Hi everyone, I’m looking at getting a CNC machine that can actually cut material out and not simply cut. The X-carve suggests that it can carve, but will it be able to actually cut stuff out? For example, if I have a 1" thick piece of wood, and I want to cut out the letter “A” so that I am only left…

Is a frog’s behind water tight? You bet it is, and so can the x-carve cut out letters, even at 1" thick, and do a very good job of it as well.

Sure it can. That is what all the talk of “Tab Placement” is about. (When cutting out a shape you leave a bit of a connecting tab so the part doesn’t pop free and get chewed up or thrown by the bit. An alternative is to hold down the whole work piece with double sided tape.) In the V-Carve pro sof…

Here’s an A for you! And three other letters. Only the letters were done on the x-carve. I recommend “ramped tabs” as they leave fewer tooling marks IMHO. [image]

been having some issues with tooling marks, going to have to give the ramped tabs a try! thanks for the suggestion

[image] CharleyThomas: Is a frog’s behind water tight? You bet it is, and so can the x-carve cut out letters, even at 1" thick, and do a very good job of it as well. Thank you for your reply. You mentioned that it can do this even at 1". I understand the z-axis travel is at 2.5"… does this i…

[image] WilliamJames: does this imply that I would be able to cut out letters up to 2.5" thick? err yes…? Profile Cutting that thick would be a challenge. Part of it is you would need a bit that long. (This is why I have a 3" long 1/8" end mill) The longer the bit the more cut quality issu…

[image] AaronMatthews: err yes…?Profile Cutting that thick would be a challenge.Part of it is you would need a bit that long. (This is why I have a 3" long 1/8" end mill)The longer the bit the more cut quality issues you would have. (flex in the tool under load) So the slower you have to cut. So…

Cutting depth is limited by end mill length and the length of fluted area which cuts. My longest endmill is 3" o.a.l. w/ 1" flutes, and I’ve cut through 1" stock: Shapeoko CNC Router, Rigid, Accurate, Reliable, and Affordable Learn about the Shapeoko CNC Routers. They're fast, accura…

Not that my opinion has any definitive standing to it, but I do concur with all the above replies to your question.

You can also cut two or more layers and laminate them together. Sand them flush and no one is the wiser. A Dremel is helpful for this.

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Carve vs Cut

WilliamJames August 31, 2015, 9:25pm 6

Thank you for your reply. You mentioned that it can do this even at 1". I understand the z-axis travel is at 2.5"… does this imply that I would be able to cut out letters up to 2.5" thick?

Thanks again