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The BEE and ME

Discussion in 'CNC Mills/Routers' started by Colin Mccourt, Feb 11, 2019.

  1. Giarc

    Giarc OpenBuilds Team
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    Off topic -- those are some nice carvings Geoff. OK, back to the topic. For V-carving, I like this Whiteside 60 degree. It is a little spendy, but I have used it a lot and I am very happy with it.
     
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  2. Colin Mccourt

    Colin Mccourt Journeyman
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    Finally, I'm impressed
    I got to actually cutting out the "P Clamps" this evening and everything went like a dream (which is a rare event in this saga)
    I ended up just using a piece of 15mm Plywood, (withholding the Oak for something more meaningful) I used my 3mm up-cut end mill from the starter kit set to a super slow plunge and feed rate with the Makita set to 3 on the dial. Yes it took a while but the upshot was the parts were very clean and I had to do very little by and the way of cleaning them up (I just filed the tabs off and gave them a light rub with a medium grade sandpaper block, job done) Time taken roughly 30-45mins
    Tomorrow I will give them a lick of paint and add the metalwork.
    This has been a great little first project for a novice,
    Many thanks to @Ariel Yahni for sharing the original file.


    P Clamps.jpg

    I measured the plywood with the vernier gauge before starting (entered the reading into the parameters in the software) and as you can see its left minimal marking to the new spoiler-board.
     
    #212 Colin Mccourt, Mar 8, 2019
    Last edited: Mar 8, 2019
  3. Alex Chambers

    Alex Chambers Master
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  4. Colin Mccourt

    Colin Mccourt Journeyman
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    Sure has @Alex Chambers, (Great "Mug Shot" BTW lol) but you know what, the things I've learned and the help I've received has made it all worthwhile..the simplest, little things all have their relevance. I've loved every minute of the process :)
    Admittedly, Yes, a mammoth report, but I hope there is something within the thread that will help others get to grips with building a Workbee, it's been a great experience, now let us see where we go from here
     
    #214 Colin Mccourt, Mar 8, 2019
    Last edited: Mar 8, 2019
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  5. Alex Chambers

    Alex Chambers Master
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    Mammoth yes, but very informative - nobody would learn much from a report that said "I put it together and everything worked perfectly"
    Alex. ;);)
     
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  6. GeoffH

    GeoffH Journeyman
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    Alex, I've taken your advice and ordered some Silverline cutters from ToolStation, we have a local one in Worcester, and I like them (and Screwfix) a lot! My cheap cutters were from ebay, so I can't say where they originated, or believe what material they might say that they are made from. It's great to have access to someone with your very long experience of cnc woodworking, although regretably I'm some years older than you, I have only come to cnc woodworking for a couple of years having built the XLarge machine in my retirement. It would be great to have your technology knowledge of wood, cutters, feeds and speeds saved in the modern digital way for all to benefit. Geoff
     
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  7. Alex Chambers

    Alex Chambers Master
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    Hi @GeoffH, woodworking - yes, cnc - no (complete beginner). I was impressed by the results you have been getting and just to clear up any possible misunderstanding - the bits you are using are right for the sort of jobs you are doing (don't know anyone who does a ball end router bit). My advice to @Colin Mccourt was in the context of cutting out some plywood profiles in the early stages of learning - where cheap bits are not going to affect the outcome.
    Alex :cool:
     
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  8. GeoffH

    GeoffH Journeyman
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    Hi Alex, I'm the opposite, I have had a working life in nc (cnc wasn't around when I started;)), but not in wood. Often wished I had made my career in wood after being taught by my dad and a very good Woodwork teacher at school. Anyway, that's all over now, just making things (free of charge of course:() for friends and family. Will let you know how I get on with the Silverline cutters, I hope they are good enough for what I need, it will save me a lot! Thanks, Geoff
     
  9. GeoffH

    GeoffH Journeyman
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    Alex, by the way, you talked about ball ended router bits, I had some experience in the Extrusion Tool making industry many years ago, and they use tapered cutters extensively, for cutting deep into hard steels - so I use the tapered ball ended cutters with small bottom radii and you have the strength, rigidity of the tapered cutter, with the ball cutting the fine detail. These are ideal for 3d carving.
     
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  10. GeoffH

    GeoffH Journeyman
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    Thanks Giarc, I haven't seen the Whiteside cutters, I'll try them next time. I have been happy (and lucky) with these 45Deg 60Deg V-Groove Router Bit Straight V Type Slotting Cutter | eBay from China. They cut nice and are lasting well. Geoff
     
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  11. Alex Chambers

    Alex Chambers Master
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    Hi @GeoffH, I intend to pick your brains about 3d carving later - it is something I very much want to do but haven't worked out how to get started yet - I'm still at the stage of making sure my machine cuts in the place I want it to.
    Alex.
     
