VCarve Sign Too Deep?

Hey Guys,

I recently purchased an AXIOM AutoRoute Pro 8. It's a great machine but I am pretty new to the
CNC world. My main business is laser engraving and CNC work is quite a bit different.

anyway, I am using VCarve Pro 9. I have am trying to make a simple vcarve sign. But no matter
what I try, it seems like the bit is going to deep and it's causing the letters to overlap. I know I can control
the cut depth but I feel like I may be doing something wrong...

What do you think?

I've attached photos for reference

Thanks!
Kirk

Attachment 370804

Attachment 370803Attachment 370803

Is the bit you are using to wide? If you go less deep do the shallow cuts look wrong?

Hey Leo,

I'm using a 90deg vBit. The shallow cuts look ok but not perfect. I also noticed the bit plunges quite deep into the material and I'm just not sure if that should be the case or not..
I mean the bit is almost completely into material at it's deepest

thanks!

I would use a 60º bit myself. I think the reason letters are blending is because of the 90º bit.

https://store.carvewright.com/image.php?type=P&id=16146

Ok i'm going to mess with flat depth tomorrow
and also I have a brand new 60 deg bit I will try out as your suggesting

Thanks Leo!

kirk

VCarve calculates the depth of cut based on the width of the cut and the angle of the bit. Therefore, a 60 degree bit will alway carve the same letter deeper than a 90 degree bit. The smaller the bit angle, the deeper the cut. As a basic idea, think of the bit width as being narrower than the character width. The bit will plunge down until the sides of the V of the bit match the width of the character. If you have two 0.5 inch bits, one a 90 and the other a 60, the 60 will go deeper than the 90 trying to plunge until the letter sides are contacted. If you want a shallower cut, try a 120 degree bit, or use the flat depth option. You can check the depth of cut by hovering the mouse cursor over the preview. The bottom right of the screen will display the x, y, and z.

I suspect the geometry of the bit you are using is different from what you spec'ed in the toolpath form, for instance you are using a 1/2" diameter bit but the software thinks it is 1/4". The preview should show accurately what is going to be cut. If you post your file here or at forum.vectric.com you will get more informed answers.

Thanks guys,

Great help. I will try these things and see how it goes. I believe I went over the details of the bit several times,
so maybe it's the font choice I have. I may have to use the flat option

Setting the flat depth will not affect the width of the letters or their overlap, only the depth of cut. Does the preview look correct? Does the machined result look different from the preview?

Your problem could be that your start depth in the v-carve toolpath is set below the material surface- typically it would be set at zero. Also, check your material setup to be sure it matches your material.

Here is a discussion that may help: forum.vectric.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=27917&hilit=v+carve+toolpath+c ut+depth

I rarely use anything shallower than a 90 degree bit. I use a 90 or 120 bit. They look best. The only benefit of 60 degree bit is if your table or piece of material isn't flat, it won't be as noticeable. On a 120 bit, if the piece isn't flat, it's pretty obvious.

As for your problem, your piece isn't flat, your spoilboard isn't flat, you're not zeroing your bit properly, or your bit is setup incorrectly in V-Carve.

Kevin asked the same questions I had. Also, you can easily set the text kerning, or distance between letters in VCarve under Create Vectors/Edit Text Spacing and Curve. Having to adjust the text spacing is pretty common in my experience.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kevin Jenness

Setting the flat depth will not affect the width of the letters or their overlap, only the depth of cut. Does the preview look correct? Does the machined result look different from the preview?

Your problem could be that your start depth in the v-carve toolpath is set below the material surface- typically it would be set at zero. Also, check your material setup to be sure it matches your material.

Here is a discussion that may help: forum.vectric.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=27917&hilit=v+carve+toolpath+c ut+depth

---

Thanks for the help guys. Ok so here is what I have so far


The start depth is: 0.
I've attached a photo of my 90deg bit with my vcarve settings. Perhaps there is a problem here?

I've setup my material as 1" pine. I made sure the zero is properly set.. hmmm

I'm at my shop now, going to try a few more things. Have a look at the photo and let me know if you all see anything that jumps out. Very new to CNC
Appreciate all the help! This is a lot less forgiving that my laser machines hehehe


Attachment 370867

UPDATE

Ok so after i played around with the z-axis zero manually and with touch off, for some reason I got it to come out perfect.
Not sure what was going on but perhaps there is something wrong with my z-axis stepper motor. I have been having issues with it. I will keep an eye on it but it
would seem that it's a z-zero issue...

Thanks everyone

Glad to hear that you made it work. I have gotten in the habit off verifying the z-setting by comparing the DRO reading and a tape measure. A hardware issue is possible, but I have found basically all of my miscuts have been operator error. The machine does what I tell it to do whether correct or not.

A side issue- on your tool specs several parameters seem low, especially the plunge rate at 5 ipm. Are you using default numbers, or have you determined that those are good for your machine? You want to keep the feed rates as high as consistent with good results to maintain bit life.