I was around 5 hours to cut that Terlingua Rabbit up above.

Lots of step overs and step downs but I got a finish that I am super happy with.

Gotta make another one as well as some deadpool logos/center caps for for my wheels and gas cap.  Lotta machine time coming up.

Yeah, that's a lot of work!  I'm just doing wood and 2D at the moment, but I'm sure I'll try something else at some point.

I made a surprise gift for a Marine friend last night.  I still need to trim it and clean out the "leavings" but I think he's going to love it.

Created the SVG in Inkscape and designed the tool paths in Carbide Create.

Ok I have to ask. It a sign about America why is lady liberty holding an AK?

Dead commie under her foot.  

Maga-rines...

LOL - never seen Red Dawn, I take it?

This man gets it.

I'm starting to get the hang of it.  I used a 90 degree V-bit for this - I should have used a 60.  I think it would have looked better.  Also, I should have gone much shallower.  Still turned out ok, I think.

That looks great!

When doing flags, you'll find that there is a balancing act between the stars and the stripes.  If you switch between a 60 degree and a 90 degree, it will impact the look (sharpness) of your stars. You may want to run separate toolpaths for the stars so you can switch bits.

Yep, I run multiple tool paths.  The problem for me is I should have kept a log.  I try different bits and end up liking some for certain things but not others, and never remember what I did.

I can only recall one job that I did all with one bit.

Now that I have 1/32, 1/16, 1/18, and 1/4 downcut bits, I can make some pretty nice detail cuts.  I didn't know the downcut bits were so awesome until someone at Carbide3D suggested I try one for my stripes.

EDIT: Oh, and I'm officially out of pallet wood.  Thinking of getting some more if I can find people that might want these flags.  Think I'm going to give a bunch away during the ARFCOM Secret Santa thingy.

I'm curious about the downcut bits... I've always used upcuts for chip clearance.  I can see downcuts giving a bit sharper cut edge, less fuzzies, but beyond that what advantage to they bring to the table?

Where I am sitting on the aluminum badges I cut over the past 2 weeks.

Managed to sand down the spot where a drop of epoxy caused a smudge on the left piece.   Got the clear over the top and they should be fully cured in a day and a half.

Should have added a bit more mica colorant to the epoxy.  Wanted it to be a little translucent so light would shine back from the aluminum.   But there was some swirl marks on one piece that didnt show up on the other one.

You summed it up.

Up cut bits are best when you don't need perfect detail, don't mind clean-up sanding, running a fast RPM and feedrate, and are cutting deep.  They evacuate chips like a champ, and you can run it fast like a chainsaw.  But, it frays the wood fibers and produces a horrible surface when you've stained or painted something.

Down cut bits leave a very sharp, crisp cut and leaves all the edges clean and looking perfect.  It requires virtually none, if any, touchups to the surface.  They are best for shallower cuts (1/4" or less), slow RPM's, slower feedrate, and basically demand a solid dust extraction system to help with the chips.  It still kicks out chips, but also tends to push the wood down, and performs best in softer woods.

Up cut bits are faster and messy, down cut bits are slower and polished.

I use both, they each have different roles.

Yeah, the one on the right looks flawless - great job!

Now my wife has me making arts & crafts for God's sake!!

Ray Charles coulda seen that coming.  Cool looking stuff OP.

Thanks man!

So when ya tonna buy some aluminum stock and give it a try?

No plans yet.  I don't have anything to make.  My daughter suggested I make an Etsy site to sell some flags/signs, and I've done $700+ in orders in the last 10 days since I created it!  I'm going to be busy for the foreseeable future, for sure.

Wish I could post my current project!  It's going out as an ARFCOM Secret Santa gift.  If it turns out the way it looks in Carbide Create, it's going to be pretty cool.  Maybe I'll post it after they receive it and assume they don't follow this thread.

I've been doing a lot of signs and stuff lately, but I want to try to make something fun/functional for the workshop.  I've seen people make various push sticks for table saws and stuff.  Looking for ideas if anyone has one.

How do you take a 4/4 piece of wood and make it a 2/4 piece of wood?  AND still keep both pieces?  Do they make saws big enough?  Do you need the mill to do that?

I don't have anything like a bandsaw, but I guess I could use one of those and then use a planer (don't have one either) to smooth it out?

I think a bandsaw would be the best tool for the job, but it might also depend on the width of the piece.  If you're talking about a very wide piece, I would think it would take a pretty good sized bandsaw.

