Hi Folks, newbie here, so please bear with me. I running Shapeoko 4 with Create V7 and Motion build 566. Should be the latest versions of both. I’m attempting an inlay using advanced v carve. Both male and female files are zero’d at the material top. The female came out as expected. Starting depth = 0.0” Max Depth = 0.12”. I have bitsetter and it seems to touch off and act fine.
I aborted the first attempt at the male side because I misunderstood the ‘advanced’ in advanced v carve. I assumed the depth per pass setting on the pocket portion would step it down to the ‘start depth’. I’m working with purple heart so I wanted to step in slowly to help with chip out. I added a pocket tool path prior to the advanced v carve to take’r down to 0.08”. The advanced v carve settings are start depth = 0.10” and max depth = 0.12”. My understanding was that this would start the parts contacting at 0.10” and leave me with a 0.02” bond line. However, after getting the male portion off the machine, it looks like the total depth went to almost 0.20” which makes for an unacceptable fit for the inlay. I can’t imagine why the toolpaths would be additive but can’t find a setting to say either way.
So couple questions… Are tool paths additive? Am I missing a setting? What are my options if I need to have a depth pass before the start depth? It seems I’m missing a fundamental understanding of what the advanced v carve software is doing. Any tips or settings to look for are greatly appreciated. Thanks folks.
This tutorial is not Carbide Create, but it was the magic one that finally helped me “get it” as far as understanding inlays.
Look forward to seeing your finished project!
This picture is what made it “click” for me
If you replace my “0.25” with your “0.120”, and my “0.23” with your “0.100”
with a 0.020 glue gap at the top & bottom, the math works out & your numbers are correct.
With Advanced V-Carve, the Max depth should be used for both the clearing tool and the V-Bit.
And you are correct to pocket out the male before Adv. V-carve since your starting depth is 0.100.
Although you should pocket to a slightly offset line, or lie & tell it the cutter is a bit bigger (+ 0.005")
Your pictures at a slight angle, so it’s hard to get an accurate reading, but I’m seeing the male depth at about 0.140, maybe 0.145 ??
Does the male fit into the female? And if so, what is the gap?
Thanks MikeG and Tod1d so far.
I think my understanding of Adv V Carve is ok.
The problem is the male portion cut waaaaay too deep. My finish depth in CarbCreate is 0.120" and the depth of cut off the machine is nearly 0.200"
I can’t figure out what made it go that deep.
Thanks Tod1d.
That is a really good picture, and I’m nearly certain that is what I put into CarbCreate. The male does fit into the female, it just bottoms out too soon. I can jiggle it a little. The female depth is dead on balls at 0.12" as expected. However, in CarbCreate for the male max depth is 0.12" but the part off the cutter is ~0.18" . My spoil board is brand new MDF, so flat there. I ran the purple heart through the planer, so I’m flat there too. Another post said Bit Setter sometimes bonks with a tool change. I kinda hope that is the problem, because that means i understand the vcarve and software. However, that also means i have a $120 paperweight.
If you measure the gap with the male in the female, and it’s the full 0.060 difference, you should be able to shave about 0.040, or even 0.060 off the top of the male. Hopefully it doesn’t chip out.
Maybe just go 0.020 or 0.010 at a time until it fits & doesn’t jiggle. Then one more pass for the bottom glue gap.
The start depth for the male plug of .1 inches is the key. If you zero on top of both the female pocket and the make tenon the male part would not fit into the female socket hardly at all. On my inlays I pocket the female part at .20 and the male tenon starting at .1 and go to .20 depth and the pieces fit well together. The starting depth of .1 makes the male tenon slightly smaller than the female part. That is how to get the two parts to fit together without gaps around the edges. The glue gap at the bottom is important but not paramount. So you could cut the male at .18 so give you more glue gap but as @Tod1d showed the glue gap will for when the slightly undersized male plug its the top of the female pocket. Here is an example of cutting the male plug at various starting depths.
So maybe go deeper with your pocket if your stock allows it.
Also do not forget to flip your male tenon image so you get a perfect match. Sometimes letters that look symmetrical are not.
Yeah, that sounds like it could work. I may hold the male upto my osc sander and sneek up on it. I still need to fighure out the root cause though… i don’t mind a little sanding as a quick salvage fix, but this cant happen every time. thanks again.
Thanks gdon.
I understand what you are showing, and those are all good tips. My problem is not the actuall geometry. The female part came off the machine exactly as defined in CarbCreate. The male part came off the machine nowhere close to what was defined in CarbCreate.
I’m thinking bitsetter bonked or something else went wrong somewhere. I’m asking the comunity for error sources other than geometry definition.
Thanks again.
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