Hello, I’m Smokey. I figured since I was finally asking questions I would just ask them all at once.
I’m active duty and I originally bought my XXL Pro to be able to make military type gifts. I really am struggling trying to figure out my tool paths and depths to be able to engrave all the intricate designs on aviation style patches.
I have purchased every bit under the sun and can not make the chain come out or give it the detail it needs. Thanks in advance for your help
This patch is one of the more basic designs. Lots of the patches have intricate knot work or chains
What do you want the final product to look like? The black areas on the surface, and the white areas removed? or the opposite, the black areas etched into the surface?
Your image is titled hsc-8 vector. Can you post the original vector file, or the C2D file from CC?
Hi Smokey, what size is the finished piece?
Also, you mentioned in a separate thread that you had just gotten the pro xxl (congratulations!). In that thread you were looking for work holding solutions on metal business cards, which leads me to believe you’re doing some very small detailed cutting. Have you taken steps to tune the machine for that level of accuracy?
I also have a pro xxl, and while it would cut large pieces great out of the box(es), I had to really spend some time getting it perfectly square, level, head trammed, belts tensioned, work area surfaced… before I could get the level of accuracy that you appear to be looking for.
And then, depending on the size/scale of the finished piece you’re looking to create, I might do this with a v-bit or a diamond drag bit.
A depth-limited Advanced V-Carving should work well – just deselect the outer geometry if you want the white areas to be lowered (figure-ground reversal is key for these designs)
Post the .c2d file if you have difficulties.
You may find:
and
of interest.
If you don’t have a vector see:
Is this something like what you are looking for?
The lines in the handle are there but the screen shot didn’t pick them up. Should darken up with stain.
This pic has a 0.63 Advance Vcarve pocket using a 1/8 inch bit and a 60Degree Vbit.
I used a 20 degree Vbit for the fine lines in the graphic.
Let me know if you’d like the CC file.
I also
Boeing patches are 4" in diameter if they are a circle. Some patches are scaled down if they have ribbons on them, so that the height is still 4". Some keep the 4" diameter and add extra height to the patch when adding flourishes outside of the circle.
I would safely say that the total height is going to be 4" to ensure that the design can be cut. If it ends up being bigger, then you are assured it can be done.
@ProfessorEcks The only thing I have really done is make a nice sturdy base cabinet and used some sacrificial feeler gauges to make the head square. You are right that I probably need to square up some more. I just don’t have the gauge to be able to do that.
I think over all scale of these pieces would be 6" on the small size and maybe double that on the larger size. I have been able to do some finer detail stuff with the drag bit, but really have only been messing with MC Etcher for a day or two.
Thanks for responding back. I’m 100% ready to learn everything I need to about this awesome machine. Plus my wife would like it if I could make the money back I paid for it and the all mills I have bought since.
@ehendrix this is exactly what I am trying to do (And possibly the inverse). I would be super grateful to get the CC file if you don’t mind. Then I apply the same principles to other patches and designs. Thanks man
@MadHatter Yeah thats probably pretty accurate. When I’m making retirement or going away gifts I generally enlarge slightly just for better clarity. Until I got my machine I was using a Ortur 20w diode laser which works pretty well, but I would like to incorporate the CNC in my designs as well.
HSC-8 Patck.c2d (811.1 KB)
Here you go.
There are two Groups under the tooling tab which are different DOC (Depth of Cut) Enable one or the other to see.
You are the MAN!!! Thank you
Thanks for the compliment, dude. I am still learning myself; I just have the Advanced Vcarve down pretty well.
I still feel I have more to learn.
That card looks awesome!
If you’re having any issues with inaccuracy at all…. From my very limited experience, a very worthwhile tuning step that requires no special tools except a free iPhone app, is tensioning the belts.
Shapeoko will work just fine without this step, but I felt like it gave me a big jump in accuracy early on. By doing this, I found that what I thought was good tension was way too loose.
Quick overview: you measure out a 50cm length of belt, peg some 1/4” bit shanks under each end of the 50cm, pluck the elevated section like a bass string, and read the hertz on a free iPhone app (Gates Carbon Drive). Then, adjust the tightness of each belt until they’re all equally tensioned. I think I did mine to about 80hz, and I’m very happy with how it cuts now.
There’s a link below with a lot more info on this. .
Tramming is the one step that is a bit involved - a tramming gauge makes it easy but lots of folks have made their own homemade gauges. Having tried both, I definitely prefer to use a dedicated gauge, but they can also be pricey. Only worth it IMO if you’re noticing angled cuts along the x-axis. Probably won’t matter much at all for etching.
Looking forward to seeing your projects come to life, Smokey!
This is a cool trick. I went through it tonight and determined mine was on average 50hz. I went ahead and went up 15hz and will run the machine for awhile and see what I think. Probably going to do a couple of tests once the weekend rolls around. Thanks for the pointer.
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