I have done a a fair number of family crests similar to the one attached. Typically I will do a roughing cut with a .5" ball nose, then a finishing cut on the entire model with a .25" ball nose followed up with two rest machining cuts. The rest machining cuts are where I have a problem. I use a .125" ball nose, Beckwith coated carbide bit. One cut is for the banner, the second is for the shield and flourish. I always z-zero with a Shopbot provided zero plate and I always use the same location on the material to zero. Frequently the rest machining cut is too deep. I wind up with a shallow trough around the banner and the flourish. This leaves a lot of hand work to blend away the shallow trough.
Any help will be appreciated.
Thanks,
Phil