Vcarve small objects / distorted

[Lonnie]

Hello all, new guy to CNC here. Been at it for 2 months now. I'm a Navy guy and do great when I cut and or carve a large Chief Anchor, but when I try to engrave a small anchor 1"-3", it doesn't come out all that great. I have a .5" 90, 1" 60 and 1.5" 90. Maybe I don't have the right bit or maybe i'm importing the file wrong.

I know i'm trying to get a great deal of detail in a very small area, so it might not be possible. I've tried different depths and both vcarve and profile toolpath.

Thanks,
Lonnie B

[steve_g]

Lonnie…

I routinely V-carve objects down to ½” diameter! My 10 year old granddaughter loves to come up with ideas for jewelry/earrings… We started her a “company” and she sells her creations at school!

We create originals, are “inspired” by artwork we find online and create from classmate’s drawings!

Typically, we are v-carving with 30° and 60° v bits, pocketing and cutting perimeters with 1/16” end-mills.

Small is possible! Some limitations are the species of wood… can it be v-carved without disintegrating? Our smaller earrings are carved from mesquite, pear and Osage orange… three very dense woods! Also, the artwork can’t be too detailed. Simple fonts and cartoonish artwork is best with the small stuff!

We often inlay her creations with powdered stone, glass frit or copper powder.

Post some of your failures and see if I/we can figure out what went wrong!

SG

[dmidkiff]

Without seeing what you are trying to do, it sounds like smaller bits are needed. Possibly tapered ballnose.
Gary is a very knowledgeable guy and very helpful too. He sells an Onsrud kit with 1/16", 1/8" and 1/4" ballnose bits.
I receive no compensation, he is a friend and fellow CNC'er.

beckwithdecor.com

[Lonnie]

Thanks for the info. Attached is a coin holder I did and the anchor turned out ok. The one I'm working on now I haven't actually carved out on the CNC. Here's what I noticed last night. In the software I set the job dimensions at 6"x6" to work on the anchor with a profile toolpath, 1" 60 bit and the preview looks great. I took that same anchor (same size) and put it in another file, 16"x16" plaque i'm making. When I went to preview, it barely shows anything (a bunch of dots). Everything is the same except the job dimensions.

31000

[srwtlc]

If this is just v-carving and not 3D modeling, go to the menu item "Toolpaths/Preview Simulation Quality" and select a higher setting. I would guess yours is on "Standard". Crank it up. I've seen no real performance hit by setting and leaving it at "Extreme". If you need more, take it to the next notch temporarily.

If it's 3D modeling, raise the modeling resolution. Here's a good tutorial (http://support.vectric.com/tutorials/V9/selectedvideo.php?video_id=52) on that.