Just a couple of projects, trying to get comfortable

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Well done!

Did you do the blue heart in 2D or 3D? Looks like 2D with a bunch of pockets at different depths - I’m really digging that sort of design. Very cool. What programs were you using?

Looks like the horse is v-carved, what about the 3D heart - meshcam or something else?

The graphic for the Navy sign - did you do raster to vector conversion or was that a vector file to begin with?

-Edward

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Hi Edward,

The blue and the red heart were both “adaptive 3d” toolpaths out of Fusion 360, both done with a 1/4 ball nose, the only difference was the step-over, on the blue heart it was set to a step-over of 3.4mm and the red one is set to 0.5mm. It was actually an STL file to begin with and I used 123 Design to convert it to a step file to use in Fusion.

The horse is vcarved, I’ll attach a photo of what my wife did with it after I v-carved it. It was also done in Fusion with the engrave toolpath. As for the Navy sign, it was an eps to begin with and converted it to dxf to pull into Fusion.

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What’s your technique Justin for colouring in your engraves ?

Actually, stole some of my wife’s acrylic paint, painted it into the embossments not really paying attention to the lines too much then sanding off the excess. For the Matthew sign, I just taped it off and sprayed it with Rustoleum lacquer.

WOW!
That’s what you do with a V carving!
Beautiful work.
Thanks for sharing.

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Hey, I just got my XXL, did the helloworld, and I’m a couple weeks out before starting my own projects… and I hope they come out as good as these. N I C E work.

So you’re using Fusion360? How was the learning curve for you? Did you use double sided tape for these project? Any suggestions for someone about to jump off the same cliff?

Inspiring my man…Inspiring.

ZZ

Even though your question isn’t directed at me, I am a relatively new owner, and have about 10 projects under my belt, nearly all designed in Fusion 360. I would say that Fusion 360 is not hard to learn the basics, but learning what all of the settings do in each tab of the toolpath can take some time. Work on simple designs until you get the hang of Fusion. The good thing about Fusion is that there are plenty of Youtube Videos out there like those by Lars Christiansen (https://www.youtube.com/user/cadcamstuff/featured). Look through his playlists for the basics videos. Also the Fusion Fridays series by NYC CNC is helpful to me as well for picking up new Fusion skills.

The big thing about Fusion is that it works great for making 3D shapes and cuts, but I have found that doing text work (engraving, v-carving, signs, embossed letters, etc.) can be problematic. I’m probably going to bite the bullet and buy V-carve Desktop for doing some of the text based projects I have in mind, as from what I have seen here, most people prefer it. Fusion lacks some critical functions like aligning blocks of text easily and is frustrating when you are trying to chose a font and size, as it doesn’t remember settings and you have to redo everything from one block of text to another. I had better luck doing V-carving in Carbide Create than I did in Fusion.

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Zeninfinity,

Thank you for the complement. I have had my XXL for just about a month now and am still very much a newbie. As EvanDay responded a little earlier, I agree with him that the learning curve for Fusion isn’t too bad, and I agree with him also on Fusion sometimes isn’t the easiest package to use on certain jobs. I use a mix of software, Fusion 360, AutoDesk 123D, Carbide Create, even some JCut. It really just depends on what I’m working on. Like everyone, I guess you develop your own little tricks and style as you get more familiar will milling and CAM in general. You asked me about my fastening method. What I do, strips of masking tape (sticky side opposed) one on the wasteboard other on the stock, then a thin bead of cheap superglue between them. Works like a charm for me, I had run across a guy on youtube that did it and copied him ever since.

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Nice. Ok I may try that adhesive technique. Going to install T-tracks at first and see how far I can get with those.

I think I just need a few nights at a coffee shop getting everything setup in AI and/or Fusion360. I’m still figuring out my design > production process.

Best!

ZZ

How did you do your stars? I am trying to figure out how to do them in carbide create?