Good evening, I desire to mill a cavity in a cribbage board for the pegs. I would like to use a 1.2" dovetail bit to cut the cover. Previous posters have suggested that a cut at full depth is too much at full depth for the Xcarve to handle. If I use a straight bit to hog out most of the cavity, I should have only a slight amount to remove with the dovetail bit. This will be in basswood, so the wood is rather soft. Would I define an outline of the finish square I want, define my bit as the full width at the maximum width, and do a single pass at the full depth? Any advice would be appreciated.
I don’t really use Easel, but I don’t think you’ll be able to get it to do what you want without the bit leaving straight up through the undercut. Cutting a pocket rather than a profile will get you closer as you’ll avoid the plunge entrance, but I don’t think you can avoid the exit.
I’m assuming you want a cover to slide over the cavity in parallel dovetail tracks? I guess what I’d do is mill out the cavity and set up a toolpath for the dovetail cut. One time I built a guitar neck and wanted a dovetail groove to fit a walnut inlay on the back. I first used a straight bit, as recommended, to cut out the bulk of the waste of the groove. Then I used the dovetail bit at the depth I needed to cut the “ways”. It worked out fine. I don’t use Easel either, but I’d practice of some scrap first to get the process down.
I’d get on a cad program and generate an end view of what you want with some dimensions.