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"
So I did this, but did passes at 0.035 in going to a final depth of 0.08 in. There are some tool paths visible, but no differences in depth like on the previous sign that I did in one pass. But wow it took a long time. I wonder if I could do a pass at 0.06 and a final pass at 0.02 to speed things up
I typically do ColorCore in a single pass. The thinner material 1/8 and 1/4 do tend to pull up if it’s a large area. I use XFasten double sided tape instead o flatters tape which I think may pull off the ColorCore material easier.
Also, I make sure that there is clearance between the sweepy bristles and the material surface as the suction from the vacuum can lead to some of the pulling up.
And for pockets I have hade better results with #102 than the O Flute bits. I save the O Flute for cutting contours.
It is definitively for outside signs fully exposed to the whether, they never bleach. I have blue and white signs out for years, white is unchanged from sunlight, blue is not bleached. I don’t know how red behaves in the sun, did not use red yet. Anyone experience with red? Usually red is sensitive to UV.
I did a couple of red with white center layer for a local Girl Scout camp 2 years ago. One was for inside and the other was mounted to a floating dock facing straight up in full sun. I will ask if there has been any noticeable degradation in color.
The one I made for our neighborhood with tan/green/tan 2 years ago looks as good as the day I made it.
