What is the best bit to use to do small letter engraving? And the best plunge and feed rate so it doesn’t take 20 days? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
I’m a big baby and run very conservative feeds and speeds. I am cutting some 2in diameter coins out of aluminum using a 45deg 1/8in bit and I am running it at 12K RPM, 10 IPM plunge and feed. The DOC is 0.015in because these specific bits seem to be a bit fragile compared to the standard spade engraving bits. They take about 15 minutes for each side.
EDIT : They look like crap now because they haven’t been polished. They’ll be nice once they get polished and paint filled.
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Erm, no they don’t! And I’d never heard of a Boeing 717, so had to Google it 
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Those are very nice!
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Are you using Carbide?
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Thanks for the compliment!
I am using Vectric V-Carve Desktop to create the G-code, and Carbide Motion to control my XXL.
I started with my first SO3 back in 2010 (Uhhhh… The other important year of the decade for me) 2015 or so before there was a Carbide Create, so I used Inkscape for my vector editing and MakerCAM for my G-code creation. For 2D cutting and layout, I still use Inkscape, and for V-carving and diamond drag engraving I use Vectric, but I am slowly learning the Vectric V-Carve and using MakerCAM less and less these days.
Now that I am cutting aluminum, I bought MeshCAM and I am learning that as well. I am a veteran, so I get the educational version of SolidWorks for $20/yr, so I use SolidWorks to MeshCAM for any aluminum G-code I create(except the V-carving).
…
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Yeah. I meant 2010 +/- 5 years. 
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Not too far off from the first model – the SO1 launched on Kickstarter in June 2011:
I wasn’t in a position to support the initial Kickstarter (which I’ve always regretted) but picked up a used machine on eBay (serial #364) before the year was out.
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