Recommend bits for this project

Had a bash at a fair few things now, but need to pop my 2.5d cherry! I’m not one for learning to walk before I can run so want to go in off the deep end!

All over Etsy are people selling stl models that are apparently compatible with Aspire. They are stupid cheap..... £2. What could go wrong?!

So a couple of questions for a relief carving virgin. Does Aspire know what to do with the model? I mean on normal pockets and profiles you just tell it what tool, depth, federate and spindle speed to do. Is this the same for reliefs?

Also for a design like this, say approx 800x500mm, what bits are appropriate? Ball nose end mills? What sort of sizes? How do you work down the bit sizes with Aspire? I know on regular pockets or v carve you get one clearance tool and a finishing tool to choose from..... this can’t be the case here can it? I’m sure you’d want a 0.5 or 1mm tool for the detail and a 6mm to clear, but this would take an age. Surely you’d want some intermediate sizes to hunk away material.....

Any advice appreciated. Attachment 29735

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Originally Posted by Pilsbury

Had a bash at a fair few things now, but need to pop my 2.5d cherry! I’m not one for learning to walk before I can run so want to go in off the deep end!

All over Etsy are people selling stl models that are apparently compatible with Aspire. They are stupid cheap..... £2. What could go wrong?!

So a couple of questions for a relief carving virgin. Does Aspire know what to do with the model? I mean on normal pockets and profiles you just tell it what tool, depth, federate and spindle speed to do. Is this the same for reliefs?

Also for a design like this, say approx 800x500mm, what bits are appropriate? Ball nose end mills? What sort of sizes? How do you work down the bit sizes with Aspire? I know on regular pockets or v carve you get one clearance tool and a finishing tool to choose from..... this can’t be the case here can it? I’m sure you’d want a 0.5 or 1mm tool for the detail and a 6mm to clear, but this would take an age. Surely you’d want some intermediate sizes to hunk away material.....

Any advice appreciated. Attachment 29735

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I'm still learning myself but I have done a bit of 2.5d. use the rough carve feature to rough out and then you can actually draw a vector around an area....say with finer detail and specify a smaller ball nose or engraving bit. You can specify areas like that all over using different tools. You can also carve any vectors and map it onto the STL model. It's pretty clever stuff [emoji851]

Sent from my M2003J15SC using Tapatalk

Thanks for the tip on being able to hone in on more intricate parts. Will try that out.

I am also new to this stuff and a tip a read on another forum was to try another pass with the same diameter bit perpendicular to the first pass. I have tried it once and it worked well taking some more stuff from edges and places left untouched previously.

Poor New Zealand... Always forgotten :(

for something that size i would use a 12mm endmill for roughing,leaving about 2mm on, and then use a taper ballnose for finishing. i usually use one with a 0.5mm tip radius it gives pretty good detail

A word of caution.You will need both a CNC machine and an extraction system that can run for a full day without overheating.You may also need to run them for several days to get the level of detail in the sample pic.Aspire will give you a fair estimate once you have entered the toolpath details.the advice about tooling in the previous post is a very good starting point and by using Aspire you will have the facility to draw vectors around areas of fine detail where the very small tool can deal with the finer features.This is done by using those vectors to denote machining boundaries.You may then be able to use a larger radius tool for the areas with less variation in surface curvature.As I'm sure you will realise,a gently curved surface machined by a 12mm dia ball end cutter with a 0.7mm stepover will have a better finish than it would if done with a 1mm dia equivalent and a similar stepover.A finishing cut in two directions will dramatically reduce the amount of hand finishing and if there is any amount of had finishing in nooks and crannies,you probably won't enjoy the time consumed by it.Might I suggest you start with a more modest project than the item in the first post?Something abut 250mm square is enough to work out the process and still produce something big enough to hang on the wall-or feed the woodburner if it gets too tedious cleaning up the machining marks.

Great advice there from all. I’m sure my machine can handle the long cut times. As can my dust extraction with a bit of input. (Twin motor, can run each motor for 2 hour stints).

I like the idea of using bigger bits for smoother finish on the open areas.

