Separate Last Pass for reducing tool marks
Posted: Sat Apr 06, 2019 10:03 pm
Hi Folks,
I've lately been making some small oval boxes (4" x 7") that are anywhere from 1.5" to 1.8" thick. Some of these boxes have been cut from a single piece of Douglas fir and others have been cut from homemade laminates containing Doug fir, yellowheart, walnut, purpleheart and others.
Using a 1/2" end mill with 2" of cutting depth, it is easy enough to make these boxes with a pocket cut, followed by a profile cut (using tabs). However, perhaps not too surprisingly, both the pocket cuts and especially the profile cuts are leaving vertical tool marks that need plenty of sanding to remove.
I found a brief discussion of the "Do a Separate Last Pass" function in a Vectric tutorial about Profile Toolpaths. In the tutorial it was just briefly mentioned that the Separate Last Pass function may help to reduce unwanted tool marks and the suggested Last Pass value was just 0.01" (without further explanation, or any kind of demo of an outcome).
So, I tried using this function in a profile cut and used a Last Pass value of 0.02"--I figured doubling the suggested value might be reasonable given the rather large tool marks I was seeing on my boxes. Well, that didn't seem to make any difference at all! I'm afraid I wasn't paying close enough attention at the crucial time but...I'm not even sure there was a "separate last pass" in the actual profile cut. At least, the result didn't look any different than previous examples and, so, back to one of my least favorite woodworking activities.....more sanding.
I am wondering (1) if experienced users here at the forum might be able to help me out with their experiences using the "Do a Separate Last Pass" function within the Profile Toolpath menu; i.e., what values do you use and how effective are they? (2) I was also wondering if there is any help for reducing tool marks in the deep pocket cuts I've been making. There doesn't seem to be a corresponding "Separate Last Pass" option for pocket cuts.
Thanks in advance!
I've lately been making some small oval boxes (4" x 7") that are anywhere from 1.5" to 1.8" thick. Some of these boxes have been cut from a single piece of Douglas fir and others have been cut from homemade laminates containing Doug fir, yellowheart, walnut, purpleheart and others.
Using a 1/2" end mill with 2" of cutting depth, it is easy enough to make these boxes with a pocket cut, followed by a profile cut (using tabs). However, perhaps not too surprisingly, both the pocket cuts and especially the profile cuts are leaving vertical tool marks that need plenty of sanding to remove.
I found a brief discussion of the "Do a Separate Last Pass" function in a Vectric tutorial about Profile Toolpaths. In the tutorial it was just briefly mentioned that the Separate Last Pass function may help to reduce unwanted tool marks and the suggested Last Pass value was just 0.01" (without further explanation, or any kind of demo of an outcome).
So, I tried using this function in a profile cut and used a Last Pass value of 0.02"--I figured doubling the suggested value might be reasonable given the rather large tool marks I was seeing on my boxes. Well, that didn't seem to make any difference at all! I'm afraid I wasn't paying close enough attention at the crucial time but...I'm not even sure there was a "separate last pass" in the actual profile cut. At least, the result didn't look any different than previous examples and, so, back to one of my least favorite woodworking activities.....more sanding.
I am wondering (1) if experienced users here at the forum might be able to help me out with their experiences using the "Do a Separate Last Pass" function within the Profile Toolpath menu; i.e., what values do you use and how effective are they? (2) I was also wondering if there is any help for reducing tool marks in the deep pocket cuts I've been making. There doesn't seem to be a corresponding "Separate Last Pass" option for pocket cuts.
Thanks in advance!