Tool marks left on piece

X-Carve
1

Hello,

Thanks to everyone that posts on here and especially those who help the newbie. 

I am a newbie and I am having an issue with the rough cut leaving tool marks on the piece. Idk of its because my feed and speeds are off and Easel is skipping or of its just part of CNC life.

Rough cut : 1/8 in purple collar Upcut 3 flute spiral
Detail cut : 1/32 in white collar Upcut Fishtail spiral

Idk what other info to provide but here is a pic

PXL_20201216_015840249
PXL_20201216_0158402491512×2016 855 KB

Thanks
Ryan

2

Any play in Z can do this, wood also release tension when material is removed so its that is a different factor. Z-zero issues between tool change, tool cutter quality, wood properties…

Sorry for not being very specific, but those are the main factors in play here.

3

Thanks for your reply.

So Ill recheck the Z-zero. Tools are X Carve…not sure if they are great quality or not. Ive tried to be as accurate as possible with the tool change, I will get better with use.
So after all this, am I just left to sand down the imperfections?

Cheers
Ryan

4

Yep. Normally for a project like that I’d cut all the way through then glue the letters to a different color board for a nice effect.
Check your adjustable wheels on the z axis. A tiny bit of play is too much.

5

Are you using the recommending settings for the carve on the 1/8th bit? I do a lot of these and I will always do a finishing pass in between the roughing and detail carve. If your total depth of carve is .1 inches make sure you change your manual setting to the entire depth of carve and it will do one pass at the final depth. That should help reduce the milling marks. image image In the screen shots you can see the recommended setting. Click the manual settings and you can play around with the feed and plunge rate. Make sure your depth per pass is set to your total carve depth for that final pass.

1 Like
6

Eric thanks so much for this. Ill give this a try.

7

Attached is a picture of a two stage carve in Alpine, which is a very soft wood. As you carve the pocket the wood does start to move a bit regardless of clamping pressure. The finishing pass will be light enough to take the marks out and will take any movement into account. Good luck Ryan. Let me know if you need anything else.

carve
carve4032×3024 1.98 MB

8

Hey Eric,
I am trying to figure out the finishing pass thing.
If I set the bit depth all the way to final depth, wont it break the bit? I dont think the 1/16 fishtail will handle that.

9

You have to still go through the same process of 2 stages, roughing and detail, but you add the finishing pass in between. Here is an example:

1/4 inch bit for roughing total carve depth of .1 inches. Easel will do the initial roughing in approximately 4 passes at .03 inches per pass.

After you have completed the first roughing pass. Go to manual settings and change the depth per pass to your total depth and run another roughing pass. Most of your mill marks occur in roughing.

Now go to your detail pass with the 1/16 inch bit at the recommended settings. If you have to clean up the detail pass you can follow the same process by doing a second detail pass.

This cuts down on having to do any sanding or hand chisel work and will save time. The nice thing about easel is you can manually increase the speed up to 100% when you run the finishing pass to save time.

1 Like
10

Got it!! Thanks so much!