Since I recently retired I have all this time now to goof around in the shop. I have a couple of projects in the works but I’ve been adding a three-stage filter regulator to my CNC. When I bought my compressor a few years ago I added a DIY after cooler dryer shortly after and that does a great job but I wanted to ensure that I would have dry air to the CNC since I’ve added a laser.. This is a fantastic CNC and glad to be a part of the this forum..
Alum parts, adding camera, finally installing dust collector, add fans to move air, upgrade table setup…it never ends 
Well, last year I upgraded from Mach4 to the EX Controller and servos. That was huge. And I just finished making a much improved spoilboard. Not exactly a CNC upgrade, but right now I’m working on learning the ins and outs of toolpaths in Fusion - with mixed success so far. I agree that these are fantastic machines and this is a great forum.
Tell me more about that… what are you trying to toolpath in Fusion and where are you running into issues?
I’ve been experimenting with home made vacuum pods for work holding. It works, but not sure it is worth it compared to just bolting something to the spoilboard for most situations.
Also tinkering with moving the tool pockets just slightly off the table so I can put long boards under them.
Or did you mean what useful thing am I actually building with the machine instead of for the machine? 
I ripped apart my dust collection system and I’m re-doing it with some custom 3d printed cyclones!
But before that, i was getting into inlays/cutting boards more: using Fusion for the CAD/CAM:
Hey Eric - I have been doing a bunch of two sided 3D carved machining. The above picture is recent - they are four bokken (Japanese wooden practice swords for martial arts training). I did a 3D scan of an original and set up the two sided job with VCarve Pro. This is a workflow that I have done successfully for years now with all sorts of two sided jobs. My general path has been scanning (if needed), Rhino 3D, VCarve, then the CNC. While this has worked very well for me in general, VCarve Pro does not seem to deal well when a curve on a piece (like the transition between the side of the sword and either the top or blade) becomes vertical. There tends to be many short moves, and up and down moves, that kind of replicate sawing action, and results in a bad surface in those areas. The rest is so smooth it only needs modest sanding.
Enter Fusion - over the last few months I’ve been learning the CAD side of the software. It’s more intuitive and faster than Rhino and with the CAM functionality could be a one stop shop for most of what I do. Using some shorter scrap pieces, I set up a blank for a set of tanto (wooden knives) since they are much shorter. The blank is 1.25” thick and I used a pocket clearing path for the ‘3D roughing path’ going down to a depth of 0.65” for this side. Then I used a Scallop finishing path. In the photo below the pocket clearing path has been completed and I stopped the scallop path most of the way through doing the left tanto.
I stopped the tool path for two reasons:
- As you can see, there are vertical lines where either a) the pocket path bit in too deep, or b) the scallop path isn’t removing enough material. Either way, this isn’t great. I don’t want to have to sand more later!
- (Solved) - the bit was really digging in on the scallop tool path at the bottom of the gap between the tanto, but I just figured out that I had a height set incorrectly.
On the good side, the Fusion tool paths seem to deal better with shallow curves, steep curves, and vertical areas.
And that’s what I’m up to. Any suggestions or advice would be more than welcome!
Cheers,
Garth
This wasn’t what I expected I’d be doing with this machine when I got it, but… carvings. Carvings, carvings, carvings. My neighbor hooked me up with a bespoke furniture company and I’ve been pre-carving decorative furniture parts to save their carving team time. On the plus side, it’s forced me to learn all sorts of stuff about CAM and CNC, and given me an excuse to add stuff to the machine (like a better touch probe).
Garth - some things to try:
- Check Fusion’s recipe for “cusp height” and keep it under 0.001” or so
- Try using a different pattern angle - cutting with the grain can hide the lines, but I use a 45 degree pattern on long thin things
- Avoid using “both ways” cutting, as climb vs conventional on wood can leave visible differences. Stick to climb milling if you can afford the time, and if the pattern allows it.
