[CROSSHATCH]

Where soy you get such small ball mills?

Pretty sure I got them on Ebay, two pieces. I think I paid like 11.00 shipped...

I'll have to find the seller.

-Jason

[kstrauss]

Maybe 1 32" 0312" Carbide 2 Flute Endmills Ball END Stub Altin 1635 0312L047 | eBay or 1 32" 0312" Carbide 2 Flute Endmills Ball END Stub Kyocera 1635 0312 047 | eBay ?

[CadRhino]

Thanks for the link, those are reasonably priced.

Maybe 1 32" 0312" Carbide 2 Flute Endmills Ball END Stub Altin 1635 0312L047 | eBay or 1 32" 0312" Carbide 2 Flute Endmills Ball END Stub Kyocera 1635 0312 047 | eBay ?

[popspipes]

engraving cutters 60 degre - Buy Cheap engraving cutters 60 degre - From Banggood

Check this page out, I use the 6 mm cutters for wood and they work really well for that and are very cheap, for my give away project they are just the ticket!
I havent tried their engraving bits, but they are cheap enough I may buy some to experiment with.

My philosophy is to use cheap bits if they are easily broken, doesnt hurt quite as bad when you break one ha!

[keen]

Hi Guys.

Here is a couple videos: I am thinking of trying to engrave a hardened H13 steel mould job tomorrow - not sure if it will work - I may need to hob an electrode and EDM it.

keen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7zV80PJd_Q

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYxWU7SlCx0

[CadRhino]

Do you think these two flute 1/32" ball em's will also work on a36/1018 steel too or do I need the 3-flute. I would love that have just one type and buy multiples if possible.
Thanks

Maybe 1 32" 0312" Carbide 2 Flute Endmills Ball END Stub Altin 1635 0312L047 | eBay or 1 32" 0312" Carbide 2 Flute Endmills Ball END Stub Kyocera 1635 0312 047 | eBay ?

[kstrauss]

I've only used them in aluminum and Acetal. Unless you have a high speed spindle, feeds are going to be very slow. Four flutes should allow you to feed twice as fast as with 2-flute ones. At least that is what Gwizard says...

See 1 32" 0312" Carbide 4 Flute Endmills Ball END Stub Kyocera Microtools | eBay for coated 4-flute ones for about the same price as the 2-flute ones.

[CadRhino]

Thanks for posting that link and replying.
It looks like the 4-flute ones will be best for everything since my spindle only goes 5100k.

I've only used them in aluminum and Acetal. Unless you have a high speed spindle, feeds are going to be very slow. Four flutes should allow you to feed twice as fast as with 2-flute ones. At least that is what Gwizard says...

See 1 32" 0312" Carbide 4 Flute Endmills Ball END Stub Kyocera Microtools | eBay for coated 4-flute ones for about the same price as the 2-flute ones.

[Zetopan]

... since my spindle only goes 5100k.

I would expect things to fly apart well before reaching 5.1 million RPM.

[CadRhino]

I have a series 4 😀

I would expect things to fly apart well before reaching 5.1 million RPM.

[CountrySmith]

Attachment 329126
Here is an example of a brass plaque I engraved for some friends on my 770. The letters were done with a .050" carbide end mill and the Chinese characters with a 45º carbide engraving tool. The G code was generated in SprutCam using roughing waterline operations. I was using Mach 3 at the time. For the characters, the depth of cut was limited to .001" and step over to .062". Maximum depth was set at .070".
For the letters, a .002" depth of cut was used

SprutCam doesn't permit cutting into the part geometry so the result was a smooth side wall on the characters with fairly sharp corners simulating brush strokes. The total number of G code steps was around 235K and the machining was run as two separate programs due to size constraints. Cutter speed was 10K and freed rate 20ipm. Flood coolant was used. Total cutting time was just over two hours. I was conservative with the cutting parameters as I only had the one piece of brass and didn't want to mess it up.

