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The spoilboard took about an hour. The tool box organizer took about 20 mins and the laser engraving was only about 4 minutes once I got the right settings. I did a Lightburn material test on mdf before doing this project and that took an hour. Ironically, the settings on the test didn’t quite match the when doing it for the actual project. However, it was super easy to go back and bump up the settings and do it again.
Since I just got everything a few days ago, I was a little irked by the release of the quad laser today. I would definitely have been interested in that but there is zero chance I’m forking out another $1,200 when I just paid $800 something for this one and there are no trade ins. This one still works well but the grass is always greener!
Vacuum platen for my Journeyman. I will do a writeup of the whole build when it’s completed. A few coats of sealer and pluming up to the motor and I’m holding work without glue tape or clamps!
The waste board will seal down over this and be consumable.
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If I remember correctly, it didn’t take too long. I think it was around 4 or 5 hours with just the finish pass with the tapered ball nose. Sorry about the late reply to your question…
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Looks so good!! If you’re on the search for gasket material, I’ve had good luck with All Star CNC’s in-board gasketing. The adhesive backed stuff is particularly good for the perimeter where you don’t need to remove it, or for dedicated vacuum fixtures for specific production parts: [https://allstarcnc.com/]
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Looks great! I’ll definitely be interested in seeing your complete write up on this build. What vacuum motor/blower is that?
Thanks.
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Thanks. I’m running a gasket along the outside edge but will cap the entire platen with a sheet of MDF. The vacuum will pull through the MDF material so I have a flat cutting surface which will also be my spoilboard. If I want to hold small work I’ll sheet plastic the areas not in use to focus hold. That’s worked in other examples I’ve followed and will mostly work for my case since I’m typically cutting 48x32 sheets.
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Thanks, I thought it might be something like that.
Thanks, looks like lots of good info there.
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That’s where I found and bought my motor. The owner was very helpful about answering questions. Some of the links are not quite what they used to be. The forums and videos were redacted when one of the key partners decided to make vacuum setups for money.
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That’s pretty cool! Did you design this yourself?
I did. This is my design for a 1/9 scale barn. I designed it for one of our neighbor’s daughters Christmas.
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You did an amazing job on those flowers!! 
Was the vase a 3D model that you sliced, or did you design it as all those separate layers? I haven’t seen many projects done this way.
Thanks! Turns out I like flower arranging! It’s 28 pieces of 3/4 plywood cut on the CNC then stacked.
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Beautiful and creative. I’ve considered using the CNC to create life sized statues. How did you get the layers of the plywood to smoothly transition from one layer to the next? What software are you using?
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