V Carving Cedar Help

[Martin Reid]

Dear Steven

For my two penn'orth I suggest reducing the pass depth to 3mm or so and increase the RPM to say 19K. Checking chipload calculators would say these (3mm and 19K) are out of range and may burn the cutter. But as you are using this 'Quarter Sawn' (vertical grain cedar board) soft cedar you could give it a go.

Have a look at the end grain of your boards and see if you have any tangential sawn ones and give one of those a try and compare it to the quarter sawn. I'm sure you will see a difference.

Anyway I'll watch with interest to see how ir works out for you.

Sincerely and in good faith
Martin

PS Check the cutter is still in good nick after all this messing about.


Quarter-sawn-vs-plain-diagram-300x300.jpg
image acknowledgement guitartimbers.com

[joe]

Steven,

Good suggestions by all.

Of all the carving techniques using a V bit is a wonderful challenge. It's extremely delicate. I love getting the delicate wire lines it gives.
To do serious work you will need a VCarve program. One that articulates the bit. Without that it's going to have a clunky image.
Looking at your attempts I'm thinking your problem may be the bit. Onsrud is one of my favorites.
Try lowering the bit into the material and toggle it around at different speeds.

Best of Luck

Joe
www.normansignco.com

[EricSchimel]

Joe, can you weigh in on some feeds and speeds and other similar (or different) techniques you use when VCarving? Any particular bits that you run that offer better cutting performance over others?

For good performance in carving like that I'd start out with 2.5 IPS and about 12k RPM.

I would also recommend taking a looking at your ramps. Often time when VCarving the settings on your ramping can cause the machine be a bit "snappy". You can essentially make it a bit more gentle by dialing back some of the ramping speeds. It's not a magic bullet, but it might help. As others have said too, perhaps something with a tighter grain would be a better choice for material.

Check out this article from Brady: http://www.shopbotblog.com/2008/03/a...m-performance/

It's a masterclass in how to tune the ramp rates in your machine.

[joe]

Eric,

Your suggestion for feeds and speeds are about right.
I'm thinking the problem is the bit. Onsrud is my choice. I use VCarve Pro. Perhaps he should visit Vetric, Vcarve Pro and post over there.

Not at all sure this is a thread for me.





Joe

[joe]

In response to the questions about the Waterford Letter Style I believe it comes from the LHF font Desire. Created by Charles Borges de Oliveria. This one has the Glyphs package.
It's been my habit to purchase the best fonts on the market. That, by it's self, can set one's work apart.
www.letterheadfonts.com

[EricSchimel]

Nobody asked about the font... Are you on the wrong thread again? Either way I don't think new fonts are going to solve the problem

Steve did you try looking at ramping or trying some tighter grained material?

[guitarwes]

With Vcarving in solid wood and plywood, I have taken to like the setting 90ipm XYZ at 12k rpm with my machine (see sig line for specs). I mainly us a 3/4" wide Freud vbit. It leaves smooth edges that don't require much cleanup. I'd much rather it take a little extra time on the machine than spend time doing hand work. I have ran things as fast as 180ipm in plywood that turned out ok, especially if you've masked the flat part with vinyl and are going to spray paint the carved areas for a rustic look.

[guitarwes]

All that being said though, I think most of your problem is the soft wide grain quarter sawn material you're using.

[Jerry Carney]

In response to the questions about the Waterford Letter Style I believe it comes from the LHF font Desire. Created by Charles Borges de Oliveria. This one has the Glyphs package.
It's been my habit to purchase the best fonts on the market. That, by it's self, can set one's work apart.
www.letterheadfonts.com

Joe, do you have any problem with LHF vectors ? Their fonts really look great. Jerry

[joe]

Jerry,

Letterhead Fonts are premium and glitch free. Chuck Davis is the founder and reviews every one. He's always available to help with any problem.

It's neat to know all these letters are made by practicing sign artists. For years most of these have only been for sale by LHF. Another advantage is, the memory bank maintains fonts you purchased so if your computer drops the fonts, they are available at no charge.

One precaution about the letter style "Desire". It's huge. It took David eight years to build and for sure professional designers tool.

www.letterheadfonts.com

Joe