Newb here...want to create American Flag Stars template

Software Carbide Create
6

I’d suggest doing some trial pieces (with only the two different sized stars) with each of the different angle v-bits to see what results you get.

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Okay, this ought to be pretty straight-forward, but we have a bit of a glitch in the file itself — start by opening it in Inkscape and doing

View | Display Mode | Outline

which will result in something like:

If need be examine the original at: http://www.shapeoko.com/wiki/images/7/7a/Inkscape_stackedpaths.png

Note that the top left star is darker than the others — it’s a duplicate and should be removed, since stacked geometry can confuse Carbide Create.

Opening that though, results in a single star in Carbide Create, so obviously another step is necessary.

Selecting the graphics in Inkscape reveals that there are 50 objects, of types “Star, Clone” — doing:

Path | Object to Path

converts the star which was importing fine into a path, but leaves the other 49 as clones of it. Not seeing any easy or obvious way to change that, and it still only imports one star… Saving it as a PDF and re-opening that in Inkscape results in a group which when ungrouped is 50 paths. Importing that SVG results in:

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8

Once one has the file in place, one has to work up the math to do the inlay pieces.

Belike one will also want to add an inset path so as to make cutting out the pocket for the inlay more efficient (and less damaging to the spoilboard since Carbide Create won’t depth-limit when cutting such).

For all of that one will need some dimensions:

  • thickness of the stock
  • thickness of the inlay material (if different
  • angle of the V-bit (use taper angle when entering into Carbide Create’s tool library)

There should be some information on applying all the above (along w/ some basic trigonometry) in:

Let us know if you get stuck and we’ll work out the tricky stuff with you.

Alternately, it should be possible to just cut things out using a

Toolpath | Contour | No Offset path

for the inlay pockets, then cut out the stars using an Outside / Right Offset path which uses for the diameter the effective diameter of the V-bit at the desired thickness of cut (there’s that trigonometry I mentioned). I would suggest using a more efficient layout for the inlay stars though.

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9

Here is a 3D version I created if you want to go that route.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B9LHILHPghjvY2hpWmU0RUZtNFU
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B9LHILHPghjvR0FUcmhLYXZnMEE

IMG_1491.JPG842×488 49.3 KB

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10

That flag is cool, what are the dimensions? What bit you use for that setup?

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Thanks Will, still working through all this information you provided.

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1/4" downcut for roughing and either a v bit for stars or a 1/16" ball. Its up to you to input tooling on the cam side. I think the dimensions are 15x24, but that can easily be changed to fit your machine.

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To answer your question on what degree bit though you would want to use a 60 degree for finer points.

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wannabe_maker that is a pretty cool design you made that I will have to download once I’m home and check out. Good job!

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Update…
Will helped me on another post about Hello World not working and i have yet to tram the device but i did add mdf and some hold downs as well as ran my first real job, the Husker logo. This seemed to work ok but in the middle top it dug deeper than the rest. (I couldn’t get the R to work right in Carbide Create in the imported logo, so i just let it go to save time.)
The Star design i trashed and am starting over (Inkscape is smarter than me) but i did do a quick job of 6 stars on some old plywood and as you can see the top dug deep, even moving to another star (center position start) and then finish bottom left where it barely scratched the surface. Of course the plywood could be a bit warped too. I used the 101 ball bit for the stars as it seems to work ok, i can also try later with the 60deg V bit. I will not be cutting all the way through the wood, just scratch the surface a bit to bring under layer of wood out.

So for this post the stars do work i just have to get a better design.

I suppose i need to go ahead and tram the MDF boards to get a “level” or “true” surface?

Thank you everyone!

ShapeokoXXL_mdf.jpg4032×3024 2.84 MB
stars2.jpg4032×3024 2.67 MB
husker_job.jpg2580×1935 2.56 MB
stars1.jpg1808×2419 1.3 MB

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16

You may also not have adequate Z-axis belt tension — looks as if the bit may be being pulled into the cut.

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Hello, I am looking to make a American Flag for our house. I moved to another country and miss seeing the red white and blue. I was going to order the template with the stars 1.1 scale size. So basically the medium flag. The problem is I do not have any programs on my computer to make the template and if I order the template its I have to pay for the template, shipping and plus customs fees. Would anyone know where I could just down load the template with the 1.1 scale stars? Any advice I would be grateful. Thank you.

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Here’s an SVG of the flag:

and a fixed copy ready to prepare for cutting at:

Let us know if you need something else.

1 Like
19

How do I just get a print out of the stars?

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I need to make a star stencil of stars 1.1 size

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I used the below tutorial to create a paper draft then trace onto your stencil plastic and cut with exacto knife and there is your stencil for the union.

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I have an SVG of just the 50 stars. I will upload it tomorrow.

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File for this at: Creating designs from elements and thereafter.

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Awesome design!! Are these files still available? I tried the link with no luck, just an error code.

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Good morning Jerry,

I am new using Carbide create. I just got my machine and I would love to create 50 starts union. the union size is 14.25 by 10.25, 0.75 thick board. I have started and created a file, but for the life of me is not carving the starts. I would love your assistance in creating a file.

Thanks in advance.