>Wal, what machine have you used for your work above?

This was done on my self built 3 axis mini mill - there's a bit more info on that here.

The fixed gantry design means you end up with a fairly big machine footprint for a relatively small work area, but you do get a bit of added rigidity on the Z. If I was making this again I'd change a couple of things which would drastically improve the design - 1. hi-win rails, 2. an assured way of mounting rails and bearings so that they're perpendicular on the opposing faces of the intermediate plate which carries the machine table, and 3. swapping bearings/rails on the machine table so that they resemble the way that the Z axis is configured (ie. machine table underside has the rails bolted to it and the bearing blocks are mounted to the intermediate plate..) Drop me a line if you'd like more detail - if you're near Stockport you're welcome to stop by for a look at my set up.

>what sort of cutter did you use for that?

Standard four flute carbide, 90 degree chamfer mill. The cheap engraving tools aren't sharp enough for this level of detail. I also tried the super sharp engraving tools that you can pick up for around £8 a go - a waste of time - the tips break off within seconds of starting the job..!

EDIT - in addition I also used a 0.6mm square end mill to clear the larger areas of the design.

Wal.