How wide is it?

It's called 'resawing', and as Buckshot4U mentioned, a bandsaw is really the best tool for the job (if not too wide to fit in the 'throat' of the saw).  You can also do it with a tablesaw if yours has enough horsies... just set the fence where you need it, raise the blade up to cut as close to halfway through as you can manage, run it through then flip it over and run it through again to cut the opposite edge.  If you can't quite reach halfway through your saw, you can leave a thin strip down the center and finish it off with a handsaw, then plane down both halves.

I'd put a bandsaw on the Christmas list, though.  Really useful tool for a woodworker.

ETA: you'll probably also sacrifice a little more wood to the saw kerf using a tablesaw.

They are anywhere from 8-12" wide, about 22+ " long.  And 1" thick.

That's gonna be out of reach for tablesaws, and a lot of bandsaws if they're not set up specifically for resawing.  Unless there's some specific reason you want to keep both halves of the piece (like for bookmatching or something), you might just be stuck with planing them down to the desired thickness .  Or maybe find a local woodworker or cabinet shop who will resaw them for you.

Thanks.  Local lumber place, which is awesome and stocks everything on the planet, only sells wood 4/4 and larger (and usually 10' minimum).  The cut it to whatever size I want, and can surface 1 or all 4 sides, but I'm stuck with the thickness.  

The signs I make become way too heavy and awkward at 1" thick.  I only need them at 1/2" thick and it seems like a waste of material.  I'm cutting it down on my CNC at the moment when I need to keep the sign a single piece of wood.  Otherwise I cut them into strips of 13 and glue them back together to make the American flags.  For those, size doesn't matter.

If I could get them 2/4 I'd be able to use the entire piece.

Just a thought.

I've never resawed anything, so I'm out of my element, but I would think that it would take a bandsaw with more ass than a cheapo model to cut through 12" of material at a time.  If so, you may be stuck with paying for a big bandsaw or finding a different lumber supplier.  I'm curious to hear opinions from others who have actually resawed lumber on a bandsaw.

I've resawn a good bit of stuff, mostly between 4" and 11".  You're right; the most common "hobby" bandsaws are 14" models with around a 1 HP motor, and they're pretty limited for resawing.  The horsepower is one issue, but out of the box most of these can't cut "thick" enough to resaw wide stuff - not enough room between the table and the the point where the band exits the upper wheel housing/blade guard (the 14" refers to the distance between the blade and "backbone" riser of the saw, not the height of material it will cut).

My rig's a compromise.  It's an older Delta 14" saw (very common), but I upgraded the motor to a 1.75 HP (could use more) and added a "riser block" - basically a chunk of metal that you install after breaking the top and bottom halves apart and sticking it in between.  That gives me right at a 12" cutting capacity, but I'm still pretty underpowered for material that thick for the stuff I mostly cut (oak, walnut, and Osage Orange).

If you want to do a lot of resawing, ideally you'd want to go with a steel frame saw instead of the common cast iron "C" shaped 14" saws.  These have a steel box beam as the backbone, and generally have bigger motors, more "height" cutting capacity (most have 10-12" right out of the box), and bigger wheels... which lets you run wider blades, also a good thing for resawing.  I run a 3/4" blade, all my modded saw will handle.  1" or 1.25" adds a lot of stiffness which helps get straighter, more even cuts when resawing, but they're too stiff to ride comfortably on 14" wheels - too much flex which ultimately weakens the blade.  And you really don't want one of those buggers to break and come flying at you at full throttle.  

Resawing's cool, though, especially combined with a drum sander to really smooth and flatten things out.  I frequently use my saw as something of a sawmill; can slice up an interesting-looking chunk of firewood and come up with stuff you'd pay $50-60 bucks for on Ebay.  Or you can buy one nice piece of figured wood and slice it up into thin veneer you can cover a whole project with.

Oh, and you'll also want dust collection.  Resawing produces a ton of sawdust.

End result of some center caps I have been working on.

Milled out of aluminum the masked for painting then epoxy was filled in

Eyes left deliberately as machined finish.

Super cool!  What are you doing with them?


This is what I made for a Secret Santa here on ARFCOM.  Got his logo from his website and designed it all in Inkscape.  Added the AR in the union for an added touch.  The bullet hole logo was hard to make, both design wise and machining wise.  I ended up using a 1/32nd downcut for some of it.

Nice!  What kind of ride is that?

THATS AWESOME!

