TIA for any help. I am making new table saw fences and they require a .25" slot, how can I get easel to make a .25" slot with a .25" bit? It keeps telling me that there is nothing to cut with that size bit. I even tried making the slot .251 but it still would not allow it. I will be using a T slot cutter to make the actual cut and there fore need the cut to enter the material from the “top” (higher Y number) then proceed to a lower Y number and back out the same way it entered…if that makes sense. My thought was to make all 8 of these slots on the CNC to ensure everything lines up with the table saw fence frame.
I think you have to make the hole .02" wider, which worked in my quick test.
Usually I use the + .02" trick, since rarely when you want exactly .25" do you want that precise of a fit. I’ve found it also gives a nicer finish, since you get the bit passing through the slot twice and leaving 2 clean edges.
However, there’s another option, which is to render the cut using straight lines that aren’t closed. If you make a line using the pen tool (which you can snap to vertical or horizontal using the SHIFT key), Easel will only cut on the line in the middle, and make a single pass. You can get more accurate positioning of the end points using E to edit the endpoints. (The corners will always be rounded, if that matters, but that should make sense.)
Another possible option if you are cutting all the way through two sides of your piece is to make rectangles and let the bit cut air outside the piece.
I’ve made an example project showing the 3 techniques here
The first line is the straight, unclosed line. The second is a rectangle that’s .02" wider. The third uses a rectangle bigger than the project.
I’ve got the same problem. I’m making a pegboard, and four of the pegs are 1/4". If I make the circle .25" it refuses to make it. Following the above advice (add .02") and it works. The million-dollar question is… WHY?
if you look at the project, you will see that it has no problem cutting a .25" hole (four mounting holes at each corner are sized .25"), and yet if I try to make a .25" circle, it thinks that the bit is too large.
The trouble is that I didn’t notice this problem when I simulated the cut, and so I made the project and discovered the holes missing.
The problem at this point is that the pegs fit perfectly into the .25" holes that are at each corner. So, I don’t want to run this again just to make four holes - that will be .02" too large. Yes, I can mix some glue and sawdust to make the hole tight, and so had I made the board with that size hole, that is what I would do.
Instead of running this again with the wrong size holes, I’ll just grab a drill and cut the four .25" holes.
The question is, who thought that it was a good idea to allow a user to drill a .25" hole using a .25" bit, but NOT allow a user to make a .25" circle using a .25" bit
here is the project should anyone be interested: Easel - Drawknife / spokeshave pegboard
In the outside chance that someone from Inventables should read this, PLEASE fix this bug, and allow a .25" bit to cut .25" holes and slots.
I find myself having to grab hand tools far too often to finish a job that Easel won’t allow me to do.