Poor quality carving

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ezurick

Re: Poor quality carving

Post by ezurick »

SummerSkye wrote:Yes, the last picture is the preview from VCarve. I have a homemade T Carr router cnc with mach3 post processor.
I do know that a smaller bit gives finer detail, but little if anything changed when I went from an 1/8" to a 1/16" ball nose. I also expected to get something similar to the VCarve simulation.
I am going to look at the CV today. Although my reading makes it sound complicated it looks like there are only a radio button and a few settings to adjust this, is that true? Also any suggestions on the settings and is it something you generally turn on and off depending on the work you are doing. I originally got mach3 setup and kind of left it and focused on learning VCarve, not guess I need to shift that focus back to learning mach3.

tks
David
I agree with Ted... don't change a bunch of things all at once. That said, I am totally unfamiliar with that machine setup. I had to google T Carr and found he was a crackpot inventor who was a con artist with flying saucers... *shrug* lol. Anyway, I have a Chinese 6040 CNCEST machine from China. Of course I purchased the mach3 software since the one the seller provided was hacked. But my point is that it was incredibly important that I adjust ALL the proper settings in both my controller and the mach3 settings for MY particular machine. This is crucial! I've had a few others claiming they have the ultimate setup for the Chinese 6040 CNCEST machine. I tried one and my machine was so out of whack, it was use less. I referred back to the Chinese setup of mach3 and presto! Back to normal. I am saying this because if your mach3 settings are out of whack, you will run into problems.

When I first got my machine, I didn't understand the grounding issues I was having. In fact, as time went on and before I put proper grounding wires on both the carrier/spindle and the controller, those bursts of surges were throwing my XYZ off in mach3. In fact, it threw off a few settings in my controller which I have to reset those like when I first purchased it.

Hopefully some of this will help.

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Xxray
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Re: Poor quality carving

Post by Xxray »

Look on the bright side - If you are ever looking to carve an abstract blob, now you know just how to do it ! Actually, it looks better than some of the "modern art" I see all over the place. Hope the smaller bit cures your problem, either way you need some small tipped ballnose bits in your tool kit.
Doug

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mtylerfl
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Re: Poor quality carving

Post by mtylerfl »

Captain Obvious here - when you switched to the smaller Ballnose Bit, did you re-calculate the Toolpath?
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ezurick

Re: Poor quality carving

Post by ezurick »

mtylerfl wrote:Captain Obvious here - when you switched to the smaller Ballnose Bit, did you re-calculate the Toolpath?

In my version of the desktop, you can't save a change in the toolpath without re-calculating Michael. I am curious why he states that he doesn't see any difference in 1/8 and 1/16" tools on that particular carving. Anyway, I still think if the preview is showing a decent carve, then the issue is either in the mach3 settings or the controller, or maybe the machine itself.

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mtylerfl
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Re: Poor quality carving

Post by mtylerfl »

Ahhh. I see I wasn’t very clear on that.

I was envisioning that the job had been set up to use the 1/8” Ballnose. But, at the machine, he installed the 1/16” Ballnose instead (thinking the detail would be improved just by swapping bits alone).

If the Toolpath hadn’t been re-calculated for the smaller bit prior to the Bit swap at the machine, then the result wouldn’t match the preview.
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drewactual
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Re: Poor quality carving

Post by drewactual »

i'd be interested in seeing his tool database for those bits. he may simply be overlapping like 50+% or something, losing detail with every bump up.

i'm new at this too, but... this seems logical considering the symptoms.

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Adrian
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Re: Poor quality carving

Post by Adrian »

drewactual wrote:i'd be interested in seeing his tool database for those bits. he may simply be overlapping like 50+% or something, losing detail with every bump up.

i'm new at this too, but... this seems logical considering the symptoms.
That would show in the preview though. The preview looks as I would expect but the actual result is way off from it.

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Re: Poor quality carving

Post by martin54 »

Did you surface the material before you started carving? looks like some of the surface detail is missing which can happen if the material isn't flat or you don't set your z zero correctly.
It may well be that there is more than one issue with this job.

I would agree with Ted that a smaller bit is needed but not sure that is your only problem :lol: :lol:

Not sure if it has been mentioned anywhere, what stepover are you using??

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mtylerfl
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Re: Poor quality carving

Post by mtylerfl »

We may need to wait for David’s return to the forum. It’s been over a week since his last interaction. He might be away for the holidays...
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SummerSkye
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Re: Poor quality carving

Post by SummerSkye »

Hello everyone, sorry I have been overly occupied with a fast coming Christmas. Now that it is here I can slow down and think a little. I would like to thank everyone for their help in this matter. With the suggestions I received I have learned a lot. I have been slowly going thru the perimeters and settings on both Mach3 and VCarve and correcting some and adjusting others and learning, learning, learning. Because of your help I was able to carve a Christmas Box for my wife late yesterday and the detail was good. I will try to rerun the carving I originally requested help on sometime next week and will let you know.

Thanks
David

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