# 3D Carving Time

**URL:** <https://forum.onefinitycnc.com/t/3d-carving-time/32929>\
**Category:** Uncategorized\
**Created:** [May 4, 2025, 2:46pm UTC](https://forum.onefinitycnc.com/t/3d-carving-time/32929 "2025-05-04T14:46:11Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![wdublin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/6f9a4e/32.png) [@wdublin](https://forum.onefinitycnc.com/u/wdublin)\
**Post date:** [May 4, 2025, 2:46pm UTC](https://forum.onefinitycnc.com/t/3d-carving-time/32929/1 "2025-05-04T14:46:11Z")

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I am 3D carving the “Last Supper” on maple wood.  
Using a 1/4 end mill for rough cut.  
Using a 015 tapered ball with a .003 step over, for finishing cut.  
The board is.875"  
The final depth of cut is .63"  
The completed board is 14 x 7 1/2 ".

Problem: the finishing cut takes 20 hrs. to complete.  
How do I get a faster time doing the finish cut?  
Help!

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**Author:** ![Ken5](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f0a364/32.png) [@Ken5](https://forum.onefinitycnc.com/u/Ken5)\
**Post date:** [May 4, 2025, 3:04pm UTC](https://forum.onefinitycnc.com/t/3d-carving-time/32929/2 "2025-05-04T15:04:49Z")

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From my experience, there’s always a sacrifice.  
Decrease the stepover= reduce the finish quality  
Increase the IPM= risk breaking the tool  
Finding the sweet spot where you decrease the overall time, for me was to watch those parameters.  
I have also found running a 1/2 endmill for the rough pass, then a second rough pass 1/4 ballnose leaving a .005 at higher IPM and then 1/8 ballnose for the final pass sometimes is quicker because you can tweek up the final pass because you have removed the bulk of the waste. Toolpath strategies sometimes improve tool time too.

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**Author:** ![wdublin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/6f9a4e/32.png) [@wdublin](https://forum.onefinitycnc.com/u/wdublin)\
**Post date:** [May 4, 2025, 10:19pm UTC](https://forum.onefinitycnc.com/t/3d-carving-time/32929/3 "2025-05-04T22:19:23Z")

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I will try to tray your suggestion.

Thanks

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**Author:** ![Brookeman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Brookeman](https://forum.onefinitycnc.com/u/Brookeman)\
**Post date:** [May 6, 2025, 7:03am UTC](https://forum.onefinitycnc.com/t/3d-carving-time/32929/4 "2025-05-06T07:03:35Z")

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“I can only optimize the cutting paths and process planning to minimize unnecessary cutting time and improve processing efficiency. Other methods such as reducing stepovers, increasing feed rates for higher precision per minute come with risks as a trade-off.”

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**Author:** ![wdublin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/6f9a4e/32.png) [@wdublin](https://forum.onefinitycnc.com/u/wdublin)\
**Post date:** [May 6, 2025, 12:06pm UTC](https://forum.onefinitycnc.com/t/3d-carving-time/32929/5 "2025-05-06T12:06:01Z")

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Thanks for the help! I will make a few changes.