SO I’ll just throw both of my whines here.
Every plan I have for this machine revolves around being able to letter smaller than 1/2 inch. But the limitations of the font are killing me. SO I’m about to drop 700 freaking bucks on Vcarve Pro to be able to do that. I know I know, you can cheese around and " trick it into printing small" but thats too time consuming.
AND My router is dying, sound really bad when she winds up. And it doesnt have many hours on it.
What brand router is a good substitute, a quality unit that doesnt fail in 20 hours.
The C3D router is a Chinese clone of the Makita 701xx. The bearings and/or brushes go out on a regular basis on both routers. You can rebuild the routers but requires pulling it apart and replacing the bearings IF your router shaft is not eat up by the bad bearings. Replacement would be simpler and considering time more cost effective. Many big box retailers and Amazon sell the Makita for around $99.00-$149.00 depending on where you buy it. Harbor Freight sells a Hercules and Bauer models which look like Makita clones but check their diameter. You need a 66MM to replace the C3D router. You could just go back to C3D and buy one of their routers again for $80.00 and the C3D router with ER11 Collet is $60.00 (on sale).
The spindles are very nice but also quite expensive. Depending on what you are using your Shapeoko for it is likely overkill.
I think any router you buy today is a crap shoot. My Dewalt has run for 6 years with one brush change. You might get lucky and get a router that will last and last and you might get what you already got. As Clint Eastwood said “Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?”
Thanks for all the replys. I got the Makita 1.25 horse router for 150. 3 years warr its quiet as hell too.
Here is a shot of the what now is just a scrap piece see the logo how it tore out? Thats with the IDC 1/16th. Ive tried 10000, 20000 etc and slow and fast nothing changes. On larger stuff like the border and the gauge cutouts it’s with a 1/8 0 flute upcut and its sharp. I moved things around as not to use a good sheet, but the top left is remnants of trying to do .3 font.
I used Vectric Desktop for years and recently upgraded to Pro.
You can use a desktop, create your project, and export the SVG into CC.
A few things I prefer Vectric for.
Text in a Box. You can create a box vector and create Text in a box. Vectric will automatically space all the text out for you.
Node Editing. Vectric has a more robust tool kit for node editing.
Curve Fit- Ever have a highly complex shape with tons of Nodes? With Curve Fit, you can set some parameters, and the software will adjust the vector. I have found that using this function reduces the size of the file and the toolpath times. The more complicated the design, the more time this feature saves.
Moulding Toolpath: This feature is pretty impressive. Too hard to describe here, but look it up. Really cool.
ToolPath Colors: I can run a preview of all my toolpaths. I can later select unique colors for individual toolpaths or set them all to one color.
This is very helpful for marketing.
The issues with the logo carve will not be resolved by different software. I would drop down to 1/32 in. zero flute if a 1/16 in. zero flute did not give a good result. I don’t see any zero flutes less than 1/8 on IDCs website so you may have to switch sources. In plastic, I have stopped using all except zero flute bits.
Thanks for all the help I ordered some 1/32 bits see how that works On acrylic it wasn’t so bad But smaller bits should help Now to solve the single line font issue
One of the first things I had to deal with was the single line font availability. When I first started using the Shaper Origin I was frustrated with the same issue. It was my misunderstanding of tool paths and how certain fonts were actually generated. This came into play more when I started using the S5 Pro. There are several ways to deal with this and there is a ton of advice and examples on this forum for the cure.
Bottom line, not all fonts can be used in all situations and look like it was printed or cut on a laser. The smaller you want the font, the smaller the bit diameter needs to be and the DOC has to be part of the equation if the font is to look scaled correctly.
Winston however has certainly proved the detail and accuracy the S5 Pro can achieve with the correct tooling and font combination.
That’s a nice console panel, an outside bevel cut to reveal a 1/16” to 1/8” reveal would make it pop!
Thanks for the reply, This has been a really fun learning curve. When I got this, it was to merge with my woodworking hobby and as a side to do some .032 aluminum. Tool foam embedding was also a dream.
THEN, I discovered Color Core.
All the sudden possibilities for placards, signs, and projects came to mind. I researched online and some if the things people do with a hobby level CNC are amazing.
So I pulled the trigger, and started learning.
The two biggest disappointments have been the font issue, and the lack of a realistic digitizer to duplicate parts.
Best answer for Fonts? Single Line Font’s. Big Learning curve.
Best Answer for digitizer? Learn SVG Editing Big Learning Curve I have actually considered buying the cheapest CNC that comes with a native digitizer probe and software, because that seems like the best method.
Carbide create is a great beginning program but it seems to have significant shortcomings. Other programs seem extremely complicated in comparison. By this I mean no support for single line text, and the easily programmed offsets.
As far as the panel, it was ruined because of the crap font cutting so it’s a mockup to verify the holes. I will take your advise with the reveal. Thanks !
