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Just to update you all. I got my piece cut out nicely (sort of). I used the bit that I asked about above from Lowe’s (posted link again below), screwed the board down (used the machine to mark the holes) in the center and clamped the edges, and used 55in/min at .0625 depth, router set to first speed. It worked perfectly, minus a couple of user errors listed below. The bit worked great, no fuzzies on the edges at all.
I had my machine backed against the wall, so when it went to cut the top of the piece, the wall threw it off course. I decided to salvage the piece by just cutting a smooth circle for the outside. In the first attempt at this, somehow my circle in the project got off center in Easel, but I got it on the second try.
In my paranoia, I made the tabs too thick and too frequent. I think I need to buy a Dremel or something similar just to use for cutting tabs.
Although this one is definitely useable, I think my wife wants me to cut another piece so I probably will. I honestly think my next piece of this type will have no issues now. Finally feel like I’m “cooking with gas,” so I am pretty excited. I had read some other blogs of people getting really frustrated, some of whom never seemed to get their issues resolved, which was really disheartening. I am very relieved that the machine is now working just as it should be. Thank you guys so much for your help, this forum is awesome!
The ones on the left just didn’t cut through, but it is basically paper thin in most areas, so not a big deal. The only ones that are completely tabs are the tiny ones, which I shouldn’t have used tabs at all on.
You can drag the tabs around on Easel to move them…
You REALLY have to manage the tabs in Easel… It seems like it always wants to put a tab in a corner or tight spot, and it can be a PAIN to fully sand/cut/grind down. It also wants to put more tabs on some objects then you need.
When i use Easel on MDF i always set my tab size to .125 and remove as many tabs as possible (drag tabs on top of each other).
When ever i feel guilty about spending money on VCarve… I just try to use tab’s on Easel. Then i feel really good with my choice
One more issue. I have been doing my designs in Inkscape and then importing the SVGs into Easel. For some reason, it treats the design as one big shape and will not allow me to add tabs to the different sections. So basically, I only have 16 tabs (easel max) to work with for the entire design. Also, when I go to cut it does one pass over the entire design, before going deeper. This is adding a lot to the cutting time.
