I recently did a sign for a coworker’s daughter that is getting married. I have a shapeoko 5 4x4, it is trammed, the spill board has been surfaced and I was using O flute bits at the recommended feeds and speeds when selecting the tools. The depth was set to 0.08 in. The material has held down by 2 sided tape. The finished size of the piece was 5.25"x23.25".
When the carve was completed, the tool paths around the letters and border are deeper than the rest of the material that was removed. Why is this happening and what can I do to prevent this? Should I have done 2 passes instead of 1?
I’ve seen this often, but haven’t noticed one specific cause. I think the material either pulls up, or the tool pulls down. First check for slop in the machine. Then watch the material very closely when it’s cutting.
One way to use a rough/finish strategy is to set the depth per cut just smaller than a factor of the total depth. i.e. If you’re total is 0.080", and your depth per cut is 0.040", try changing DOC to 0.035. Then you get 2 passes down to 0.070", and the last pass removing only 0.010".
If you’re cutting the full 0.080", try setting DOC to 0.070"