R J

[CadRhino]

This is really helpful. I use sprutcam too and was trying to think about the best approach. I was originally thinking I would try to use 2D contouring for each letter.
Will have to get the cad part down so I get each character to be a closed polyline yet match the font.
If you have any ideas, that would be great.
Thank you.
Ps, I still can't believe this took two hours. I guess engraving is slow work for tormach's hence the speeder option.

QUOTE=CountrySmith;1918940]Attachment 329126
Here is an example of a brass plaque I engraved for some friends on my 770. The letters were done with a .050" carbide end mill and the Chinese characters with a 45º carbide engraving tool. The G code was generated in SprutCam using roughing waterline operations. I was using Mach 3 at the time. For the characters, the depth of cut was limited to .001" and step over to .062". Maximum depth was set at .070".
For the letters, a .002" depth of cut was used

SprutCam doesn't permit cutting into the part geometry so the result was a smooth side wall on the characters with fairly sharp corners simulating brush strokes. The total number of G code steps was around 235K and the machining was run as two separate programs due to size constraints. Cutter speed was 10K and freed rate 20ipm. Flood coolant was used. Total cutting time was just over two hours. I was conservative with the cutting parameters as I only had the one piece of brass and didn't want to mess it up.

R J[/QUOTE]

[CountrySmith]

Closing all the poly lines and eliminating the redundant lines was one of the hardest parts. The procedure that I used to create the artwork was to download raster images of the characters and convert them to vector images. They were then save as DXF files and imported character by character into SolidWorks where I did the cleanup. The cleaned files were then loaded onto SprutCam.

Part of the problem that I had with the Chinese characters is that I couldn't figure out how to put an angled sidewall on the SolidWorks model. In the SolidWorks model, the character walls are all vertical with a height of .070" Because SprutCam won't cut into the part, when using a tapered engraving tool, the edge of the tool follows the top edge of the character and creates the taper. Not the ideal but it worked.

I am sure that I could have pushed the machining much harder than I did but what the hey, I'm retired so the time wasn't that much of an issue. Actually the machining was the shortest part of the process. I also suspect that the roughing waterline is not the most efficient operation. I think the entire process including translating the proverb into Chinese characters took about fifty hours. (This was a present for our neighbors for looking after our place while we were in Europe for three weeks and I foolishly insisted to my wife that we needed something a more special than a simple name plaque.)

For what it's worth, I also had some problem with the English proverb. Truetype fonts are not constructed with strict rigor and certain characters had had points that were too narrow for the end mill to pass through so there were interruptions in the engraving. I solved this by telling SprutCam that the cutter was .012" smaller than it actually was. It widened the engraving but it permitted it to cut all the paths. I could have gone back to the model and manipulated the artwork but it just seemed easier to use the workaround.

R J

[CadRhino]

Thanks for the insight RJ
Great job.

Closing all the poly lines and eliminating the redundant lines was one of the hardest parts. The procedure that I used to create the artwork was to download raster images of the characters and convert them to vector images. They were then save as DXF files and imported character by character into SolidWorks where I did the cleanup. The cleaned files were then loaded onto SprutCam.

Part of the problem that I had with the Chinese characters is that I couldn't figure out how to put an angled sidewall on the SolidWorks model. In the SolidWorks model, the character walls are all vertical with a height of .070" Because SprutCam won't cut into the part, when using a tapered engraving tool, the edge of the tool follows the top edge of the character and creates the taper. Not the ideal but it worked.

I am sure that I could have pushed the machining much harder than I did but what the hey, I'm retired so the time wasn't that much of an issue. Actually the machining was the shortest part of the process. I also suspect that the roughing waterline is not the most efficient operation. I think the entire process including translating the proverb into Chinese characters took about fifty hours. (This was a present for our neighbors for looking after our place while we were in Europe for three weeks and I foolishly insisted to my wife that we needed something a more special than a simple name plaque.)

For what it's worth, I also had some problem with the English proverb. Truetype fonts are not constructed with strict rigor and certain characters had had points that were too narrow for the end mill to pass through so there were interruptions in the engraving. I solved this by telling SprutCam that the cutter was .012" smaller than it actually was. It widened the engraving but it permitted it to cut all the paths. I could have gone back to the model and manipulated the artwork but it just seemed easier to use the workaround.

