Newbie Question: Having Trouble Engraving with 45771-k

CNC Machines Shapeoko
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Hello everyone,

I am only a couple of weeks in, so be gentle. I searched and read almost everything here in the community trying to figure out what my issue is before finally breaking down to ask for help outright.

My issue: when attempting to use the Advanced VCarve feature in CC to create a somewhat intricate design in a piece of maple, I am getting disastrous results. The detail and perfection that I see in the Simulation is not translating to the work. Way too deep, the cuts themselves are way too wide and end up giving me a what looks like a chewed up dog toy instead of the intended result. To me it is obvious that I have a depth of cut issue (given the V geometry of the end mill itself, the deeper it penetrates, the wider the cut will be).

Here are my settings and everything that I can think of that would be relevant. Happy to provide any files, pictures, etc. beyond what is here.

End Mill: Amana #45771-K 30 Degree Engraving 0.005 Tip
Material: .5 inch maple

Settings in Advanced VCarve:
Starting Depth: 0.000
Max Depth: 0.010 (I know it is super shallow; this is a small piece)

I am using my Bit Zero to set my Z height, and have done this successfully with other jobs. Regardless of what Max Depth I am choosing in Advanced VCarve, I am consistently getting a depth of cut of greater than .12 inches (as measured with a caliper). At first I thought maybe I had chipped off the tip of the end mill, resulting in a wider cut…but even if the lines were wider because of that, I would expect them to only be as deep as the Max Depth setting.

I ran the job 3 different times, adjusting the Max Depth setting in Advanced VCarve each time, only to have essentially the same result: anywhere from .12-.13 deep engravings.

What else should I start checking? The greatest thing for me would be that someone points out I am doing something totally wrong…those are the easiest fixes. :slight_smile:

Edit: Looks like I can only post one image at a time. I will start with what the Simulation looks like, and hopefully follow up on a reply with the rest of the images.

.01 Simulation
.01 Simulation513Ă—602 251 KB

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Here is the result after running the job.

Results

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Here are my settings in Advanced VCarve.

AVC Parameters

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And just in case the tool parameters are relevant:

45771-k settings

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Hi @micherbr,

Can you post the G-code file you are running, for a check ?
Also, can you please confirm in detail your procedure for probing for Z with the BitZero?

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Hey @Julien,

No need. Your second question punched me in the gut and I ran into my hobby room and ran through a few engravings. It was my process with Bit Zero.

After obtaining X,Y, and Z with my 1/4 inch end mill, I was not moving Bit Zero to the top of the workpiece. Instead, I was leaving it on the lower left corner and resetting Z with the 45771-K engraving bit. Therefore, I was asking the machine to set Z-Zero way too low.

As soon as I realized my process error and corrected it, everything is working exactly as I expected it to.

Thanks for the simple questions that led to the realization of my rookie mistake!

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Great. My next comment would have been that if you need to do such shallow cuts, you’ll have to be very careful with how flat your top surface is, and ideally surface it before you do the V-carve (because 0.01" is, as you said, super shallow, and even very subtle depth variations in your stock will show in the result)

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:+1: I appreciate your attention to detail.

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