Just curious if anyone has a recommendation on how to do a grid without a laser? I only know Easel but have my machine coming in just over 1 month. I will be doing a Myers threaded wasteboard but would also like having a grid. Just curious if anyone has done a grid without a laser. Thanks in advance!
Just use a 60 degree V-Bit with a shallow depth of cut, I just designed my grid today and am planning on cutting it this weekend.
-Alex
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Hi Alex, thanks for the quick reply. How shallow of a cut would you recommend? Was in the process of creating a design but wasn’t sure how shallow of a cut is appropriate?
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Would you mind posting a picture of the grid once you have it carved. I do not plan on getting a laser, and would really like to see how it turns out.
Thank you,
Tom
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Are you using vcarve? Are there by videos on line showing this?
I did my grid line design in VCarve using a 60deg V-bit and a cut depth of 0.035". Here’s what it looks like.
To make the design I drew a single horizontal and vertical line that was 32" long and then used the array copy to replicate each of them across the board at 1in spacing. I didn’t go all the way to 32.25" because the resulting g-code file exceeded the limits of the machine because VCarve Pro wanted to move the cutter somewhat past 32.25" while re-positioning and I didn’t want to spend the time trying to figure out how to prevent it from doing that.
Martin
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Morning @CNCNewbie Jonathan,
I was thinking of cutting to .025" but I will likely play with it a bit once I get to the OF. I see Martins success at .035" which looks great, so might start there vs .025" and then adjust.
@TMToronto , I’m happy to post up a few picts once its done.
@Jgolden4455 No I do not have VCarve, I use Easel for 95% of my work and Fusion360 for the delta. I just created a simple 2" x 2" grid to a 32" x 32" total coverage using Illustrator and “Saved As” a .svg which imported into Easel with ease.
Hope that helps!
-Alex
That’s might nice of you. I am patiently awaiting the arrival of mine. Just thought it was cool you offered.
That is very nice. I’m goin to make an attempt!
i was going to do grid lines with laser, but with vbit cut shallowit gives you something positive to line up to. easy enough to convert this to lightburn and laser on. i did the ruler and numbers in laser on mine.
I find that grid lines are finer and therefore more accurate to line up on.
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Just got the Journeyman set up and wasteboard flattened. Now I am trying to make the grid lines. I got the file created in VCarve Pro, but when I go to create the tool path, I get an error that says Ignoring Unsuitable Vectors. 1 open vectors were identified in the selection and being ignored. There are 0 remaining vectors. I click ok and it will not create the tool path. I tried closing all vectors, checking vectors for errors, and get nothing. I created it by using the poly line tool and just making a 2x2 grid. Planning on using the 60 Vbit and have depth set up as post above. I have looked online and youtube for help, but am struggling. Anyone know what I am doing wrong? Thanks!
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You’re running this as a profile toolpath right?
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Like Josh said - make sure you’re using a profile cut. I also have a 2x2 grid (& #s) VCarve file if you want it.
Well, no. I guess I assumed (incorrectly) that I had to run it as a VCarve/Engraving tool path since it was a V Bit 
. When I changed it to a profile cut, it worked. I will try this out and see how it works and report back if I need your file Jim.
Thanks!
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I would go with lasered lines. They are finer and easier to line up your work to. I created a grid with both vertical and horizontal lines 10mm apart.
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The only reason I could see for grid lines is to get the workpiece parallel to the X and Y axis. I found a much easier way to do it. My spoilboard is deeper than I could flatten with the bit. This left a perfectly parallel lip on the front. I have a couple of pieces of MDF that I ripped on my table saw that I push tight to that lip and then the workpiece tight to the MDF. I then secure the workpiece. The 1F is way more accurate than my eyes to be looking at lines.
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I used this grid with ruler
