Anonymous

The finished model Rebecca created looked excellent so this week for our “Vectric Labs” session we decided it would be interesting to go through the process to turn it into a display piece. We took one of the cherry wood boards and decided how it would be setup on the machine. Once we had an idea of orientation and size we worked on laying out the main carving and a modelling a plinth for it to sit on. The work area for the finished parts was approx. 24 x 8 x 1 inches. For the toolpaths we combined the 3D z-level roughing and 2D pocket cuts (for the top of the plinth, slot and base) into one toolpath as they were all cut with the 0.25” end mill. Then we cut the text with a 60 degree v-bit using a v-carve toolpath. The model and plinth border were then machined with 3D finish toolpaths using a 1/8” tapered ball nose and finally we created the profile passes to cut the parts out, adding some tabs to hold the part in place. In the image below you can see the toolpath preview of all the files we calculated.

Everything went pretty much to plan with regard to the setup and cutting but as with most jobs we learned a few things which will help us be more efficient next time. In particular as this had reasonably high vertical sides and we planned to cut it out then the addition of some flat planar 3D shapes to limit the cutting depth for the rough and finish would have helped reduce machining time.

Overall though we were happy with how it turned out and you can see some photos of the cutting and the final unfinished piece assembled, now it’s up to Rebecca to finish the part, we’ll post completed pictures when it’s done.