We are working on creating mosaic tiles for our class. When carving, our image is coming out perfectly, but our text is not carving out completely, any ideas why? 1/4 plywood. Engraving bit, size set at 1/16 and cut setting to cut at .075 in a single pass. Notice that text does not show up in preview…
Waste board is flat
plywood was secured to waste board- no movement or bowing
Ran Z axis up and down, pulleys are not slipping
Thank you everyone!!
Greg
The problem is not the machine, it carved exactly the preview.
While it is tempting to think of the text as a series of linear strokes, because that is how we write, that isn’t how it is handled in Easel. To Easel, it is just more geometry, and if the bit is too large to fit in the font, it will skip that part of the letter. That is what is happening here. You either need to increase your font size or decrease your bit size. The preview shows this isn’t going to carve the way you want.
In some ways, it is easier to see if you click “Simulate” and then click the “hide material”. That way you can see if the tool paths are filling in the letters the way you want.
Thank you for your help. I appreciate your responses!! Totally makes sense!!
Greg
When you say engraving bit, is it a bit that comes to a point or a 1/16" end mill?
Possibly this set?
The single flute engraving bit that comes in that set.
I would definitely go with a different bit for that particular application. The bottom of your pockets is going to look like this ^^^^^^^ unless you have a very small step over. If you go with a smaller end mill, you will have to lower your depth of cut. 1/2 the diameter of the bit is a good start.
In the meantime, you can try to tweak your settings with the bit you have. At .075" doc, you have about a .040 dia cut in your material. You an try to set “other” in bit size and enter .040. See if the preview shows more of the design being cut.
Jason! Thank you. I will try those settings. We have other bits, would you recommend a different bit for engraving plywood?
I really appreciate your help!!
Greg
I would go with the largest end mill that will cut within the design. Based on your text size, that might be a 1/32" end mill. They are quite fragile at that size (I’ve broken a load of them).
For a 1/32" end mill, you will want to go no deeper than .015 per pass. For a 1/16" end mill, you can get away with .03-.04 with a good ipm setting.
With the type of bit you are using, you won’t easily get a flat bottom pocket and the sides will have a draft. Theoretically, an engraving bit like that is ground to a zero edge profile meaning your bit diameter at the tip is .000". The diameter changes based on the depth of cut. It could be anywhere from zero to 1/8".
Another option would be to scale the text up a little larger and go for a 1/16" flat end mill which is much more durable and forgiving.
Thank you again Jason. The only 1/16 bits I have are fishtails. I am going to try to stick with the engraving bit for now. But tell me what bit(s) you would get for engraving plywood and I will hunt them down.
Thanks for getting me over this bump. I was getting discouraged/stressed out and your advice really helped.
Greg
