I understand that when you cut a lithopane, the roughing cut should have a Z0 that is really 0.08" into the material. I'd like to make sure I understand how to do that on my Shark HD MAKO. The way I understand it, the set up steps in the Control Panel are:
- Set XYZ0
- Detect the touchpad and then remove it
- Click Move to 0, 0, 0 and the cutter should just be touching the top of the material
- Click Set, and the enter 0.08 for the Z value, indicating the cutter is really 0.08" above Z0
- Jog the Z position to something larger than 0.08"
- Load and run the toolpath
Also, when I load and run a toolpath, the first thing that happens is the cutter drops to 0, 0, 0 - which means it just kisses the top of the material, then rises and travels to the point where the toolpath starts. My 0, 0, 0 is usually in the center of the material. If that happens in this case, the cutter will put a divet in the material 0.08" deep right in the center where I may not want one. Is this supposed to happen all the time, or is there a way to have the cutter not move to 0, 0, 0 before it starts cutting the toolpath? Or am I just overthinking this, and it's all OK?
All help is appreciated.
Thanks,
Tim
Lithopanes and Z0 Setting
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Re: Lithopanes and Z0 Setting
Tim,
Check this out on the shark forum. I did the write up on how to do a lithophane.
http://www.cncsharktalk.com/viewtopic.p ... ithophanes
Tony
Check this out on the shark forum. I did the write up on how to do a lithophane.
http://www.cncsharktalk.com/viewtopic.p ... ithophanes
Tony
What will matter is not what you bought but what you built; not what you got, but what you gave
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Re: Lithopanes and Z0 Setting
Thanks Tony, but I do have a couple of questions. In the Vectric tutorials, they say that Z0 for the roughing cut should be 0.08" into the material and for the finish cut 0.1" in. It looks like you do both cuts at Z - 0.03". Is there a reason for that? From what I read, that would leave the Corian too thick for light to come through, but it must work for you. Just a little confused.tonydude919 wrote:Tim,
Check this out on the shark forum. I did the write up on how to do a lithophane.
http://www.cncsharktalk.com/viewtopic.p ... ithophanes
Tony
I don't quite understand why you need to import the vectors from PhotoVCarve into VCarvePro. Can't I generate the toolpaths in PhotoVCarve, and the load and run them from the Control Panel, bypassing the VCarvePro step? Or is that just the method you use to adjust the Z value? Makes sense. I was going from the process I was given by the guy who sold me my machine.
Just trying to understand the differences between your method and what I've read.
Again, thanks for the information.
Tim
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Re: Lithopanes and Z0 Setting
Tim, please don't take this the wrong way, but if you'll follow Tony's step by step, you'll have beautiful, and, perfect Lithophanes. Many of us on the cnc shark forum learned from Tony. Not sure where your guys info came from, but seems a little extreme to me. Try it, you'll be pleasantly surprised. Keith Hodges
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Re: Lithopanes and Z0 Setting
Keith,
Thanks for the write up on me, I appreciate you mentioning me for doing lithophanes its an honor. Thanks again Keith.
Tony
Thanks for the write up on me, I appreciate you mentioning me for doing lithophanes its an honor. Thanks again Keith.
Tony
What will matter is not what you bought but what you built; not what you got, but what you gave
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Re: Lithopanes and Z0 Setting
Thanks guys - I did not take offense to anyone's comments. I am simply trying to learn from all of you who have been doing this longer than I have been, and have some newbie questions that you've all already figured out.Keith Hodges wrote:Tim, please don't take this the wrong way, but if you'll follow Tony's step by step, you'll have beautiful, and, perfect Lithophanes. Many of us on the cnc shark forum learned from Tony. Not sure where your guys info came from, but seems a little extreme to me. Try it, you'll be pleasantly surprised. Keith Hodges
I did - finally - complete two lithos this past weekend, and I will post photos in the gallery as soon as I can get decent pictures. I did not follow Tony's instructions 100%, but I did for the most part. I tried using VCarve as directed, but things started to look a little weird, so that's where I deviated.
I used a 1/8" ball-end for the rough cut, and things worked very well. But I don't ( yet! ) have a 0.04" ball-end for the final cut, so I used my 20-degree V-bit. While it worked, it took a LONG time, and it was probably too small. So I'm going to order the smaller ball-end and either a split-sleeve collar for my 1/4" collet, or a PG 1/8" collet ( and the nut and spanner that are required ) before I try again.
My only complaint about how things worked was that in the final pass, I have a couple of places where the bit cut either just a little higher or a little lower than it should have for several passes, and I can see "streaks" in the finished version. The lithos still look really cool in the light, but I wish I could explain those anomalies. You will be able to see them in the photos when I post.
For my first litho ( 5" x 7.5" ), I used a light brown-ish Corian with white and darker brown speckles in it. Not my first choice, but it was free so I used it to experiment. The speckles interfere with the final product, but not to the point where I'm going to toss the material. For the second litho ( 3.5" x 5" ), I used white Corian, and I didn't like it nearly as much. The picture just doesn't "pop" as much as the first one did.
I stopped by the cabinet shop where I picked up my first free scraps and talked to one of the other guys in the shop, who was just totally blown away. While the first guy was a little hesitant to give me some scraps, the guy I talked with today found several different colored pieces he said they could not use, and invited me to come back for more when I needed it. So I think I have a pretty good source. And I think today's haul will work better than either of the first two attempts.
Again, many thanks for the help in getting started, and I will go back and see if I can better follow Tony's instructions and figure out where I went left-of-center.
Tim
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Re: Lithopanes and Z0 Setting
Tim,
When you get your photograph go into a photo editing program and change the photo to grayscale and then play around with the contrast to make the photo pop. Then take the photo into photo vcarve. I use a .0625 ball nose for the finish cut on lithos for more detail and I usually have my start depth at .02 attached pic
Tony
When you get your photograph go into a photo editing program and change the photo to grayscale and then play around with the contrast to make the photo pop. Then take the photo into photo vcarve. I use a .0625 ball nose for the finish cut on lithos for more detail and I usually have my start depth at .02 attached pic
Tony
What will matter is not what you bought but what you built; not what you got, but what you gave