Christmas Contest 2021

I used a piece of sanded plywood 9x 24. I finished it with Kona stain. I used a round over but to make the edges nicer. I then carved with a 1/4” 90 degree v carve but set to 1/4” depth. I used Oramask and was going to paint but liked natural design better. Everything went smoothly on the Longmill. Very happy with the outcome.

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This signs is designed in aspire and made completely on the longmill 30x30. Used a 1/8 compression bit to cut the profiles. Separate, paint and glue together. This sign is 25"x18"x1.5". Made this as a gift for one my of family members as they are a big cheifs fan. Tool about 25 minute’s to cut on the longmill.

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@I535woodworks Welcome to the group, Les. Your first post is very impressive. Well done, and good luck in the contest.

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@Tristan Nicely done, Tristan. I am interested in your approach. I just did a similar plaque for a 49er’s fan, using an approach very much like yours. Great minds think alike, I guess. :grinning:

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Playing Card Deck Holder
Makes passing the deck of cards around the table a lot easier. These are some of the Xmas gift requests I have on the go. Use to make these with 3D printer but the Longmill more fun & a lot quicker to boot. About 40 minutes (not including finish) vs 5 hours with 3D printer.
Holders are 177mm x 114mm x 24mm. Use a 1/4" up/down endmill for pockets (~17mm deep) & outer profile cut, 1/4" 90’Vbit for icons & text. The logo engraving on the bottom was done with my old Mill One V3 that’s been modified & retrofitted with a 5W laser.
These were all finished with Tung & Teak oil but will use wipe on poly if I stain them. Felt pads on the bottom help them slide on the table easier. Designed in Tinkercad, transitioned to Easel & now to Vcarve desktop. Still modifying slightly to remove sharp edges & corners or just tweaking.
Use whatever I have in the shop wood wise, although some woods will splinter if running too aggressive in the cuts/speeds. Also pays to double check spelling of persons names before doing the carve…

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Here is a Vectric project done on the Longmill. Base is Maple and the parts are cedar. Used a 6 mm compression bit and a 60 degree Vbit. Used Oracal mask on base before Vbit cut.

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Nothing fancy, wife made it look nice with some ornaments, color, and a hand made ribbon.

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Simple pocket (endmill) and vcarve (30degree vbit) a calavera (sugar skull)

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We made ornaments to paint as a fundraiser for charity. Our Comm Tech teacher designed our mascot with some Christmas flair, a quick caption on the back and we were off! I’ve found Easel to be incredibly easy to use for design and operation of our new Longmill 30x30. Issues included alignment when flipping the workpiece and using the tabs function so when the pieces get cut out they don’t go flying. Also figuring out how to run the second half of a job the next day. Ended up just making a copy of the file and deleting what had already been carved. Also sped up the Mill like crazy and it remained super-accurate. Now I just need to level our table… G codes can be found here, new user so I couldn’t upload them here.

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Wow there’s some amazing projects on here. This was my first-ever so go easy!

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No worries Joe @Joe_Lawrence , we’re all here to learn from each other :slight_smile:

I’m curious to know, for any self proclaimed newbies out there, what has been the most difficult part of learning the machine so far?

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PROJECT DESCRIPTION

This is a LongMill 30"x30" project designed to look like an acoustic guitar with laser engraved lyrics to the song title “I’ll Remember You, Love in My Prayers”. The look on the gentleman’s face in the pictures is what this project story is all about and how the LongMill has opened a doorway to fulfill the imaginations and dreams of whomever we create for.

The gentleman in the pictures is a widower, who’s wife passed away from an illness sometime in the past couple years. Every evening when he put her to bed, he would whisper the song to her which was their favorite growing up. The singing would sooth her to sleep, eternally entrenching the memory of their last months together in his mind. For them it was a memory that spanned the beginning of their life together and until they did so depart.

When recently approached by this gentleman’s son regarding of doing a design he had seen on Etsy, he was told that we have a Sienci LongMill CNC machine and we can do much better than that. With no idea of what it was for, we were armed with a desire to create a template that we could reuse for future projects and we underpriced this one knowing that this would be worth the effort.

When it came time to pickup the guitar, the gentleman’s son was astounded at what we had done for him. With a tear in his eye, he said, you have no idea what this will mean to my father. Although this was meant to be a Christmas gift, the family decided to give it to him early for his birthday instead. The look on his father’s face in the pictures says it all.

LESSONS LEARNED

  • This one was done in pine and although hardwoods were discussed with the customer, it was cost prohobitive
  • Pine is prone to tear out and rough cuts, thus the reason why the laser was chosen. Pine does not burn as dark as hardwoods.
  • Body cuts were done first, slots painted, body sanded to remove overpaint and then lasered. Paint masking or wood pre-varathaning was not required knowing the cuts for the painted areas were not complex or prone to tear-outs. Sanding with 180 to remove the overpaint and then to 320 grit for a smooth finish.
  • Guitar neck, rounded profile was created in Vectric VCarve Pro. The Aspire version is needed to taper the profile from one end to the other.

