Cutting Boards with Inlays

[Bob Reda]

very nice

Bob

[gkas]

Maybe.... define "Didn't work"

[adze_cnc]

and I've tried every idea I can think of for getting inlays with that cutter to work

To parallel gkas: Maybe... Define "every"?

I expect I know a way that will work. I've not tried it but it makes sense. Forget that the bit is a tapered ball nose bit. Lie to your software about what type of bit it is. We do that with dovetail bits, keyhole bits, etc. all the time. Why not this one?

Enter that bit into the tool database as follows:

• Tool Type: Engraving
• Diameter (D): 0.25 inches
• Side Angle (A): 6.2 degrees
• Flat Diameter (F): 0.0281 inches
• every other field whatever makes sense for your machine

Where did I get a flat diameter of 0.0281 inches? Trigonometry. I'll leave it as an exercise for the reader to figure out how.

Your preview will show a nice sharp corner where the angled "walls" meets "the floor" but your actual cut will be filleted. After all, we did lie to the software.

I really wish manufacturers were consistent with their naming: Amana calls this a 6.2 deg tapered ball nose bit. And 6.2 degrees is indeed the side angle. But, if this was a v-bit some manufacturers would call it a 12.4 deg v-bit (referring to the included angle).

[aarvidsson]

Well, with the tool set to a v-bit, the inlays don't match the pocket. And having the tool set to a tapered ball-nose, it does weird things to the plug corners like the picture (and won't fit the pocket either due to the beforementioned weird behavior).

[aarvidsson]

Adze,

Hm... I hadn't thought of the flat diameter. I will give that a shot tomorrow and let you know how it went!

[FixitMike]

A ball end bit can't possibly work for a Zank inlay.The radius will carve the bottom of the female half, and the corresponding male corner will be sharp. The radius in the male will be on the other side of the pattern vector.

[Adrian]

Right. I've seen EVERY ONE of his videos, and he keeps using the 6.2 degree Amana 46280-S tapered ball nose.

How do you know he's using that bit? From the look of the close ups he is using a v-bit as there is no rounding anywhere that I can see and the video description lists a whole series of bits.

[aarvidsson]

I don't. But the bit he's using is of a light gold color - just like the 46280-S. And since the 46280 is very sharp, I'm guessing it'd be tricky to see any rounding? The earlier videos showed a silver bit which he stated was the 15 degree v-bit in one of the comments.

[mfirlott]

When I look at other videos he's made he writes on the screen what he's using. In this one he notes 15 degrees at around 1:41 in the video.

[aarvidsson]

Yep, that's the 15 degree one. In this video
at 2:27 he's attaching the tapered ball end mill.

[mfirlott]

So in the end, he's doing standard Zank inlays. Starts off with a small endmill for clearance bit then goes to v-bit for the finished v-inlay technique.

[aarvidsson]

That's my take on it. And the issue is that I haven't managed to figure out how to do a Zank inlay with that bit. I'm just about to try adze_cnc's idea, let you know in a bit!

[mfirlott]

I actually use a 30 degree v-bit (Amana 45771) and get great results. Did you check out my tips I provided in my 2nd reply in this post? You may find something within that's helpful.

[aarvidsson]

I just tried adze_cnc's idea, and it worked like a charm. That was a brilliant solution, and probably obvious to someone who actually *understand* the workings of the toolpath generation. Now I understand way more than when I came in, and thanks to Mitch's amazing writeup I might have gotten the final piece of the puzzle why I've not managed to get the same kind of detail as others on youtube. The point about endgrain might very well be the part I've been missing (and hadn't realized). Instead of realizing how different wood behaves between end grain and face/edge grain, I've been trying to find bits with smaller and smaller angles in order to preserve as much detail as possible. Now, that's probably not a bad thing on its own, but without the insight into wood I doubt I'd ever figured that out.

Thank you all for great answers!

[wb9tpg]

and I've tried every idea I can think of for getting inlays with that cutter to work

To parallel gkas: Maybe... Define "every"?

I expect I know a way that will work. I've not tried it but it makes sense. Forget that the bit is a tapered ball nose bit. Lie to your software about what type of bit it is. We do that with dovetail bits, keyhole bits, etc. all the time. Why not this one?

Enter that bit into the tool database as follows:

• Tool Type: Engraving
• Diameter (D): 0.25 inches
• Side Angle (A): 6.2 degrees
• Flat Diameter (F): 0.0281 inches
• every other field whatever makes sense for your machine

Where did I get a flat diameter of 0.0281 inches? Trigonometry. I'll leave it as an exercise for the reader to figure out how.

Your preview will show a nice sharp corner where the angled "walls" meets "the floor" but your actual cut will be filleted. After all, we did lie to the software.

I really wish manufacturers were consistent with their naming: Amana calls this a 6.2 deg tapered ball nose bit. And 6.2 degrees is indeed the side angle. But, if this was a v-bit some manufacturers would call it a 12.4 deg v-bit (referring to the included angle).

I've spent a few hours to figure out how you calculated the 0.0281 but not managed to duplicate it or come close to it. So I guess I failing the test. Could you please explain it

Thanks, Gary