First cut, first quirk [RESOLVED]

I finished the assembly tonight, and drew first chips at 2344. I’m so excited, this is going to be awesome!

I did my first cut on a piece of scrap 3/16" (0.185") plywood, and used the default speed settings for MDF since it was only going to take a couple minutes to cut. I carved the Inventables version of “Hello world” to 0.150", and the name to 0.075". I used a 1/8" two-flute bit to do the cut quickly since it was late, even though Easel told me the bit was too large to do the detail I needed. What can I say, I was excited to make chips. :smile:

As you can see, the name didn’t quite turn out as well as I hoped, but I didn’t make any programming changes other than changing the cut depths. The happy guy and my name were all pre-programmed in by Easel.

Other than the missing line on the “e”, a close inspection shows that there’s a little bridge between the upright and the arc on the “r”.

It did the letters individually from left to right (awesome programming, guys!), and the sections didn’t move due to belt slippage. A close look at the file (http://easel.inventables.com/projects/NH2MzX-90N6yLDAr63Vjrw) shows that the sections were left out.

Could the missing sections just be the result of using a bit that is larger than recommended? I’m not really concerned about this, just curious.

Thanks,
Rob

Exactly.

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Welcome to the jungle! you’ve been hooked and the reel is turning.

The machine/ software is going to generate code based on the parameters entered. if you used a larger bit than specified in your inputs, toolpaths overlapping where they shouldnt is real likely.

I have nothing for you on the missing line on the one letter, thats above my paygrade.

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Yep, you are missing sections because with the bit being too large to do the detail, Easel did not program toolpaths that would deliberately cause cuts “outside the lines.” Everything looks quite normal to me there, congrats on a successful build!

That makes sense. I look forward to giving this a proper test on proper wood after I finish squaring off the Z axis and make a couple minor mods like a secondary wasteboard.

Thank you!

Yeah, I had the same thing.

Default size of project, font, and bit choice for the ‘test project’ makes for a bit of confusion the first time you run it.

How did you limit the depth for the outline of the little “chalkboard” critter and his happy waving hand? I tried to fiddle with the depth but after several tries I still ended up with the bit progressively cutting deeper and deeper, more than 1/2" into a piece of 3/4" pine. I finally gave up and just let the cut run. I did use the 1/16" bit and I was cringing the whole time, with safety glasses on, just crossing my fingers that the bit wouldn’t explode. Seemed like the feed rate was way too fast, the cut was way too deep, and because it took so many passes to make such deep cuts, the time it took (nearly an hour) seemed really long.

I just dragged a selection box over the critter and changed the cut depth using the little scale in the upper-right section of the 2-D view. Then I selected the words and chose a cut depth for them.