A few of my projects

So I’ve spent a lot of time lurking on these forums, but haven’t contributed a lot. So I figured I’d post some photos of what I’ve been making with my XXL… feel free to trash or praise them! And if you want any more info on how I did them please feel free to ask, more than happy to share :slight_smile:

My machine is set up as follows

  • 1.5KW Huanyang Spindle and VFD,
  • Homing switches
  • Suckit Dustboot > Oneida Dust Deputy > Festool CT Midi.
  • 3/4 MDF wasteboard with threaded inserts
  • Loud stereo in the workshop to crank tunes

I have recently changed my setup to a Gecko540 and MESA 5i25 and run my Shapeoko under Linuxcnc, but most of these projects were done with the original CM 2.4 board, and Carbide Motion :slight_smile:

This is a candle holder my girlfriend designed for my mother on mothers day (her first design!) made from Tasmanian Oak
Vectric Aspire
1/4" flat endmill. 80ipm, 12,000rpm
1/4" 60 Degree V bit, 90 ipm, 24000rpm

This is an Aztec-type calendar that I made out of pine, finished with black paint and wipe on Poly
Vectric Aspire
Pine
1/4" 60 degree V bit, 90ipm, 24000rpm
1/4" flat endmill. 90ipm, 12,000rpm

This cheesy number is a 2nd anniversary gift I made for my girlfriend, who loved it!
Vectric Aspire
Ash - Hardwood
1/4" flat endmill. 80ipm, 12,000rpm
1/4" 60 Degree V bit, 90 ipm, 24000rpm


This cheese and cracker bowl was a gift for a German friend (Kase is cheese in German), and my first foray into 3D machining with Fusion360. I used Fusion for the shape of the cheese bowl, and Aspire to do the inlay, as it’s just so damn good at inlays! the black marks in the wood look a little funny but they are filled with clear resin, and look amazing in real life

Fusion360
Vectric Aspire
Tuart - Australian Hardwood
_1/4" Ball Mill. 90ipm, 18,000rpm
1/4" flat endmill. 80ipm, 12,000rpm
1/4" 60 Degree V bit, 90 ipm, 24000rpm

This was my first run at aluminium, and took me a long time to get right, feeds and speeds were tough to get right and I can’t be sure of the grade of aluminium, which may have made it hard for me… However they came out great and the finish wasn’t perfect but it was good enough for workholding! :slight_smile:

Vectric Aspire
misc aluminium plate
1/4" flat endmill
feeds and speeds written on a piece of paper somewhere in my workshop…

this is a clock that I whipped up for my brother in law and his wife as a wedding present. I love the design and it came out really well, will have black hands when it’s done. This project blew me away with just how great the SO3 is, making something completely custom, that is beautiful. and it was so simple to do! It’s hard to see in the photo, but this is the most professional project I have done on my SO3, it looks mint!
Vectric Aspire
Marri - Australian Hardwood
1/4" flat endmill. 80ipm, 12,000rpm
1/4" 60 Degree V bit, 90 ipm, 24000rpm

Cheese boards for the family, pretty simple V carve text on the handle, and not finished in this photo. they came out really nicely, and were well received as Christmas presents :slight_smile:
Vectric Aspire
Acacia - Softwood
1/4" flat endmill. 80ipm, 12,000rpm
1/4" 60 Degree V bit, 90 ipm, 24000rpm

A sign for the entry of my sisters new house (she has many dogs) this was all done with 3D machining in Fusion360, the finish was good but the choice of wood could have been better. I think black paint in the text would have improved it
Acacia - Softwood
1/4" flat endmill. 80ipm, 12,000rpm
1/4" Ball Mill. 90ipm, 18,000rpm
1/4" 60 Degree V bit, 90 ipm, 24000rpm

A small box I made very early on with the Shapeoko. I had problems with the fit on the lid as the Endmill was not exactly 1/4" in diameter, learned a good lesson though, measure your endmills! the box looks nice but V2 will have a much better fit!
Lid - Acacia - Softwood
base - Jarrah - Australian Hardwood
1/4" flat endmill. 80ipm, 12,000rpm

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very nice work,love the shape and contrast of the box…The mandela is amazing work,congrats>I also like the other post you did and you pictured your tool holder,what a neat design.Thanks for sharing and lurking :slight_smile:

P.s you should enter somthing here if you have the time

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I really like all of these. Great work! Question for you: On the anniversary gift (3rd project), you didn’t have any difficulty with the relatively large (1/4") V-bit when working on those very small blocks of text? I’m working on my V-carving skills, so any help on how to do very small or fine text would be appreciated. And I’m going on record saying I’m stealing your personalized cheese board idea.

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Thanks for the kind words guys! I also have to pay tribute to the many projects that ended up in the bin or scrap pile haha… without them there wouldn’t be any good ones to show off!

Thanks, I forgot to add in the toolholder, it came out really nicely too :slight_smile:

@EvanDay Thanks! To try and answer your question - The 1/4" V bit I use is a true Vee, so it goes from 1/4" to a point, which means that even if the text is very fine and shallow, the shank diameter of the V bit doesnt really matter, as it is still the tiny point doing the cutting

One word of advice I would have with V bits is to spend good money on one. I started out with Cheap chinese ones from ebay, and they gave me a terrible finish. Then I bought a couple of Kyocera branded 60 degree bits from ‘Drillman1’ on ebay, and the difference was night and day, and they were still only US$15-20 each. I am only on my second bit, it hasn’t worn at all. (I accidentally drove the first bit into a clamp)

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Yeah I’ve been slowly acquiring good quality mills, some also from Drillman1. Recently got a set of flat micro mills (also Kyocera) and have been very happy with them.

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Dang @stutaylo… the prolific projects pictured are prodigious (I couldn’t resist alliterating), and your notations are also wonderfully informative. I’ve always wanted an Aztec Calendar but I’ve not found an easy means for a shapeoko using budget software. Does vectric have trial versions? I’d install it to run a few jobs like the calendar.

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@EvanDay ah you’re already there with the quality bits haha, I have found with the Kyocera V bits, the best results I get are when the bit is rotating as fast as possible, and taking as much of the cut as possible. I.e most of the lettering you see was a single pass with the V bit. On the harder woods It can chatter, so i just slow down the feedrate. Also if the finish isn’t perfect I sometimes run the V-carve toolpath a second time around.

@jimidi Haha thank you good sir!

The Aztec Calendar came out really nicely. Aspire/Vcarve just kicks butt at stuff like that. It took about 8 minutes to go from a JPG file from google to loading the gcode into the Shapeoko… I believe Vectric do offer trial versions, I strongly suggest you try them out, the software is so simple, yet incredibly powerful. I use Fusion360 a bit too but my results with Vectric have been far better. I’m slowly getting the hang of F360, but there are so many options and getting it to make a toolpath that you want isn’t always easy.

Here’s a photo of my setup

and some timber I scored!

And one of the toolholder mentioned above!

And a clock I made for my girlfriend, my first project with Aspire!

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Very nice projects, thanks for sharing!

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All are nice. I’m digging the tool holder. I am fixing to design one myself.

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