Circle cutting with Vcarve Pro

I am not sure where to post this comment also this is my first time writing to the forum and a first time user of the OF, I am trying to use v carve pro to create an 8" dia . circle with one 1/4" hole in the center. I am using a .25" upcut bit. When I go and create the tool path (using the Profile command) it gives an Error for Tool Path and will not let me save the file.
Hope I can find an answer.
S.Strong

Welcome , I am not an expert with Vcarve Pro , but what may be the problem is if you try to make a1/4 hole with a 1/4 bit it will not work use a smaller bit or make the hole a bit bigger

I was trying not to have a bit change in creating the circle, I was using the Drill command and thought this would work with the 1/4" bit.

It is considered bad practice to drill holes with an endmill as they have a flat bottom which are not recommended for drilling. I would pocket the centre hole with a 1/8" endmill and then use a contour toolpath for the outer diameter.

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Thank you so much for your suggestion, I am new to this cnc stuff, I think I solved the problem by using the Drill command but not with a drill bit, I set it up with the same 1/4” end mill so that makes my program have two different tool but in reality there is only one tool. Hope this makes since. After doing this I was able to save the tool paths and create the G code.

Thanks Again for your help
Steve

Thanks Dave for your information about not using the same tool for both holes. My problem is that I have a lot of these circles to create (8" dia) and (7" dia) and a tool change would be very hard and time consuming. The material I am using is 1/2" Baltic Birch Plywood and being very new to cnc I am not sure about using the 1/8" end mill.

Thanks Again for the great Advice.
Steve

I would use a 1/8" compression endmill to do both the inner pocket and the outside profile. The compression bit would eliminate the tearout on the top and bottom surfaces of the material. Check out Cody’s Cnc Engraving (group member) and speak to him about his ‘Jenny’ bits.

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