Vectric Customer

OK, I looked around the Stepcraft D840 on the web site. Looks like the Stepper motors are .5 newton meters or 70 oz-in of torque. I just don't think you have enough power to be plunging those holes the way you are doing. Slow down --- AND --- rethink your hole making strategy. The Stepcraft web sit...

Does each letter become a gadget? Here is a method I used to create inlay fonts. I wanted to see how small the letters could be made and still be cut with a 1/8" router bit. Some letters like M, N, and W would look really bad without sharp inside corners. The solution was to break the inlay into mul...

The height accuracy is not an issue after it is calibrated for your machine. It becomes a constant that gets subtracted during the calibration routine.

Steve

I use a similar probe and it works great with Mach3. There are routines on the web for the algorithm. I modified the routine to print the amount of Z-height change. Back to back Z-height calibrations will typically be less than 0.001" on my machine. If your spindle is grounded, then you don't need t...

Maybe the 1/8" bit has a bit more flex than the 1/4" bit. Would the lines go away if you raised the 1/8" bit a very small amount? My touchplate it handheld. I move it manually to the location where I want to reference. A sheet of paper or a playing card under the base would result in a small offset ...

This is a great forum for finding new ways of doing things. The suggestion about using the CNC to remove most of the material is brilliant. I slap my forehead and ask why didn't I think of that. The radial arm saw is another good idea, especially with a dado head. Much faster than programming a patt...

Did the aluminum strips allow a clean surface with the reciprocating saw? It seems like they would get completely chewed up if the saw blade had any tooth set.

Could you also just attack the waste board with a belt sander? Use coarse grits until it gets close to the final surface.

Steve

potzmannwoodshop wrote:

David Rueth wrote: I have found wood like poplar will bleed no mater what I try.

Use a closed Grain wood like maple, birch, cherry or hickory

The OP didn't seem to mention what wood species he was using. It would seem like anything with that much bleeding might not be a good choice for a cutting board.

Steve

The Shark HD4 listed in the OP's profile appears to be reasonably solid. I have a homebuilt system with a similar layout. My Y axis has 2 36" long parallel rails spaced about 4" apart. Each rail is 1" diameter steel. The problem is that any flex in the rails is magnified because they are so close to...

I use screws in the waste area inside the spokes. This gives at least 3 solid contact points to hold the plywood to the sacrificial board. Cut the teeth first, then cut out the spokes with tabs to hold the gear in place. I use fillets with a 0.6" diameter so I can clean up the tabs using the small s...