I did a small piece last night in oak. 150x250mm. Roughing pass and then used a 0.75 radius bit single pass. Really surprised at the results. Will post a photo tomorrow. Total cut time 3 hours. I can see now how bigger pieces can take days. But I feel very much inclined to have a bash. You’re not a proper cnc er if you’ve not done a 24hour+ cut in my book 😉

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Originally Posted by Pilsbury

You’re not a proper cnc er if you’ve not done a 24hour+ cut in my book ��

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So the gloves are coming off are they?! :beaten:

Kit

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Originally Posted by Kitwn

So the gloves are coming off are they?! :beaten:

Kit

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Boundaries are there to be crossed! I now want to go extreme cnc! If anyone has any ridiculous cnc ideas I’m up for trying it

Here is my first engraving. Turned out decent I think. Just a free image off google. Ready to try my bigger cut now with my £2 eBay ball nose bits.
Attachment 29754

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Originally Posted by Pilsbury

Boundaries are there to be crossed! I now want to go extreme cnc! If anyone has any ridiculous cnc ideas I’m up for trying it

Here is my first engraving. Turned out decent I think. Just a free image off google. Ready to try my bigger cut now with my £2 eBay ball nose bits.
Attachment 29754

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Ah but did you buy it in as I don't see any pics of it on the machine ! :joker:

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Originally Posted by Clive S

Ah but did you buy it in as I don't see any pics of it on the machine ! :joker:

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Shame on you Clive, don't impune the lad's integrity. At least not until you know him better.

Kit

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Originally Posted by Clive S

Ah but did you buy it in as I don't see any pics of it on the machine ! :joker:

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Yep, you got me! Always wanted a piece of oak with a woman and some flowers engraved on it. Lucky I found the “woman and flower oak engraving” shop was back open. Can wait to buy some more:yahoo:

Anyhow, if pics of projects on the machine is proof, look what I made today.
Attachment 29756

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Originally Posted by Pilsbury

Yep, you got me! Always wanted a piece of oak with a woman and some flowers engraved on it. Lucky I found the “woman and flower oak engraving” shop was back open. Can wait to buy some more:yahoo:

Anyhow, if pics of projects on the machine is proof, look what I made today.
Attachment 29756

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I did not know that you could make an electric drill on one of Dean's machine :toot:

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Originally Posted by Clive S

I did not know that you could make an electric drill on one of Dean's machine :toot:

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If you have the imagination you can make anything on one of my machines Clive...:hysterical:

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Originally Posted by JAZZCNC

If you have the imagination you can make anything on one of my machines Clive...:hysterical:

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Yes, but look what you can make on one of mine!



Attachment 29760

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Originally Posted by Kitwn

Yes, but look what you can make on one of mine!



Attachment 29760

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Obviously your machine is far more advanced than Dean's :thumsup:

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Originally Posted by Clive S

Obviously your machine is far more advanced than Dean's :thumsup:

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Surprising as it may seem, there are times when I know to keep my mouth well and truly SHUT!

Kit

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Originally Posted by Kitwn

Yes, but look what you can make on one of mine!



Attachment 29760

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It isn't every CAD modeller who would have taken the extra time to model the clothes!

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Originally Posted by routerdriver

It isn't every CAD modeller who would have taken the extra time to model the clothes!

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Very true. But I don't think my lady wife would want to appear quite that risque on a public forum.

She was busy with the housework but kindly agreed to pop off the rubber gloves and hop onto the machine for a quick picture. She appreciates a good laugh as much as the rest of us.

Kit

There could have been.... rubber gloves?

Off for a lie-down.

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Originally Posted by Kitwn

Yes, but look what you can make on one of mine!



Attachment 29760

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Impressive I must concede, but my machines don't break down once a month and give you grief just for breathing...:whistle:

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Originally Posted by JAZZCNC

Impressive I must concede, but my machines don't break down once a month and give you grief just for breathing...:whistle:

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Neither will mine once the new AXBB-E arrives. At least it'd better not!

Kit

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Originally Posted by Doddy

There could have been.... rubber gloves?

Off for a lie-down.

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See my reply to post # 18.

Kit

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Originally Posted by Kitwn

She was busy with the housework but kindly agreed to pop off the rubber gloves and hop onto the machine for a quick picture.

Kit

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So your telling me she was doing the housework and just took off the marigolds.... my misses doesn’t do the housework like that..... in fact I’d be pleased if she just did some housework...

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Originally Posted by Pilsbury

So your telling me she was doing the housework and just took off the marigolds.... my misses doesn’t do the housework like that..... in fact I’d be pleased if she just did some housework...

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Seemed pretty normal to me. I have limited experience of other people's wives, though it sounds like yours doesn't read this forum!

Kit

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Originally Posted by Kitwn

Seemed pretty normal to me. I have limited experience of other people's wives, though it sounds like yours doesn't read this forum!

Kit

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Very funny :yahoo: