hard Maple which is what I’m using. Thanks for the help everyone. I know it may have seemed simple enough but I’m new to this world.

Thanks again.

Ah, you went with the Catbide :wink:

1 Like

I went with three different bits actually. The realty name was done with the narrow tapered, the phone number was done with the second larger of the tapered and the logo and realtor’s name was done with a 1/16 end mill. Took all damn day! It would be easier if Easel would allow bit changes, but I saved each toolpath individually​ and it worked fine.

I see you’re doing a Wis. Dells sign. Where are you at? I’m from Baraboo.

I’ve been working on this off and on all day. It’s in walnut, depth is 1/8" and I used two stage carving with a 1/4" and 1/32" bit. I probably could have pushed the feeds and speeds but I stuck with the easel recommended and only changed the DOC for the 1/32" bit.

2 Likes

Worked exactly how I needed it to.

I live in Caledonia (Racine). I graduated from the Dells. I have a brother and friends in Baraboo.

Not sure why you wouldn’t. They are labeled from the manufacturer for engraving.

It’s for a friend, he wants to use aluminum due to the outrageous cost of brass.

1 Like

It might have something to do with the thickness of AL that I used. I use a MAPP torch and I wonder what point is needed to soften since melt is a little exaggerated. I heated it up until my flame started changing color. End mills and materials or a Harbor Freight temp gun. I’m choosing making all day long, although there are a few times I wish I had one.

1 Like

I typically start overly conservative on my settings and if the cut takes too long, I start slowly upping the feed rate or monkey with DOC. One thing I’ve done is start a cut and if it’s too slow and I think it can go faster, I’ll jump back into Vectric and re-export with changed settings, stop carve - returning bit to zero, re-load the Gcode and restart the carve. Sure, it will re-carve over what it has already done, but I gradually get it right. I normally will carve something multiple times so the time it takes upfront will pay off. If I’m doing a 1 and done, I’ll probably just let it go.

I’ve noticed that sometimes I have to change my settings because the wood I’m using might have slightly different densities between boards or maybe a board might have more knotting or curling in a section that causes the carve to behave differently. I’ve had some real gnarly walnut at times where it seems the density doubled in sections.

You definitely have to use the Dark Side of the Force with this stuff at times.
:laughing:

Tim.

I started using a Flambe’ torch (for lack of better term) to smooth out the edge of my acrylic. Even on the extruded stuff, it works decently. Definitely easier than trying to sand it.