PROJECT TECHNICAL DETAILS

General

  • Two part project, neck and guitar body
  • Body measures 22” wide by 26” high
  • Neck measures 4” wide by 28” high
  • Both cut from 1.5” thick edge jointed pine
  • Software, Vectric VCarve Pro
  • Laser, Banggood 5.5watt
  • All project design elements and tool paths created by myself

Neck Tool Paths

  • Rounded neck profile on back, 1/4” ball endmill (profile tool path in VCarve)
  • Flat pockets, 1/4” flat end mill (down cut)
  • Cutout, 1/4” flat end mill (down cut, 1.5” cutters)

Body Tool Paths

  • Keyhole slot, 1/8” down cut end mill
  • Keyhole slot, 3/8” keyhole bit from Lee Valley
  • Company name, 60 degree v-bit from Lee Valley
  • Neck slot, 1/4” end mill
  • Middle hole, 1/4” end mill
  • Body outline, 1/8” end mill

010203

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This project is truly special Derek, thank you for sharing their story with us.

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Name: Custom Made Picture Frame for Christmas Grandma

Usecase: make a unique gift for Grandma
Material: Hobby Lobby Basswood Plank, Acrylic Sheet
Size: 5X7 Picture Frame
Cut Time: 1.5 hrs
Finish Time 1-2 Days with sanding and finishing with stain and seal coat
Lessons Learned: Precision is tricky since its a front and back cut so i had to make a center mark both on mateirla and spoil board to line center up when flipped. If you look closely you can see the inner cutout isnt fully centered… The Honey comb inner design was a happy accedent from carbide create of using their advance vcarve option. Took about 5 trys to get the right dept and lettering of the correct.

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Name: Custom Made Prayer Kneeler

Usecase: Make a unique that can be flat pack and assembled for Christina Charity Event
Material: Birch Plywood, Stain, Mini Magnets
Size: Multiple
Cut Time: 1.5 hrs
Finish Time 1-2 Days with sanding and finishing with stain and seal coat
Lessons Learned: Original design was handmade using electric hand tools total time took about 3-5 days. New design is repeatable and only take less than 2 hours to cut and you can get 2 on a 4’x8’ sheet of ply. No Screws are required part fit together with glue. Each piece is replaceable and design folds up vertical to save space and stays closed with magnets. Its tricket to get Plywood dimensions perfect especially for inserts and inconsistancy in center sheets especially if material is from big box store. Long mill helped to get from 3-5 days of manufacturing time to make 1 to less than a day to make 2.

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That honeycomb pattern is very unique @jad66. Did you keep the live edge on the material?

Glad to see that the LongMill is helping you reduce manufacturing time :slight_smile:

Yes i kept the live edge on the material what i did was seal it so it didnt crackle and fall off.

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it still saying im a new user btw and i can only do one reply to post

Special request earring box. Lid & box from single solid piece of Mahogany with insert done in 1/4” Poplar. 140x110x45mm. 1/4” up/down end mill & 1/8” end mill for the box. 4.9’ tapered ball nose & 1/8” end mill for the inset. 1/4” end mill for the lid. 2” round mirror inside of lid & self adhesive felt for bottom (which needs tweaking…miserable stuff to work with) .

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Santa Please Stop Here Sign

Design process – Fusion 360

Creating Tool Paths – Fusion 360

  • Setup board 12” x 30” x ¾” in manufacturing workspace.
  • Cut Santa and sleigh using 2D pocket command with 1/16” down cut end mill. Spindle speed 20,000 RPM, feed rate 60 inches/minute. Multiple cuts 0.04” deep.
  • Cut the words; PLEASE, STOP and here using 2D pocket command with 1/16” down cut end mill. Spindle speed 20,000 RPM, feed rate 60 inches/minute. Multiple cuts 0.04” deep.
  • Cut the shapes using engrave command, with 90-degree V groove router bit. Spindle speed 20,000 RPM, feed rate 60 inches/minute.
  • Cut the words; Santa Claus using engrave command, with 90-degree V groove router bit. Spindle speed 20,000 RPM, feed rate 60 inches/minute.
  • Cut the outline using 2D contour command with ¼” compression end mill. Tabs added. Spindle speed 20,000 RPM, feed rate 60 inches/minute. Multiple cuts 0.12” deep.
  • Created tool paths using the Fusion 360 post process feature.

Manufacturing – Longmill 30 x 30, with Makita Router – UGS software

  • Clamped 12” x 30” board into Longmill using screws. Screw heads counterbored down at least ¼” each.
  • Surfaced board using ½” surfacing bit. Jogged router.
  • Sanded surface slightly.
  • Painted surface white.
  • Waited approximately 24 hours for paint to dry.
  • Applied Oramask 813.
  • Cut all tool paths as outlined in tool path section above.
  • Removed board from Longmill.
  • Painted letter and shape areas with green and red paint.
  • Removed Oramask.
  • Touched up a few areas with paints.
  • Created frame separately using table saw and router.
  • Added frame to sign.
  • Finished with polyurethane.
  • Added lights.

Problems

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