Alrighty…I think I finally figured out how to model and created viable toolpaths in Fusion360 to do deep pocket vcarved inlays. Everything checks and going to hit the garage tonight to do some test cuts.
I’m going to try my hands with a normal flat surface inlay, then try out a curved, uneven surface.
The pocket is around ~.25" in depth with a .01" glue gap using a 30 degree engraving bit at 15 degrees of slope.
I don’t understand. How will you know what your star will look like once you cut the top off? That’s always been my problem with trying this vcarve star on small wavy flag test. The star never looked right.
I’m seeing that you have some kind of cross section view. Perhaps that’s where you are seeing the result?
@CrookedWoodTex i can visualize the pocket/plug very well on the flat surface, for the wavy surface, the star does look deformed as it follows the surface. What I’m seeing it’s really dependent on the depth of the pocket as it relates to that surface. I have some playing around with it, but I chose to do a larger star for the test verses smaller versions. We will see
@wilmatos1989 will post some how-to’s depending on the results
@CrookedWoodTex here are a couple more snapshots of the controlled star dimensions and how it interacts with the 3D surface. The star at the top of the surface is completely constrained to the overall dimensions and maintains it without looking deformed. The deforming occurs as the degree intersects at diffrent points on the 3D surface as it relates to a 2D plane as the chamfer is coming down into the material.
This method locks the 3D curvature as a plane, and brings down the chamfer at a 15-degree angle for my bit to cut the profile out.
@neilferreri thanks for sharing the v-carving threads, I checked out the files and definitely a valid way within Fusion.
My method uses the drafting function in design instead of relying on the drawing file. This enables more complex 3D tool pathing options to achieve the V-Carve.
I was going to complete the test during the week, but tomorrow it is. I just double checked everything, and it should be G2G for a full send
Just a quick heads up, the CAD/CAM process I used was geared towards inlaying stars on a wavy flag. The Draft tool is very limited to say the least, and the major issue is it can’t do splines, meaning sketches are very limited and will not work with detailed drawings, other than straight lines
For the 2D, I used a TBN and the 3D version I used a 30 degree engraving bit. There were some limitations when I tried using a TBN on the 3D version, and I couldn’t get a viable toolpath due to the geometry when accounting for the BN radius.
I found some time to knock out the 2D flat surface tonight. Interesting as my toolpath was jagged and not smooth going around the part, both female and male. I’m thinking it’s a tolerance and smoothing issue and the controller is having a problem with it. I did some research and I think I corrected the file for the 3D version tomorrow.
Not really happy with how the 2D turned out as the inner corners are cut oversized and I’m thinking it’s that tolerance issue. I cut this with a 32nd TBN, accounted for the fillets on each point, making it somewhat rounded.
It did however line up well and no visible gaps, but more testing is needed to correct those inside corners.
@CrookedWoodTex yeah…I was thinking it was my belts and I had a funky toolpath for the 2D. I fixed the toolpath issue on the 3D, but I’m still thinking I need to tighten my belts…or at least do some dang maintenance. The 4 Pro is still kicking . The pockets were .375” on the 2D.
Finished up everything. Very pleased. On the 3D carve, I had some chipout in the top portion of the star point and it was enough leave a gap on the point.
Other than that, everything is tight, uniform along the surface, and the star maintained its dimension when looking top down.
Next step is a large Wavy Flag with Inlayed Stars.
. The pockets were .375” on the 2D.
