[voltsandbolts]

More tweaking, increased the table base to 1.5" thick, added T-slot tracks, and 3/4" thick strips between T-slots, I'll skim cut this to level the table later.

[voltsandbolts]

Started work on dust collection, making parts for the shoe.

[voltsandbolts]

Had a little shop time, painted the main from of the shoe, and cut the rear filler/vac attachment plate. Now need yo come up with an adjustable mount.

[louieatienza]

Looking good.....

[voltsandbolts]

Thanks Louie. It's been a long time getting to this point. The dust shoe is almost complete and then I guess I'll have to make something...

Or start another machine ;-)

[voltsandbolts]

First engraving test




In this first test I am using a 60* V bit .125 Dia. The code was to cut .015 deep in .003 steps down. I started the cut about .007 above the surface to watch the path. The actual engraving is only about .008 deep.

[voltsandbolts]

Engraving test 2




On this run I changed the code to make 2 passes, first .008 deep second finished it at .015 deep. At this depth I lost a lot of detail.

Lesson Learned: When prototyping in MDF I can run a single pass at .005 to .007 this saves time and detail.

[voltsandbolts]

I would like to try this on a thin plywood, I have concerns with tear out. Would it help if i give it a coat of poly or spray on acrylic first? or between passes to keep the small pieces from popping out?

[voltsandbolts]

The answer is NO! the tiny parts still pop out. :-(

[voltsandbolts]

Still working on acquiring some knowledge and skill in the use of engraving bits. I find I learn more when I have an actual task to perform. So I decided to make some custom engraved cutting boards for friends I have on the lake. I got the bathometric data from my states website, (Tax dollars at work). It was available free as a PDF, I imported it into inkscape and converted it to DXF. Opened the DXF in my 2D CAD program and did a bit of editing/scaling. Converted the DXF to gcode in Cut2D and output to Mach3.

[voltsandbolts]

More....

[voltsandbolts]

And the final results....