Originally Posted by cowboy1296
Cutting against the grain is generally a no-no. Try to always cut in the same direction as the grain. 3" per second is too fast for this, especially if you have not done a proper 3D rouging pass over the entire plaque first. You'd be surprised how much cleaner your work will look when you first rough out, then slow down the cutting speed to something like 2,1.
It pays to check your speeds in your mind's eye, imagining what is actually happening at set speeds. Depending on your VR settings, it is likely that across an 18" surface with raised letters, that the tool is almost never reaching its set speed of 3" per second. Instead, the software is trimming off the speed for accel/decel and in fact, causing the tool to make sharp, clunky moves. If there is a volume of material that was not removed by roughing, it is pretty touch on the mechanicals and router to plunge right into material at 3 IPS.
Just for the heck of it try roughing, rastering with the grain and slowing the speed down to 2,1. You may find that it doesn't take much longer than setting it at 3,3 & cuts will be more reliable with less chance of losing steps on a Standard machine. The inherent nature of steppers is that they have more torque at lower speeds than higher speeds and 3 IPS is where the torque on those motors really starts to fall off sharply.
In my experience, 3D takes as long as it takes when the bottom line is quality. I won't put my name on something that looks like I carved it out with a hatchet. If you want high quality & less hand work...slow things down.
-B
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