R J

[mountaindew]

I have little experience with the engrave operation in sprutcam , but it looks like it is very powerful and has a number of options to make engraving an art all by itself. Sidewall angles, 3d tool paths, and other options that change the appearance and overall results. Do these not work as shown or is this not what your concerned with and more concerned with the style or shape of letters?

[CadRhino]

Frankly I did not know about these options. Thanks for mentioning them. Anyone here use these?

I have little experience with the engrave operation in sprutcam , but it looks like it is very powerful and has a number of options to make engraving an art all by itself. Sidewall angles, 3d tool paths, and other options that change the appearance and overall results. Do these not work as shown or is this not what your concerned with and more concerned with the style or shape of letters?

[Steve Seebold]

This is really helpful. I use sprutcam too and was trying to think about the best approach. I was originally thinking I would try to use 2D contouring for each letter.
Will have to get the cad part down so I get each character to be a closed polyline yet match the font.
If you have any ideas, that would be great.
Thank you.
Ps, I still can't believe this took two hours. I guess engraving is slow work for tormach's hence the speeder option.

QUOTE=CountrySmith;1918940]Attachment 329126
Here is an example of a brass plaque I engraved for some friends on my 770. The letters were done with a .050" carbide end mill and the Chinese characters with a 45º carbide engraving tool. The G code was generated in SprutCam using roughing waterline operations. I was using Mach 3 at the time. For the characters, the depth of cut was limited to .001" and step over to .062". Maximum depth was set at .070".
For the letters, a .002" depth of cut was used

SprutCam doesn't permit cutting into the part geometry so the result was a smooth side wall on the characters with fairly sharp corners simulating brush strokes. The total number of G code steps was around 235K and the machining was run as two separate programs due to size constraints. Cutter speed was 10K and freed rate 20ipm. Flood coolant was used. Total cutting time was just over two hours. I was conservative with the cutting parameters as I only had the one piece of brass and didn't want to mess it up.

R J

[/QUOTE]

That's really a nice looking part. You can be proud of that.

When I made the plaque for my mother in laws casket, if memory serves me, I used about a .0025 depth of cut, and I think I only went .010 deep. But I only used a .010 diameter end mill.

You have every reason to be proud of what you are showing here. Well done my friend, well done.

[CountrySmith]

I had not looked at the SprutCam engraving op when I made the plaque. I looked at it tonight and it works out to about the same machine time as the roughing waterline that I used. It does appear to be more efficient for making deeper cuts when using the 3D Toolpath. The side angle had no effect as long as it was set less then the 22-5º angle of the engraving tool. It went crazy when I increased it to 50º.. Thinking about it, I believe that the reason that I used the roughing waterline was that I was having trouble selecting the 1400 plus curves at the time. With roughing waterline I just had to put the part in as the job assignment. Thanks to a video by John Saunders, I know how to do that now.

R J

[CadRhino]

Thanks for the feedback.
Looks like waterline worked for you and the project looks great. I guess you could use job zone to make sure it doesn't go too crazy.

I had not looked at the SprutCam engraving op when I made the plaque. I looked at it tonight and it works out to about the same machine time as the roughing waterline that I used. It does appear to be more efficient for making deeper cuts when using the 3D Toolpath. The side angle had no effect as long as it was set less then the 22-5º angle of the engraving tool. It went crazy when I increased it to 50º.. Thinking about it, I believe that the reason that I used the roughing waterline was that I was having trouble selecting the 1400 plus curves at the time. With roughing waterline I just had to put the part in as the job assignment. Thanks to a video by John Saunders, I know how to do that now.

R J

[CountrySmith]

I I haven't really gotten into using the job zone to limit work. I like to use virtual fixtures to block out areas that I don't want the machining to go. I use the primitive fixture and will use negative numbers for x, y and z to partially block a workpiece. In the case of the plaque, I blocked off the English phrase with a fixture and machined the characters. Then I moved the fixture to block off the characters and machined the phrase.

R J