I did a different twist this time as a thank you gift for my neighbor who worked in the fire department for many years. He ground out like 20 stumps for me and has been letting me borrow his dump trailer while I work on some projects. I did an inlay of the Fire logo and then inset that into the flag so it would look like a medallion.
Couple things I was not happy with but only things everyone says I’m the only one who would even know 
We are always our biggest critic. When another woodworker shows me their projects they always point out all the flaws. Dont do that. Yes there are always flaws or things we could have done better but your neighbor will love this and wont see any flaws/defects. Even if they do see something wrong they wont tell you.
Great looking flag and medallion.
you see flaws because you made it. most people wouldnt know where to look. It looks amazing!
@cnackers , there are no flaws in your attitude! +1
Man this looks great! Did you inlay the stars, do the glue up and then run the 3D wavy pattern?
What are your bit sequences for the waves? I made my first small wavy flag and it came out pretty rough even with my last bit pass being a 1/16th ball.
Thanks!
You shouldn’t need a small bit since there are no fine details on the wave. I did one with a 1/4" ballnose but a 5% stepover and it looked pretty good.
I think @cnackers carves the wave and then inlays the stars and then “flattens” or really waves it again.
Would you be able to explain how to carve the wave and then do a vcarve inlay for the stars? Maybe I’m missing something but I cant figure that one out.
On my next wave, I’ll try a 1/4" ball with a 5%. Thanks!
This is another post from @cnackers with more details:
30” wavy flag for customer - Gallery - Carbide 3D Community Site
I cut the female portion of the stars, in this size with a 1/16th bit to get the detail on the star points. Then I also cut the male stars, and then glue them all in. I’ve tried doing a full inlay that you can just lay in, but it never fits, too much variance with the wood and that fine of detail, so i have to do them all by hand.
Once the stars are glued in, i usually attach the star portion to the main flag and glue it together. I’ve found if i do it before, there have been times something happens and then you have to scrap a whole flag. So i try to portion it up to be able to redo things if needed.
I run a 1/4" endmill for the rough 3D pass, i think it’s 3-4 passes depending on the depth. Then i finish with a 1/4" ball endmill. You should be able to use a 1/4" just fine, you may have to change your stepover, but you do not need to run anything smaller to get the detail on the waves.
the inlay is not a v-carve, you cannot do a v-carve with the wave, i even talked to Vectric, you just can’t do it with a 3D feature.
You basically have to do a straight inlay and just make sure the depth is greater than the depth of your wave. You are essentially machining away the inlay, and as long as it’s deeper than the wave you cut, then you are good to go.
I misunderstood I guess.
I have used V Carve with a wave to create the star pockets which ai painted but have not tried a plug for an inlay.
I mapped the star vectors to the 3D surface. Hmm, I guess it’s possible I used a pocket instead of Vcarve path. Will have to check that.
Let me know, I couldn’t get the vcarve to map to the 3d surface, and when I asked Vectric they said it wasn’t possible.
So curious if you did figure out a way to do it!
Huh, and I see the project toolpath onto 3d model checkbox… I will have to look again!
I am using Vcarve Pro 12.009
Thanks guys! Great flag man, I am a Firefighter myself and that will mean a lot. Great work
That is beautiful! Really good work.
He was super appreciative, so he clearly was impressed with it. Said he’s showed it to a bunch of people. So it was a great thank you gift for him.
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