66 Mustang I am rebuilding.  Full thread in cars/bikes forum.

Car has drawn blood from both me and my buddy that is helping me with rebuild.  The red/black of the current car had me name it Deadpool because "why red? So that way the bad guys cannot see me bleed."

Thanks man!





Very cool - I'll check it out!

Crazy amount of orders going out tomorrow!

EDIT:  I applied for, and now have, a license from both the Marines and Navy to make these flags.  FYI.

Great work ! Soon enough the machine will pay for itself

Congrats.

Went 0-60 from just toying around to making money in nothing flat.

Will need a 2nd machine soon by the sounds of it so you can experiment and toy around while not taking up time on your money maker.


What are you using for feeds/speeds on various downcut mills?

I have a wood working project I am gonna switch to soon after a few more aluminum and carbon fiber projects.

Been so long since I have cut carbon fiber I am gonna need a week or so to review my old projects for feeds/speeds.

One of my drones will be using 6mm thick carbon fiber plates x4 and I dont want to mess those up.

Thanks!  I know, right?



Yeah, certainly feels like it!  If it gets to the point I'm making several a day, consistently, I'd pick up a second machine (the new Shapeoko Pro) and build a better workspace/containment system.

The speeds and feeds vary based on the design and bit I'm using, not to mention the wood type.  For those USMC signs, they are 20x11 in Superior Alder.  The laptop is in the garage so I'd have to go look for the specs.  I know the logo is a #302 (v60) and the stars are a #301 (v90).  The stars look crappy and fat in a v60, although everyone seems to have different results.  I like the way the v90 comes out in painted Alder.  It doesn't fray the edges or require much touch up with a razor blade at all.

Have not cut carbon fiber in awhile.   Set the epoxy on this tonight.  Will check for hairs and last minute bubbles one or two more times then let it set 24 hours.




Each eye was machined seperately and then slotted into matching holes for positioning.

@lowcash
As a new Etsy seller, what's your general impression of the platform?  I've been doing a lot of browsing there myself; considering marketing a few of the more unique items I can make (not a competitor - different area of woodworking entirely!).  In browsing through a lot of woodworking listings, I've come across quite a few folks listing flags similar to the ones you're producing... looks like your "space" is a little crowded, so getting approval to do the official .mil flags was a pretty smart move on your part.  Do you catch any kind of flak from any of the other sellers?

Any pros, cons or tips you want to share about how you set up your store and the Etsy "experience" in general?  Is shipping a problem for you?  Seems like that's almost a deal-killer given the size and weight of some woodworking items.

Congrats on the success, and hope it gets as big as you want it to.  Making a living doing something you love, and not answering to anyone but yourself (well, and your customers I suppose) should be one of the top goals for us all.

Hey @midmo great questions!  I'll number my responses to try and get it all and make it easy to point out something I might not have answered.

1) I love Etsy.  Glad my daughter/wife recommended I give it a shot.  VERY easy to use, they walk you step by step how to set it all up, and it's idiot proof.  Trust me!  LOL

2) No worries if you are/were to become a competitor.  There is plenty of cheese for everyone.  It's like eBay, some people prefer to buy from well established (multi-year) sellers, some look for many 5 star reviews, others care about price only, some prefer veteran owned businesses, etc.

3) Yes, LOTS of sellers doing what I do.  You'll notice differences in prices, sizes, and specifically, the time it takes to process/make/deliver.  My turn around is 3-5 days, lots of sellers are into the many weeks.  We're talking the better part of the month, and don't build a flag until it's ordered.  Also, LOTS of sellers paint their stars on, or hand carve them with a Dremel.  God bless the hand carvers, they look like shit.  To each their own.

4) Yes, getting approval was huge.  I could be a dick and start ratting people out and eliminate 95% of the competition overnight, but I couldn't take up the vacuum of people wanting to buy signs.  Whatever, at least I'm legal and can put I sell "Officially Authorized by the...".

5) No other sellers have ever contacted me.  Again, kind of like eBay, no sellers give a shit about what other sellers are doing.

6) I use a site called eRank.  It used to be called Etsy Rank and was owned by Etsy, but they spun it off.  Essentially, you can track key words or even other shops and see their sales in real time.  What key words are customers searching?  What shops (competitors) are selling and for how much?  It's 5.99 a month, completely optional, but can be useful.

