Engraving help

[Truck trudeau]

I understand The difference between the toolpaths I only mention the quic engrave because the machine finishes with a nice clean profile of each letter before moving on while the v carve tool part makes clear outward movements at each corner to form those dots… I understand completely what you’re saying about a v bit and I appreciate the help. I have the bit set correctly the angle is correct and the flat is correct. So what would you try next to not have those lines on the preview or on the engraving?

[Truck trudeau]

So what would you guys try to prevent these lines attached? What do you suggest I change?

[Truck trudeau]

Or what other tool path would you suggest? Or should I be looking for other software? I do understand the difference between vcarve and toolpath and Quick in grave toolpath thank you for explaining! I just don’t understand how I am going to get the nice edges I get with Quick engrave in a different tool path….

[adze_cnc]

Zoom right in on the last image posted and look at the top bar of the Quick Engraved E. It's not as perfect as it could be. Look at some of the horizontal strokes on the V-Carved E. Some of them are really straight and acceptable.

VCarve is quite capable of doing what you want. Here's a text project that I did for a student. The lettering is deeper than yours but it would come out the same even if it was shallower. The board is 6 x 4 feet. This was also done with an engraving bit, albeit with a 0.005" flat, to get steeper sides.
 

 
And here's a detail. Any inconsistencies of edges and corners is due to there being 10 layers of hand-rolled black acrylic paint on top of 2 layers of black gesso. He was serious about making it black. Two coats of spray-bomb just weren't going to cut it.
 

 
You could try some other software but realistically it's going produce the same results. As has been said before solve your vibration problem first. Then you can see how much that is contributing to the corners.

[adze_cnc]

Or what other tool path would you suggest?

One of the earlier files was only cutting 0.005” deep. How about a Pocket Toolpath? I expect the straight edges will still be wobbly.

[Adrian]

Truck trudeau, you need to slow down and read the replies. A couple of pages back you said you had a file where the preview showed the same incorrect results as the cut but you never posted it as requested.

Multiple people have explained to you why the "dots" are on the corners of the letters since the early days of this thread but you keep asking what they are and why there are. You can't "get rid of the little lines", they are part of the toolpath and without them the toolpath wouldn't cut correctly.

The fact that quick engrave produces lines that are thicker than you expect still leads me to the conclusion that your z-zero is not correct or the material is moving. Due to the way the v-carve toolpath works either of those issues will lead to the dots in the corner rather than sharp corners. Also given the other issues the machine has I wouldn't trust the accuracy of anything on it until that is sorted.

The bottom line is that people use the v-carve toolpath all the time to do work like this without any issues. Switching software is not going to change anything.

[martin54]

Have you checked the spindle or router that you are using for run out or play in the bearings? That would also cause extra vibration & give the sort of problems you are seeing in the machined results, I haven't seen a reply since mentioning that.

You have a problem that is not related to the software so changing software wouldn't sort the issues you are having, using a different toolpath may give a slightly better result but it's not fixing the problem. You have a problem with either the machine, the control software set up or your set up including material hold down or possibly a problem with a combination of those, its a process of experimenting & elimination to figure out what the problems are

[Truck trudeau]

Respectfully…. I am reading what everyone else is saying and trying my best to fix this problem….

Those lines on the toolpath cause the router to jet out at the corners of every single letter and cause that dot…. You can see the router move out at the corner of each character of text it’s clear that is what’s happening….

Does anyone know how to prevent that from happening? I can’t use a v bit…. I would be happy to reward someone with a payment or something if they could just see my problem and help me fix it….

I only mention the quick engrave because it does not do that…. I’m not the best at communicating what I’m trying to say but I really hope I’m making myself clear. The software is causing the router to make those dots that’s what happening….

I have the bit set up correctly, the machine is flat level and square, yes there are some vibrations. There is clearly something going on causing the software to make those dots at the end of every single character of text…. No?????

[sharkcutup]

Or what other tool path would you suggest?

One of the earlier files was only cutting 0.005” deep. How about a Pocket Toolpath? I expect the straight edges will still be wobbly.

Now that is worth a try!!! But of course you are trying to engrave plastic and with the pocket toolpath there will be a lot of contact with the material which could cause considerable material movement which is probably what you are trying to avoid.

I have a suggestion --- Bring your work up from the table closer to the Spindle/Router where the bit does not have to reach for the carving. I have a SHARK (they are notorious for flex/vibration!!! I have found that bringing the project item closer to the pivotal axis (I call it) the flexing/vibration is minimized considerably. I have done this many times and it does help. I also use ramping instead of plunging especially when carving holes.

