Bit Angles in Estlcam for ball or tapered bits?

Just wondering if anyone has any input regarding defining bit shapes in Estlcam beyond the v or end mill shapes? Apologies if this is a stupid question, lol

Good question Josh,Christan has tons of vids on youtube for his estlcam have you tried there? also @jimidi is working with estlcam he may be able to add some insite to this aswell,Good luck :slight_smile:

Yeah, Iā€™ve actually watched them all, plus read thru the MPCNC community pages regarding Estlcam, but havenā€™t really been able to find the info. The video you showed, while it has a bunch of in-depth info on other aspects of the tool list, and related functions, it devotes literally 5 seconds to the angle. Lol, it shows a panel that says ā€˜Tip Angleā€™ then switches to a picture of a bit with an angle superimposed over an engraving bit. I have been using it for a while to create code for text, parts, etc, and understand the other functions, but Iā€™m limited to the end mills and v bits.

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First, tool/tip angle has no influence in 2d or 2.5d CAM operations with the exception of V-carving, chamfering or picture engraving operations.

V-Bit/Engraving Bit angles are reflected directly in the tool list (90 deg V-bit would be entered as 90 deg). Ball and/or Flat End mill bits are entered as 180 degrees.

Ball end mills are definable when running 3D STL operations using the "Corner Radiusā€ field in the 3D wizard dialog.

Hope that helpsā€¦

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In the ā€œtool listā€ hover mouse over column ā€œnameā€ and a brief description of that item appears. Also check the ā€œviewā€ box above the tool list to verify all options os tool list are displayed. Some are ā€œoffā€ to simplify view the list (or just the most used options). This is the web page for the ā€œmanualā€ http://www.estlcam.com/anleitung.php than click ā€œtool listā€ under ā€œbasicsā€. Helpful but hard to actually find some answers. Most things are ā€œincludedā€ in his videos but not intensely. I usually google Estlcam with whatever command I need answers to, Iā€™ll find some discussion somewhere and of course his most useful paraphrased instruction: ā€œBuy some styrofoam, itā€™s cheap, easily machinable and wonā€™t damage the cutter bitā€. Test first new efforts in styrofoam. ā€œEdge Radiusā€ is for Ball nose bits and equals 1/2 Diameter. Hope it helps, good luck, and are you using Estlcam for tool paths and for controller???

I get pine finished boards by the 6 foot tall pallet for 50 bucks, lol, so Iā€™m good on foam, and confident enough in general do whatever, Iā€™m just getting used to producing the effects I want with the tools I have. Was considering using a taper to get a nice finished floor of pocket, but sloped walls of the taper, so I can use a bigger stepover for large signage.

Iā€™m simultaneously learning about vector graphics, CAD, and CAM programs, and cnc routing in general, though I have quite a bit of related professional experience.
I do appreciate the input. Any tips on a fast, nice laser color and wattage/wavelength combos for doing production with thin wood? Without going full-on laser tube/cutting head?

uhh, I make wooden toys, not planning a trip to the moon soon, sounds a little over my head, although I do plan on figuring out carving vector graphics onto some of my toys and also some plaques. My wattage is usually 100 and wavelength is the length of my arm. Love to hear about the 6 ft tall pallet for $50, flooring??? Jude

Well, my Ladyā€™s cousinā€™s fiancee works at the local sawmill, and gets 4 ft section of t&g beadboard, 3/4 thick, by the pallet, he just stacks the rejects he likes, and takes a pallet stacked like 5-6 ft for 20 bucks, and dumps it in my garage for 50, lol. He gets me pieces of random hardwood from end runs, out of thickness by a 16th or so. Those are usually just tossed on the top.

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Searching for ā€œlaserā€ will pop a number of recent threads from community members using a variety of laser choices. Most are using Ebay or JTech LED lasers, and most recently hereā€™s a slick attachment from @rogwabbit:

If you want fast cutting laser the only way to go is a laser tube. There are up to about 10watt or 15watt laser diodes out there now, but even at that wattage you are going to do slow cuts to about 6mm or so max on a single pass. I guess it depends on how fast you need to cut.

If you want to simple burn an image then you could get by with a 2 watt or so but the higher the wattage the faster it will do the job in general.

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