I have limited experience using the tiling feature of Vcarve to assemble projects larger than the 32x32 extents of my OF Woodworker, and only so-so results. The problem is not the alignment of the various toolpaths during final assembly, it is the difficulty in perfectly mating/gluing the several subpanels without visible lines/seams/lips.
I now have a commission for an 8ft x 4ft project, and it occurs to me that since my spindle can easily reach to carve below the depth of the OF’s feet, I could actually set the OF itself on top of the panel to be carved. My failure of imagination, however, is how to pull off actually registering the position of the OF accurately enough as I move it around on this large panel. Any suggestions (or alternatives) would be most welcome. Thanks in advance.
Oh I haven’t a clue myself but I’m really looking forward to the answer. Don’t know if I would try to myself ( my machine is encased in an enclosure ) but I love seeing how people work things out.
I watched this video the other day and it shows how to tile using Vcarve. Instead of drilling a through hole using Vcarve feature of being able to work both sides of your project you could easily have the back side have locating holes for pins.
I haven’t ordered my 1F yet so I can’t test this for you. I would also suggest doing this on a smaller piece of scrap wood should help you test it before you try on your own the 4x8 project.
I tiled a few projects on my old 3018. To do it I installed a fence on the y-axis only with a scribed line to indicate the zero position. In my tiled file I carved a scribed line where each successive stage would need to align to the fence’s scribe line.
Dowel pins work okay too though in my current spoil board set up I have pvc bench dogs. You could do similar and indicate the cnc in on the first tile relative to a bench pattern it also cut in a previous step and have it mill a thru hole in spoil on one edge of your sign to repeat the relationship.
You might also consider including a fixed reference point from which to re-zero. Incase of power failure or a need to hit the e-stop.
Thanks Duke, Mike, but I am thinking about how to leave the panel a single 8x4ft sheet and shifting the CNC itself in both X and Y with registration from on top of the panel.
Since my final product exceeds both X and Y limits of my Onefinity, X or Y passthrough (Vcarve terms) isn’t an option, I would have to choose the option to generate separate sections (8 of them) with the attendant headache of trying to perfectly mate them while gluing together again.
Not totally sure what you’re describing but I’ve been using v bits to make locating marks on pieces lately…perhaps you could incorporate some into your design.
To me moving the machine would increase the chance of errors and they’re not very light. Tiling to me would be the way to go and using the software to do the heavy lifting for you. No need to worry about cutting and gluing it back together just process the whole sheet at once.
Please note I’ve only had experience with large CNC machines dealing with metal and alloys and none with desktop machines. Hopefully someone with more experience with these machines will step in and help guide you and I’ll be able to learn in the process.
Duke, you are right about the difficulties with moving the machine, but I would prefer that to having to assemble multiple subsections later. The only tiling option with the machine staying in place would be multiple subsections - you can’t use pass-thru when the panel you are carving is larger than both X and Y at the same time.
How are you planning to secure the 1F to the 4x8 sheet? Are you going to screw it down or try some kind of clamps? Just sitting it on top of the sheet would likely lead to it moving around, especially with any kind of significant cutting.
Just blue skying here, but how about making two runners attached to each side of your 4’x8’ extending ,say , six inches each end. Now fasten your Woodworker to a 48"x 66" sheet of 1/2" ply. Ensure all is square, then program the machine to cut out your 32"x32" workspace from the sheet it is fastened to. Now cut a 16" wide strip of 1/2" ply from the remainder of the sheet you made your base from. Finally, run a board fastened to one side of your base to act as a fence. Now you can mount the machine using the fence to flush it up to one side of your work surface ( the runners are so it doesn’t droop over the sides ), clamp it in place and run 24"x32" of your design. Unclamp, slide the machine over and using the 16" spacer ,register the fence and spacer to the same side, clamp in place and tile another 24" x 32" of your design. Rinse and repeat four more times and there you go, all done. I would want to do a dry run on some inexpensive material to ensure this system works and to work out any kinks with tiling but this is how I would engineer it if I had a project like this. I’m sure others will chime in and tell you if you got a Journeyman, you would only have to tile 3 times and you wouldn’t even need to dismount your machine but I’m a firm believer in dancing with the girl that brought you ( or using the equipment you already have).
Sorry I missed the original proposed solution concept.
This seems somewhat reasonable. Securing the machine repeatedly to the work piece will be non trivial. A scribe index to indicate the locations may be close enough for precision.
Alternatively thinking outside the box, can the 1F be used to make templates pieces for a conventional router to do this job? I often find I use the capability of the 1f as a crutch for plain skill that sometimes means I work harder to make the 1f do the job. Instead I find in hindsight I could have used the 1f more simply to create a tool to help me do the project using more conventional methods.
Same. That gift box I made I used the cnc to give a zero-kerf miter to the grain pattern. I spent a day trying to figure out how to make Fusion360 do the necessary passes with a 60degV bit (brain hurt to visualize it any other way) when I could have just used my table saw. But it wouldn’t have been as cool.
My solution to tiling was to get a drill guide kit. Something like:
and some gage pins …
I measured the diameter of the guide, then made an MDF colder with a 6" grid of the drill guide radii. So now I can lay down a pattern of 1/4" holes in my spoilboard AND my workpiece.
( or using the equipment you already have).
I’ve been guilty of spending a half day making the CNC cut a 45 degree sloped cut.