When following this thread I have looked at your images posted here the corners looked to be rounded/dots I was tempted to ask if you may be using a small endmill with the V-carve toolpath but I know as well as the other posters here too that the software will not allow you to select an endmill with the V-CARVE Toolpath BUT and I mean BUT that does not stop anyone from putting an endmill into their machine and using that toolpath to carve their project (this is somewhat known as cheating the software). And of course there are those who have mistakenly used the wrong bit with certain toolpaths too!!! Just saying - Hello!!!

Also I am agreeing with all the other posters here on this thread --- The lines/vectors at corners in the V-CARVE TOOLPATH are designed/meant to be there to sharpen the corners of the material being carved hence the Toolpath name V-CARVE.

You could contact Support@vectric.com and put in a request for an option on the V-Carve Toolpath to not have corner sharpening!!!

Just my Thoughts/opinion!!!

Sharkcutup

[Adrian]

Respectfully…. I am reading what everyone else is saying and trying my best to fix this problem….

Those lines on the toolpath cause the router to jet out at the corners of every single letter and cause that dot…. You can see the router move out at the corner of each character of text it’s clear that is what’s happening….

Does anyone know how to prevent that from happening? I can’t use a v bit…. I would be happy to reward someone with a payment or something if they could just see my problem and help me fix it….

That is exactly what I'm talking about. It's been explained multiple time what those lines are. They are part of the v-carve toolpath. You can't remove them or it wouldn't be a v-carve toolpath anymore. Those lines are the tool lifting on the corners to give the sharp, chiselled look that is the hallmark of the v-carve toolpath.

If you don't want that effect then why use a v-carve toolpath? Use the quick engrave or pocket toolpath instead.

It's not a problem. The toolpath is working exactly the way it is supposed to but what it does isn't what you want. The fact that it's producing dots rather than nice corners is an issue with your setup on the machine or the machine itself and nothing to do with it being a v-carve toolpath. If the preview is correct (which it is on the files you've attached so far) then it's not the VCarve program at fault.

[Truck trudeau]

Thanks for the reply! I have tried the pocket but I end up with 6 different toolpaths for 1 simple text engraving… it just doesn’t seem like what I want to do for high-volume engraving…. FYI if I use an end mill With vcarve I get the exact same results. I’m very frustrated with this…. I have reached out to vectric we’ll see what they say…. From everything I’m hearing and what I’ve tried it’s not possible to engrave with a standard FLX engraving bit unless there is something simple I am missing….

Thank you for your tip about lifting up the worksurface and that will probably help with the vibrations more than anything. I’m very tempted to take the shark put it in a big box and ship it back

[Truck trudeau]

Adrian, I understand what you’re saying and I’ve said that multiple times. So if not V carve then which toolpath??? I’m starting to think that it is not possible with this software…. A v bit would require hundreds of passes to do the stuff I’m trying to do because it’s not very deep….

Quick engrave is the closest although as clearly explained by multiple people on here it will make a wider engraving based on the logic behind it.

So if the logic for a vcarve clearly does not work because of those lines creating those dots, and if the logic of Quick ebgrave makes everything too thick… Can I accomplish what I’m trying to accomplish with the software? Starting to think that’s a firm no

[Adrian]

You're still looking at it from the wrong angle. There are multiple people doing exactly what you want (myself included) with zero issues using the same style of bit and material. It's not the software that is the problem.

Look at the previews. A v-carve toolpath using the bit you have produces a lovely final cut as I posted earlier in the thread.

You don't seem to be understanding that the dots shouldn't be there in the final cut. That isn't the software, it's your setup on the machine or the machine itself. If the preview doesn't match the actual cut result then 99.99% of the time it's not the software.

The pocket toolpath should work fine as well. If you're getting multiple toolpaths then you have setup up multiple tools in the Tools list part of the Pocket toolpath. Remove all the tools apart from one and you will get one toolpath.

[Truck trudeau]

Thank you about the tip for the pocket making multiples that makes sense!

Brother I promise you that at the edge of each character the router protrudes outwardly without lifting up to sharpen the edge…. It protrudes to make those dots. There is no attempt for the spindle to lift out and sharpen….

With the quick engrave tool path those little lines are not there and the router does not attempt to make those little dots…. You can see it clear as day

I’ll try the pocket when I get home maybe that’s the solution I’m looking for!!

Thanks again everyone for your help I hope that I can help others once I’ve got this thing figured out

[dealguy11]

I'm one of the many who have v-carved Rowmark plastic with engraving bits and v-carve toolpaths. It can be done with very little drama, if your machine is set up properly. You have a machine or setup issue, not a software issue, without any question. The wavy lines in your photos prove it. You should be getting nice, ruler-straight lines on the sides of the letters. I know it's frustrating, but you have to solve that problem, and then the software will do exactly what you want. Unless you solve that problem, no software will do what you want.