7) Shipping couldn't be easier!  It's all done through Etsy.  Unless you want to do it on your own, which I DON'T recommend, they use USPS only.  You do all your shipping in a shipping section with the information all filled out for you.  I use 24x12x4 boxes, and with the signs and bubble wrap they are only 3lbs 6oz.  The signs are in Alder and are only .5 in thick.  Super light but very durable.  Shipping is a tad under $10 per sign.  I offer free shipping so I get moved to the top of the Etsy searches.  Just add $10 to your expected costs.

8) Finally, thanks!  As of today I've been on Etsy exactly 42 days and have made $1957.44.  I've got about $3k into the CNC, accessories, and bits.  Bought another $1k in tools (saw, planer, sander).  Probably bought $500 in wood.  I assume I'll pay it all off in the next few months and then I'm in the black if I choose to continue and make a business out of it.

HOWEVER, I recommend you don't take orders you stress over.  I had the money to pay cash for everything, for my own fun and enjoyment, so I'm not depending on orders to pay anything off.  I just wanted to make some signs and knickknacks for my personal enjoyment.   But, as you can see, there is a lot of money to be made.

My real "part time job" is teaching college classes for 3 different colleges.  I teach 12 classes a year, on top of my day job, so you can get an idea that Etsy isn't going to be my primary income until I'm making insane amounts of money.

Hope this helps.

Indeed it does - very helpful!

Did you opt out of the Offsite Ads stuff?  That 15% on top of the 8% transaction and payment processing fees seems to get their hand pretty deep in your pocket, though at the end of the day I guess it's pretty much a "you get what you pay for" thing.  Nobody else has the penetration Etsy does into the handcrafted market, and they do make it pretty easy with the payment processing and shipping services.

I'd already pretty much decided to go with their shipping; just too easy to do it that way.  My biggest question on that will probably just have to come with experience: whether to use Priority Mail, Priority Flat Rate or standard USPS ground service.  Some of my stuff may end up being heavy enough to justify Priority Flat Rate, and it's nice to be able to include a tracking number when it ships.

Thanks again for the input.  I was *really* hoping not to hear "Etsy SUCKS!!"  

@Lowcash

You should buy this book:



CNC Programming Handbook by Smid.

It is an absolute necessity for your Kennedy like the Machinery Handbook.

If you can get a Grainger account you'll save money on the router bits.

Nah, not sure you can opt out.  But whatever, if it brings me a sale, fine.  My margins are so slim 15% matters that much.  I'm all-in at about half what I charge, so I have plenty of room for their fees, shipping, materials, etc.



Thanks - I'll look into it.

OH!!!  I caught my CNC on fire after Christmas.  

Now that I've recovered from the fire - I'm making a cutting board.  Not with the CNC, just in general.  First one turned out awesome, but it was really small.  13x9 I think.  I didn't really pay attention to how big it needed to be.

Today I picked up some Walnut and Zebrawood.  This wood looks so nice.  Can't wait to see what I can come up with.

Too much dust and then friction/heat said fuck you?

Not quite sure.  I was standing right next to it... I have some ideas.  I run a high powered dust boot/extraction system, so the dust should have been sucking up.

I was surfacing a piece of Hickory, slow RPM, fast speeds, per the recommended specs.  Doing a very thin layer (.0025) per pass.  But yes, my guess is some larger piece of wood got stuck and then ignited.  Surge protector tripped, everything shut down, and the router was on fire from the top vents.

Sent pics/video to Carbide 3D telling them it was probably user error and just wanted to give them a heads up of what happened and that I wanted buy a new one.  They weren't having it - didn't care if it was my fault, they overnighted me a new router at no cost.

Their sales and support is unreal.

Edit:  Oh, I'll never cut Hickory again.  The Janka hardness is unreal and I don't need it for anything.  Plus, it's got me gun shy.  Fuck Hickory.

That is outstanding to hear their customer service is that good.

The Millright guys are not known for being anywhere near that awesome.

I don't think I posted this, and although not CNC related specifically, I thought I'd share.

Please note - no inspiration, no clue what I was doing, and lots of imperfections, but this is my first cutting board I made last weekend.  In retrospect, not too happy with it, and it's too small, but that's why I'm making a new one with the lessons learned.  But I'm learning if you beat yourself up over every mistake this quickly becomes a miserable hobby.

I'm trying to enjoy the small victories (i.e. progress) and focus on the lesson learned.  Oddly enough, the corners are rounded and don't look it in the picture.  

Walnut and Cherry.  Can't remember, but think it's 13x9 or slightly bigger.