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  12. Colin Mccourt

    Colin Mccourt Journeyman
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    "Lets have a look at the old Floorboards".. Its only pocketing but I like it.
    I couldn't resist being a little more creative this morning by making some Letter Name Plaques...Still, the surname to fit in, raised on a second piece of scrap material..just messing around I might add before putting on some nice wood. Nothing compared to you two above but it's not a bad start for a novice willing to learn (I think) :rolleyes:



    Floorboard scrap material test piece only, so please don't be too hypercritical lol

    plate1.jpg
     
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  13. Alex Chambers

    Alex Chambers Master
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    More sophisticated than anything I have cut yet, but what happened to the P clamps?
    Alex.o_O
     
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  14. Colin Mccourt

    Colin Mccourt Journeyman
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    Paint Drying @Alex Chambers :rolleyes: "Stay Tooned"
     
  15. GeoffH

    GeoffH Journeyman
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    Hi Colin, great stuff, there's no stopping you now! Look forward to seeing what's next.:) Geoff
     
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  16. Colin Mccourt

    Colin Mccourt Journeyman
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    Well like @Alex Chambers I too, at some point would dearly love to learn to "V Carve", that is and was always the ultimate goal, but for now and with software limitations I'm happy with my lot. I chose to go the Vectric route starting at the bottom, "WHY" ?. wel I thought that the software was much easier to handle than perhaps Fusion...I have no doubt that Fusion is a fantastic product but for me Vectric was and probably is an easier learning curve...I like the GUI...plus when I upgrade eventually to the 3D versions that aspect remains the same just with more bells and whistles to cover the 3D functionality.
    I'm happy with my lot at the minute as I've said, there is loads (project wise) I can do with basics and I need to learn to walk before I run
    Regards
    C
     
  17. GeoffH

    GeoffH Journeyman
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    Colin, do you have Cut2D or VCarve?
     
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  18. Colin Mccourt

    Colin Mccourt Journeyman
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    Just Cut 2D for the moment it will suffice..Later I will buy an upgrade but for now I'm happy with the whole package..there are limitations to the bed size but you have the option to tile which is good..I won't be going over 625 sq anyway at the minute..I trialed the software previously and found it very easy to navigate..very similar to my Glass CNC days...all the software is free to trial but you can't save toolpaths. Again you use what you feel comfortable with..and this seemed the correct fit for me presently
     
    #228 Colin Mccourt, Mar 9, 2019
    Last edited: Mar 9, 2019
  19. Alex Chambers

    Alex Chambers Master
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    Hi @Colin Mccourt, when you say that the trial versions do not save toolpaths does that mean you can't cut anything from the trial software? Can you save your designs?
    Alex.
     
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  20. GeoffH

    GeoffH Journeyman
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    Ok, yes you can upgrade to VCarve later which covers all the CAM operations you should need, VCarving and 3d surface machining.
    I haven't gone for Aspire, which is for 3D design; you could use Fusion or similar for that and export STL to VCarve.
    Geoff
     
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  21. Alex Chambers

    Alex Chambers Master
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    An alternative to Fusion 360 would be Sketchup (also free) which I believe is easier to learn than Fusion.
    Alex.
     
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  22. Alex Chambers

    Alex Chambers Master
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    PS: once you have learnt to do 3d design in Fusion you could use it's built in cam to generate toolpaths and G code - not sure how far down that road Sketchup goes.
    Alex.
     
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  23. Colin Mccourt

    Colin Mccourt Journeyman
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    You can't cut anything you can do everything else as far as I'm aware..are you thinking that you could maybe use it for drawing and import it into something else...not sure try it and see
     
  24. Colin Mccourt

    Colin Mccourt Journeyman
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    You get a little discount on the upgrade as and when
     
  25. Colin Mccourt

    Colin Mccourt Journeyman
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    As I said it's much of a muchness. I'm comfortable with this software, and yes I paid for the privilege. I tried a few other programs prior to purchase and made the decision that I would have enough on my plate with the build mechanically and electronically that throwing an intense CAD/CAM steep learning curve in there at this particular time wouldn't be the wisest move for me personally..I tried Vectric and got to grips with it's layout and functionality fairly quickly which meant that when the machine was built and running. I could more than likely cut the things I liked straight of the bat..simple though they may be..therefore keeping the interest alive. Faced with failure in certain cases some may be inclined to give up...this is my case your honour lol
     
  26. GeoffH

    GeoffH Journeyman
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    Yes Fusion looks good, but you will need to invest a lot of time learning how to use it well. Vectric software was designed for Art work (from the estranged ArtCAM developers), which means that it doesn't have the overheads of working at Engineering tolerances, the 3d CAM uses a pixel based method which is very fast, tolerant to non-exact input data and reliable, and more than accurate enough for Routing purposes.
     
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  27. Colin Mccourt

    Colin Mccourt Journeyman
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    Yes I guess for engineering it may or may not be up to par..this I don't know being a complete novice...what I do know is what I wanted a software package to do for me...Vectric won out..Horses for courses again...I don't begrudge or analyse what other folks preferences are...there are 1000s of reasons why he/she uses a specific software package..if your happy with it, go with it
     
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  28. Alex Chambers

    Alex Chambers Master
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    Just to re-enforce what @Colin Mccourt said above I have just been playing with V Carve Pro trial version but I guess I'll have to work out how to get toolpaths from an STL file in Fusion - definitely not for me.
    Alex.o_Oo_Oo_O
     
  29. Colin Mccourt

    Colin Mccourt Journeyman
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    Exactly @Alex Chambers just go with what your comfortable with. When I was learning to play the banjo I jumped from one line of thought to the other and never really made much headway..IMHO..if your going to learn something stick with the one your most comfortable with and go along with it. YES there will be stumbling blocks but once you've solved that problem on your own or with a little guidance you've learned something...
     
  30. Giarc

    Giarc OpenBuilds Team
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    I am a big fan of Fusion 360 over Sketchup. I used Sketchup first, but Fusion seemed more intuitive to me. That being said, I have been looking at Vectric Vcarve Desktop specifically for the rotary axis ability. It is the only software I can find that I can import a 3D model (.stl file) and carve it with a rotary axis. There are free software versions out there that will wrap around a cylinder, but could not find any that I could just import a 3D model and stock size and watch it start carving.
     
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