Vcarve The Last Supper issue

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ezurick

Vcarve The Last Supper issue

Post by ezurick »

Ok perhaps someone can give me some help on this. Remember, I am a old newbie. I pulled in a drawing of the last supper. I figured that a .5" 60 Degree V bit would do the trick since it seems to be my goto v bit for most carvings I am doing. I set the start depth a 0 and didn't add much more on the toolpath. The first pic shows vcarve 3D results. I like it!

Then I setup a piece of pine to carve. Send the toolpath to mach3 and start! The next picture is the actual carving... terrible! Although you can make out SOME of the carving. It is nothing like the program showed. I then tried it with a 30 Degree V bit. Got the same results.

How can I get my carving to look just like the Vcarve 3D picture?
Attachments
60 Deg.jpg
IMG_20190109_145340-02.jpg

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Adrian
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Re: Vcarve The Last Supper issue

Post by Adrian »

Zoom in on the vectors to see how well formed they are. My first guess would be that they vectors are very "messy". Check the z-zero height is spot on as well.

ezurick

Re: Vcarve The Last Supper issue

Post by ezurick »

I guess posting the vcarve file might help. I can't seem to find anything wrong with the vectors and the program would warn me if there were issues I think.

Maybe it is the Z zero. I am using the old fashion way by placing a sheet of paper on the surface and attempting to bring down the Z until it touches or gouges the paper. Perhaps I am gouging too far? Is there a better way?

I did purchase a Z probe and it there as one of my future tasks. I just not sure I have the skills to quickly set it up. So I'd rather hold off on that until I am more comfortable with this machine. Oh, it is a chinese 6040.

Anyway, I am open to suggestions.

[EDIT] I just tried to attach the simple vcarve file and it claims it is too large. What? It's only 5mb and has a simple vector file. I can't get it any smaller than it is... how are others uploading vcarve files which I believe are much larger and more complex? I understand the need to conserve space.. but a 3mb limitation on attachments is rather vain.

ezurick

Re: Vcarve The Last Supper issue

Post by ezurick »

Here is the vcarve file. I had to zip it to make it smaller.
Attachments
tls.zip
(1.61 MiB) Downloaded 205 times

Bob Reda
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Re: Vcarve The Last Supper issue

Post by Bob Reda »

I ran it through the vector selector in aspire and found overlapping vectors and crossing intersection. If would think about it, these vectors aren't that clean. the v bit will follow parallel vectors and the depth will be determined by the width of the vectors. I tried the file both v carve and doing a profile cut on line with a v bit. They both came out like the photo you sent. So the vectors aren't as clean as they seem to be.

Bob

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Adrian
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Re: Vcarve The Last Supper issue

Post by Adrian »

The vectors aren't the best, I'd remove all the little square tracing artefacts for instance. The deepest the file carves with a 60 degree bit is only 1/10" of an inch so if you have the z-zero set even a fraction too low it will mess up the carving as your results show.

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Re: Vcarve The Last Supper issue

Post by SteveNelson46 »

Try setting a flat depth. I used .03 and looks to me like it will carve better.
Steve

ezurick

Re: Vcarve The Last Supper issue

Post by ezurick »

Bob Reda wrote:I ran it through the vector selector in aspire and found overlapping vectors and crossing intersection. If would think about it, these vectors aren't that clean. the v bit will follow parallel vectors and the depth will be determined by the width of the vectors. I tried the file both v carve and doing a profile cut on line with a v bit. They both came out like the photo you sent. So the vectors aren't as clean as they seem to be.

Bob
I don't have aspire. I only have vcarve desktop. I've uploaded two files. First was the vcarve 3D of what the program shows what should be if vcarved with a 60 Degree V bit. And it looks great! The second picture is my actual 60 Deg V bit carving which is NOT the same and looks bad. I've also tried with a flat depth .03 and got the same result on the actual cut, but with a 30 Degree V bit.

I can understand that alot depends on how you zero the Z for the depth, but if you closely compare the vcarve 3D to the actual carve, it just seems it is carving more than what is necessary. You can't zoom in too good on the vcarve 3D picture I uploaded. But you can if you load the file into vcarve and zoom in on the 3D. Example, look at the items on the table... they are so clear and so detailed; whereas the actual cut is a chopped up mess.

Understand that I am new to a lot of this and I am trying to learn, but I would be concerned that if I set up something like this for a customer and send them the 3D carve... I am sure the customer would be disappointed with the actual carve. Everyone keeps saying the vectors are not clean. Then WHY isn't the program detecting that and showing that in the 3D toolpath screen?

I am trying to get the actual carve to look like what the vcarve 3D is showing it should be.

ezurick

Re: Vcarve The Last Supper issue

Post by ezurick »

Adrian wrote:The vectors aren't the best, I'd remove all the little square tracing artefacts for instance. The deepest the file carves with a 60 degree bit is only 1/10" of an inch so if you have the z-zero set even a fraction too low it will mess up the carving as your results show.
Can you explain how to remove the little square artifacts? I run the vector validator and see a bunch of little squares. 31 overlap and 46 intersection... I zoom in on any one of them and I can not see what it the problem (or how to fix it). See my attachment. I zoomed in on one of the boxes that claim it is an intersection. For the life of me, I don't know what that means because I don't see anything crossing each other. Perhaps if you can explain how this is an intersection and how to fix it, it would be a big help.
Attachments
Capture.JPG

ezurick

Re: Vcarve The Last Supper issue

Post by ezurick »

Adrian wrote:The vectors aren't the best, I'd remove all the little square tracing artefacts for instance. The deepest the file carves with a 60 degree bit is only 1/10" of an inch so if you have the z-zero set even a fraction too low it will mess up the carving as your results show.

OH! you mean the little vector boxes in the file... Sorry, I miss understood you... I'll try that but I have to point back that why isn't the program showing those issues in the 3D view?

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Re: Vcarve The Last Supper issue

Post by Adrian »

The file would carve the same as the preview if your z-zero was 100% perfect but it will carve a lot faster without all the artefacts that aren't really adding any detail. If you turn off the global fill colour you can see the carving better and then you can imagine the effect having the z-zero too low would have on it. The simulation always assumes a bit that is the exact angle (they often aren't) and a z-zero that is 100% accurate.

ezurick

Re: Vcarve The Last Supper issue

Post by ezurick »

Just a quick update... as you know I am in early learning stages for a lot of this...

So I cleaned up the vectors and deleted all of those little boxes and vectors too small for the tool...
and also done a set .03" depth on my first trial run. It looked good but it was a bit vague on white pine.
So I done a second pass and set it at .05". It looked really good. Thanks for all the help and advice.

The next one I thought, I might as well save time, since the carving takes over an hour, to just set the depth all the to .05" for just one carve.
It was terrible. Chewy Chopped up mess. So a new lesson learned for this situation... * must make a final 02" pass even though it takes longer.

Thanks again...

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