Hello all! I bought a Shapeoko XXL a few months back from a friend that runs a metal business. He has a CNC plasma table and just never had the time to get this thing up and running. Since the purchase I have gotten the machine assembled, built a large rolling work bench for the machine, built a custom T track setup and waste board, and installed a dust collection system for it. I have also purchased the Sweepy V2, Bit Zero 2.0, and the MC etcher 120 degree bit.
I have been struggling with exactly what to do with the machine as far as a business idea but I am sure I will land on something that speaks to me at some point. It is really early for than now any way. I do know I want to do some acrylic projects since I just happen to have 500 sheets of 11X14X1/8" acrylic. I have actually already been playing around with it and cut some things to edge light. Those I used an 1/8" ballnose and got a pretty cool look out of it. I tried playing with the 1/16" end mill and could only get balls of plastic on the bit. I am sure with some adjustments I could fix that. Then I tried out the MC Etcher 120 and was I amazed at the detail I could get!
Now to what I don’t understand. I want to do some photos on wood and acrylic. I am talking like pictures of people. I have played with the trace image feature and can’t get the image to come out like I would like it to. I was wondering if there was any tips, tricks, or other software I might need to look at? I am currently running the latest version of Carbide Create. I was looking into the purchase of the Pro version but I am not to the point where I feel I can justify it till I start actually making some money with the machine as it sits. I look forward to learning from all of you folks and someday being able to help in the community.
Thanks in advance!