I've been having issues with my Z position and it turned out to be a loose connection. Having corrected that i did some tests. I have a 6' x 10' PRS aphla, ATC (though have been running it in manual mode and changing bits - long story), 5 ph spindle motor, vac table and use Aspire. Now i did a couple of test cuts with some extra HDU and while the basic cuts came out fine, i'm getting random digs/gouges in the background. I ran the file twice and am getting pretty identical patterns of the marks. I ran this with a 1/2" two edge end mill (the one that came with the starter kit) to rough out, then with a 1/8" amana bit designed for cutting HDU. Yes, a 1/16" bit should have been used because of the small lettering but I don't have one at the moment. The cut depth is 1/2" and I haven't found a 1/16" bit with enough cut depth to do that - though I haven't really searched hard. I make sure to zero the Z axis between bits. i did not use the vacuum on these, just screwed the HDU to the table bed.
I'm guessing that a high build paint might hide these, but I think they really shouldn't be there in the first place. Also, I'm getting a tiny grove around the lettering/image. I did set the tool-paths to do a final pass as well. Would that cause the groves? I mainly make electrical signs (mostly thru-cutting aluminum, acrylic and such) and don't do much of this but have been getting requests from other shops to do just this. I can't send out wholesale work that comes out like this. Hopefully these will all show well in the photos.
I did the original file in corel X6 and exported it as an EPS into Aspire. The preview on the higest resultion comes out clean with no gouges. Suggestions?20220611_092938.jpg20220611_092957.jpg20220611_093018.jpg