limited space for carving - carve at an angle?

[JeffWimer]

I have a carving I want to complete on my Shapeoko. Unfortunately the best I can get is maybe 32" of cut and I need 34". Does anyone see problems or issues with cutting on a 45 degree angle?

[scotttarnor]

This may help if you don't want to angle it.

https://www.vectric.com/support/tutoria ... _Toolpaths

viewtopic.php?t=26703

[TReischl]

I have a carving I want to complete on my Shapeoko. Unfortunately the best I can get is maybe 32" of cut and I need 34". Does anyone see problems or issues with cutting on a 45 degree angle?

Nope, have done it a few times. I just put a couple of pins in so that I know I am lined up correctly. Essentially building a fixture at an angle on the machine.

[JeffWimer]

Can you explain your process for putting a couple of reference pins in it? I am definitely new to the concept of cutting at an angle.

Appreciate the help.

[adze_cnc]

One other option if your design allows for it: separate into two carves. All that which fits into 32" in one file and all the remainder. You will be rotating the material 180 degrees so the 2nd file needs also to be rotated 180 degrees. Cut the 1st file, rotate the material 180 degrees, cut the 2nd file. You just need to figure out how to rotate the material in place and register it for both cuts.

For example if I needed to carve the entire alphabet but I could only do 20 letters I could carve ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST then rotate 180 degrees and carve UVWXYZ (upside down as it were).

Steven

[TReischl]

Can you explain your process for putting a couple of reference pins in it? I am definitely new to the concept of cutting at an angle.

Appreciate the help.

Sure, what I do is draw up a rectangle that represents the bed of my machine. Then draw up the piece that will go on it and turn it at an angle that will fit. Then just draw some circles the same size as the pins (I use three usually, two on the longest edge, and one on another edge. After that pretty easy, set the zero where you put it in the drawing, drill the three holes, put pins in them and then bump the material up against them and clamp.

Takes longer to explain it than to do it.

IMHO it is way, WAY better to put a piece on an angle on the machine and do it all in one go than to start shifting it around. There is always the possibility of error as soon as a piece is moved. But sometimes it is unavoidable.