Big thanks to @WillAdams, I followed his tutorial thread from a while back explaining how to 3d model a badge from a vector file. I wouldn’t have been able to get this far without the help of this forum that’s for sure. This is going to be my first ever 3d engrave…
I was wondering if someone could take a look at my design file and toolpathing and give me any tips or suggestions please. I’m working on a 3d engraving basics YouTube video and would like to use this project as an example for people getting started with 3d engraving.
I’m trying to create a large, chunky 3d police badge from 1.5" maple. I would like to have the text recessed so I can color fill and I have included a small circular pocket in the middle where I will be inserting a piece of acrylic with a UV printed logo on it.
Any help would be appreciated please before I do some test runs in MDF. Thanks so much!
Started this project today finally. Began testing with some 1" MDF and so far so good after the roughing pass. Taking a break and will try the finishing pass after work…will keep you posted.
Finished my first attempt at a 3d engraved badge. I have to say, I’m pretty happy with the results for a first try. Couple things I need some help with please:
1.) If you notice in my second and third pictures, I’m getting a lot of choppiness, for lack of a better word, around the recessed letters and the outside perimeters of the banners. I did see this in the preview but I thought initially it was just how CC rendered the 3d image in the quality I had it set.
2.) I’m getting a few random holes inside of my letter pockets. Almost like the bit is plunging to far down in these locations. You can see and example of this in the third photo.
Any ideas how I can address these? I was thinking about carving the banners and letter pockets with standard 2d pocketing tool paths but I’m not sure how that would work. Basically because the badge shapes is 3d, highest in the middle and tapers down around the perimeter. The banners are not flat. I’ve attached an update version of my .c2d file here
For roughing pass I used a #201 1/4" end mill
Finishing pass I used a fine detail tapered ball nose bit from IDC
Not 100% sure. I’m going to run another test tomorrow and I’ll watch more carefully to see if this happens again and if so, what is happening.
Any thoughts about the jagged edges around the letter pockets and banners? I’m thinking maybe I need to create a separate 3d finishing tool path for those areas using something like a #102 1/8" end mill. Not sure of course, but playing with that currently.
If I flatten out the main shield portion of the design I can v-carve all the letters, but I’m kind trying to make this look like a realistic badge shape so I like having the badge counter type of shape to it.
Although I was originally going for a domed shape for this badge, I modified my design to be more flat. That way I was able to pocket/v-carve out the letters for a clean look. I also ran a chamfer pass around the banners to clean up the “chatter” I posted earlier.
Overall I’m happy with this design and I even added some texture tool paths to make the badge even more accurate. I’m not abandoning the first domed design, just need to play with it more. Now on to the real deal, I have some 5/4 maple ready to go.
Just finished my roughing tool path on the final piece. I switched to a 1/4” ball nose end mill this time versus the #201 I originally used. I think this should help with the finishing pass. Roughing took about 3 hours and I’ve got about 15 hours left in the finishing and texture passes.
Took my time on this one with research and testing and I think it paid off. Thanks to the knowledge and help on this forum I think I was able to pull this project off and I never would have been able to do it without it. My badge may not be the best out there, or exactly what I had envisioned from the start, but for a first try I’m very pleased and I know I’ll be doing more of these in the future.
Hopefully this helps anyone else looking to do something similar. If you have any specific questions please let me know and I’d be happy to share exactly everything I did. I recorded the process and will be putting together a video documenting the process I used so look out for that in the near future.
Thanks again to everyone on the forum, not only on this thread but all the others I read in preparation for this project.
