Inlay Test For Christmas Presents

[dana_swift]

Harold.. your star looks terrific. That does not mean it proves the problem I am speaking of does not exist.

Imagine what would have happened in the star had you used my hypothetical one inch end mill? The problem would become very clear in both the internal and external points of the star.

What happens is: in the female corners there is an area the end mill cannot reach to clear. The size of area that is not cleared is dependent on the angle of the sides in the case of the star, and the diameter of the end mill used. Same thing in the male pattern.

Now imagine lots of convex and concave detail nearby each other (within a bit-diameter), such as would happen in a photo. Now the uncleared area in the male can overlap the uncleared area in the female half, and now a real interference exists that will likely show in the final piece.

It is not always "automatically" perfect. It is normally very good, and the issue is usually hidden.

The method is wonderful, but there is something to watch out for, and artwork correction can overcome it.

I am particularly grateful for Paul's developing and sharing the method, which works "almost" perfectly.

General solution: use a small end mill and ignore the issue. Slightly better solution.. adjust the artwork for the mill size being used.

D

[harold_weber]

"Imagine what would have happened in the star had you used my hypothetical one inch end mill? The problem would become very clear in both the internal and external points of the star."

Dana - here are three screen captures first the material cut with the 1 inch diameter end mill:

48784.jpg

Next, the portion cut with the 90 degree V bit:

48785.jpg

Finally, a preview of both toolpaths:

48786.jpg

The portion in the female inside corners that is not cleared by the end mill is cleared by the V bit when you use VCarvePro. You just check the "use flat area clearance tool" box after pressing the "create Vcarve toolpath" button. You choose the stepover for the V-bit it can be pretty coarse since no one will see the little ridges left.

OK, I've shown you how its done using a 1 inch end mill, now you show me an example that cannot be done.

[dana_swift]

Harold- As you wish- See the attachment. That is the male side with fillets left from the area clear of the 1" bit.


48793.jpg

If you have a method that does not do that please inform-

D

[tmerrill]

Download, read and follow Paul's .pdf file and you will not heve this happen. That's what we are trying to tell you.

[porscheman]

Dana,

I'll chime in again here and add that I believe Harold and Tim are correct - no changes should be required to the design files to accommodate the bits that you are using for flat area clearance. That's one of the elegant aspects of Paul's approach is that you go right from a given graphic file to mating parts that fit perfectly.

I'm wondering whether you are manually creating the toolpath for the 1" clearance bit separate from the V-carve bit toolpath on the male piece. If so, that might be the problem. Instead, if you select the 1" bit as the "Flat Area Clearance Tool" in the V-carve toolpath setup, the Aspire/VCarvePro software should be intelligent enough to remove the fillets that are left behind by the 1" bit using the V-bit. Just make sure to follow Paul's suggestion in the PDF document and increase your stepover percentage from 3% to 13% so the clearing of those fillets by the V-bit is reasonably fast.

The inlay inlay work that I did had small detailed areas AND big flat areas and in no instance did I have to do any hand work to remove fillets nor make any changes to the design files provided by the client.

Regards.

John

[harold_weber]

Grr - I deleted that file I posted earlier thinking this subject would be closed closed. OK, I re-created it for you. Below is the toolpath for the V-bit cutting the male star. Notice the cleanup in the concave corners?


48804.jpg

If you don't get these cleanup toolpaths and you are using Vcarve pro the only cause that comes to my mind is that you might have set your Vbit stepover to too large a number.