# 3d carve mistakes **URL:** \ **Category:** Vectric\ **Created:** [November 23, 2025, 4:11am UTC](https://forum.sienci.com/t/3d-carve-mistakes/25024 "2025-11-23T04:11:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gjock](https://forum.sienci.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/a9a28c/32.png) [@Gjock](https://forum.sienci.com/u/Gjock)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2025, 4:11am UTC](https://forum.sienci.com/t/3d-carve-mistakes/25024/1 "2025-11-23T04:11:34Z")
My first 3d carve didn’t turn out well. Any idea what I did wrong? I used V carve 12.5 on Altmill 4x4. ![IMG_6750](https://forum.sienci.com/uploads/default/original/2X/b/b05a07fc90a216ffa130d8274bcc3661b7c40a84.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![Jens](https://forum.sienci.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/d2c977/32.png) [@Jens](https://forum.sienci.com/u/Jens)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2025, 5:56am UTC](https://forum.sienci.com/t/3d-carve-mistakes/25024/2 "2025-11-23T05:56:43Z")
What kind of cutter did you use for the fine pass? Did you do a fine pass? You need to use a tapered ball endmill with a very fine point if you want detail. Also, what is the diameter of the carve. It also depends on how you got the file - did you generate it yourself? Maybe from a picture (those don’t turn out well) Could be any combination of the above - hard to say without more details. ---
**Author:** ![Gjock](https://forum.sienci.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/a9a28c/32.png) [@Gjock](https://forum.sienci.com/u/Gjock)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2025, 7:05am UTC](https://forum.sienci.com/t/3d-carve-mistakes/25024/3 "2025-11-23T07:05:38Z")
I used a 1/8” ball nose. The carve is 3” diameter and I bought the file off Etsy from a seller with a 4.9 rating. ---
**Author:** ![Jens](https://forum.sienci.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/d2c977/32.png) [@Jens](https://forum.sienci.com/u/Jens)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2025, 7:47am UTC](https://forum.sienci.com/t/3d-carve-mistakes/25024/4 "2025-11-23T07:47:18Z")
Hopefully other people will chime in but it sounds to me that a 1/8 ballnose endmill is way too large a tool for the kind of detail you are expecting. I would use a 1/32 tapered ball nose endmill. ---
**Author:** ![whitewolf](https://forum.sienci.com/user_avatar/forum.sienci.com/whitewolf/32/7626_2.png) [@whitewolf](https://forum.sienci.com/u/whitewolf)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2025, 9:10am UTC](https://forum.sienci.com/t/3d-carve-mistakes/25024/5 "2025-11-23T09:10:07Z")
I would agree that the 1/8” was too large for a 3” diameter carve. If you had the wood to spare, or even some particle board, I would update your VCarve to a 6” or larger stock for that size bit. Or as Jens suggested, try a 1/32” bit to get the detail on a 3” diameter. I have purchased a few designs off Etsy as well and so far, they have all turned out well. ---
**Author:** ![KNS](https://forum.sienci.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/k/f04885/32.png) [@KNS](https://forum.sienci.com/u/KNS)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2025, 11:39am UTC](https://forum.sienci.com/t/3d-carve-mistakes/25024/6 "2025-11-23T11:39:39Z")
I’ve taken to using an R0.5mm tapered ball nose for any finishing pass when there is a lot of fine detail. ---
**Author:** ![Gjock](https://forum.sienci.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/a9a28c/32.png) [@Gjock](https://forum.sienci.com/u/Gjock)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 12:45am UTC](https://forum.sienci.com/t/3d-carve-mistakes/25024/7 "2025-12-02T00:45:22Z")
Now that I have the right bits ![IMG_6832](https://forum.sienci.com/uploads/default/original/2X/9/935cc75a0f97030f9d1b8c27d5040b059511447e.jpeg) for the final pass, I tried loading it again and when I tried to load the 1/8 bit for the rough pass, I got this message. What does this mean? ---
**Author:** ![whitewolf](https://forum.sienci.com/user_avatar/forum.sienci.com/whitewolf/32/7626_2.png) [@whitewolf](https://forum.sienci.com/u/whitewolf)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 12:54am UTC](https://forum.sienci.com/t/3d-carve-mistakes/25024/8 "2025-12-02T00:54:46Z")
Hmm, double check the tool selection for the roughing pass. I typically use an downcut for my roughing passes (as opposed to a ballnose). Also, you could try a 1/4” if you have one. ---
**Author:** ![Gjock](https://forum.sienci.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/a9a28c/32.png) [@Gjock](https://forum.sienci.com/u/Gjock)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 12:56am UTC](https://forum.sienci.com/t/3d-carve-mistakes/25024/9 "2025-12-02T00:56:15Z")
Thank you, I’ll try tomorrow.