I soooo, want to get to that point. “Baby steps” I have to keep telling myself!
Just the cutting area was the space used for the grid. Didn’t see any use to do the rest.
So agree with that… We NEED to know more 
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Approximately 15 years ago I cut down a large (15" diameter trunk) Bramley apple tree that was growing in my garden. It was full of mistletoe that I was fed up with removing, (luckily I still had two other, equally large Bramleys). I had it planked into 2" boards and it has been sat waiting for me to think of a use for it ever since. Then along came the Shapeoko and my newfound hobby.
The moral of my story is that you can spend as long as you like watching you tube videos etc., but it’s not until you actually start cutting that you learn and I learnt lots making this board.
Quite a few new cuts for me: the finger grips, the chamfer for the engraving and the very small, close together leaves and apples. I am still amazed at how accurate and capable the Shapeoko & Vectric are, the stalks on the apples are a maximum of 1/16" wide, they all cut perfectly.
The only thing that I would change is that instead of using Osage for the apples I would have liked a green wood, similar to the the colour of a bramley. I have some greenheart but mine does not live up to its name!
As the experts on the forum will already know, the stress levels build with each additional cut, I was sure that a cut was going to go wrong and I was going to ruin it. I guess the apple gods were watching over me!
**
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Somewhere within, I can’t fathom putting a knife to that surface. I understand that feeling of relief when its done, handing it over to be purposed and placed in someone else’s control that didn’t stress over every cut.
It would take a while for me to look at it again. Perhaps that’s just me.
Wonderful! +1
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Absolutely wonderful! To think that tree is still giving to you and your patience waiting for the right idea to grow, outstanding!
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A birthday gift for a horse loving friend of the family. It was cut from a 10” square by 1” thick piece of black walnut.
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The project files have been uploaded to CutRocket
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Thank you Jeff,
Very fun to watch it go from rough to finished on the machine! Cool thing about this part is I will carefully be able to finish sanding and polishing it spinning on a drill with a bolt through it.
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LOL, might need to wait for the 2024 model of the HDM Deluxe with 5 axis’ses to start milling props haa…,
If you need any help with fusion let me know! I am about to learn how to mill PVC for the first time, yikes!
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Love this tread. I like to see how other think!
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Then you’re about to find out whether your grounding setup is good…
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Wow, very nice work Max! For finishing the curved/slanted surfaces, what stepover did you use for your ball-nosed endmill? 5-10% of the diameter?
What do you do for finishing aluminum after this, polishing with a Dremel buffer?
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Hi Jonathan,
Thank you, very nice to get compliments from forum members, especially from such a talented machinist!
I used a contour toolpath so no stepover, just stepdown. I used a .001 stepdown with an Amana tool #46286. I could have done it with a .0025 or larger but I wanted to minimize the first layer cut depth to have a smaller drop off from the edges. I used a .01 stock to leave to prepare for the contour, but some lines were still showing from the preceeding flat end mill, so I went over it again with a second contour run with a -.005 stock to leave.
For this I would start with 1000 grit wet sanding paper then step up to 5000 then finish with a buffing wheel using rough cut then fine cut polish. An abrasives vibratory tank is on my purchase list in the near future.
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That looks so cool Jeff, lots of possibilities. Edges look very sharp. Hows the bit holding up? Bottom right corner the grooves look thicker? What was the difference, did you change the toolpath mid carve?
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I love these! Would you mind sharing your process to make them? MDF or PVC? Carved separate and glued together?
Thanks, I certainly try my best to learn and challenge myself with projects.
Yeah, it just looked like with all those small curvatures, it would be a pain to hand sand all of that and wasn’t sure if you used anything mechanized to make it easier.