I’ve had situations where I needed to flip or make additional carves after removing the piece from spoilboard. I usually use center as zero. If I home machine and then move work zero to my secured piece, is it valid to record the actual machine X,Y axis locations in case I need to return there or after flipping it? I guess I could do the same for Z. I know it won’t necessarily be lined up on the grid. In one real scenario, the center of the piece “X” was machined away.
I was a machinist (metals, copper, aluminum, delrin, etc.) for quite a long time, and this challenge was pretty common. I’m sure there are multiple ways to do this, but IMHO, the best way is…
- clamp the workpiece to the spoil board
- using the spindle, drill a .250 hole in opposing corners of the workpiece and spoil board
- use .250 dowels in the holes, assuring they are press fit (snug)
- remove the workpiece as needed, but make sure the holes are still useable for aligning the workpiece back to the spoil board.
Interesting. Sounds good and then makes me think of other mechanical means to lock it in place. I’ll give that a try. The problem I had was carving a small box lid that has a carved design on the top and the bottom of the lid was cut to fit inside the box.
I have a 90 deg “square” mounted on my spoilboard If the part is rectangular I first cut the profile and joinery then pressing the part into the 90 deg square engrave/carve side 1 then flip it and press the corresponding corner into the 90. I used to use wedges to hold the work, now I use pneumatic cylinders. quick and accurate enough.
For 2 sided bowls I drill bolt holes to align with the tnuts in my SB, carve each side except being careful to stay inside the bolt heads, and do the final cut on the bandsaw.
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