- Try other patterns, or combining them - parallel for the top and contour for the sides etc.
- For tearout areas, invest in a left turning bit, if your spindle can spin in reverse.
Thanks. A couple of things. First, I’m using a pretty small step over for the finishing tool path - there are some machining lines, but the two big grooves on the left side of the carving are something else. Second, thanks for the pattern suggestion. I didn’t even know it was there. I really am new to this! That being said, setting a pattern angle is really not explained well by Fusion. Do you know if there is a helpful tutorial?
Thanks,
Garth
It’s just whatever you’ve been working on lol
I have a few end grain cutting boards glued up and some clock kits ordered
I’ve been building the furniture for a church for the last year. I have done a lot of traditional woodworking on this, but the AVID has come in handy for all of the carving obviously, but also putting mortises in parts that won’t fit in my mortiser, cutting miter joints on large pieces that I can’t run through a saw, and just general things like cutting a quick hole for a a cup holder.
There are a lot of odd things that can be a real pain by hand or with a handheld router, and you can whip up the shape and cut it out so much faster on the CNC and much cleaner.
One feature I recently added to my setup is a vertical spindle holder - just two bits of plywood that hold a bit of wood vertically. I have a script that probes the edges, finds the center, and center drills it for the rotary. Center drilling by hand, it’s too easy to let the grain move the hole.
The other easy task that’s better suited to CNC is pre-drilling holes for shelf brackets or drawer extensions. As long as your measurements are good (which they’d need to be anyway), it lays down a perfect matrix of holes.
I’ve even had cases where I’ve had to hold a tiny part in a vise on the table, and use the MPG (jogger pendant) with a tiny end mill or drill to “tweak” the part. It was too small to hold for a drill press and too precise for a dremel.
Plus that one time I used the CNC to pick a padlock 
A CNC is also a general purpose robot; it’s capabilities are limited only by your imagination…
I think I saw a video on that. Sometimes you have to do stuff like that just for fun 
Same boat! recently retired and i have a lot of time on my hand! This my setup! I previously build this on a Kronos configuration and opted for a switch/upgrade to Avid hardware and software at mid installation. I’ve added the EX controller and the AV40S ATC, looking forward for the tool rack to be available.
Spring is here and planning to build a timber frame shed with mortise and tenon joinery. I started to practise cutting with my CNC and Vcarve pro. Quite a challenge (90 degree and knee braces), but definitely worth it.
Recently my spindle, after 30 min of continuous work at 18k RPM, was quite hot to the touch, not burning hot! After some temperature measurement, the spindle was at 68C (looks like outside of expected temp range 30C - 60C, little info on this spec, this is the range I found on internet after digging for a few days, if folks know of the actual temperature range, would be greatful to know.) I troubleshooted the issue and observed the spindle fan was blowing air from top to bottom, thus keeping the spindle in constant heat. The tech folks suggested the fan might not be working efficiently and shipped a new fan with wiring instructions. After digging the root cause further, I simply re-orientied the fan flow upward, to pull the heat out and optimizing the cool air flow from bottom of the spindle. I’ve also added a dual fan on the outside with a custom mount. After an hour of work with 18K RPM the spindle will tapper at a cool 38C. The tech folks thinks the fan on my spindle was wired backward. So far, the unit is working smooth and cool.
Brother, you and I live very different lives. Your first picture about gave me a coronary. My OCD would never let that happen, but I can appreciate that other people can work efficiently that way.
I kinda want to come over to your place and clean up a bit.
You are not allowed in my shop
Completely understandable.
good one! I took the pictures just after I finished several hours of carving! lol more than welcome to come over for a cleaning session, my shop fridge is stacked with wide selection of cold beers!
My shop maybe cluttered but I know exactly where everything is!!
Now where the hell’s my tape measure?
Yup, there’s order in chaos! lol! I use to clean my dad’s shop in my younger years and he told me that he’s very appreciated for the work, but now son, I can’t find my hammer!
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