Looking for some advice on how to approach a project i’m thinking of making.
Which software would you recommend for the design? Would this be possible in MillMage or similar? Or better in Fusion or the like?
And what bits would you suggest for the carves?
The idea:
I was thinking of making a sort of marble track for my little one. But instead of small marbles that pose a choking hazard I like to pair it with his bigger wooden balls.
What im trying to achieve is multiple curved tracks in a sloped piece of wood. With each track having the shape of the ball on the inner side so it neatly fits while rolling down.
Now that last part is whats my question is about. How to create this? The diameter is too big for a bowl and tray / box bit to properly mimic the ball 's shape I assume (not that it has too be exact the same to work, but esthaticallyI think it would be nice if the radius is about the same with being a tat wider to properly Let the ball roll). The ball is about 5cm wide.
Added a few illustratieve drawings. Not the best drawings haha but yeah, hope it paints a picture.
@CuttingTheCrapAlex I can’t speak to Millmage or Fusion. This can be done using the moulding toolpath in VCarvePro, with a 1/4" ballnose mill. Quick and dirty. Is this the idea?
Awesome! Yes indeed. Exactly like that. Could you share which settings you set for that result?
I’m in assembly of the Altmill and planning to get started with MillMage due to the price and free trial, just see if it fits my needs as vcarve pro is such expensive. Also the company behind MillMage seems like they really are putting effort in further developing their product quickly.
A few years back I cam across this here bowl bit and was like.. omg that’s awesome! And I wanted one but never had a real purpose for it that would legitimate the investment. If I cannot find a good reason beyond kewl, I forbid myself to spend money on it.
I think this one would make carving your tracks a short story to tell.
Duuuude you have a legitimit reason to get this beast! I am not jalous!
Wow, did not expect such a bit to exist! That’s a huge thing.
However by the way that @gwilki is suggesting it will allow for a deeper cut i guess? But then again, this would be enough curve to guide the ball and would probably be a faster carve (assumption).
Also came across a fluting toolpaths. Also might seem like an option I guess. Have to dig a bit more into that. So much to learn!
@CuttingTheCrapAlex I used the moulding toolpath in VCarvePro. I don’t know if Millmage has an equivalent function. I can send you a .crv file, but it will not help if you don’t have VCarvePro 12.
Gotcha. I was wondering if there are specific settings to this toolpath to let it cut like that. But let me do my part first and experiment with MillMage as I start the trial.
@CuttingTheCrapAlex If Millmage can’t do it and you don’t want to buy vCarve, Fusion can do this with the loft tool. You’ll essentially create a 3D model that you then carve with a ball nose or tapered ball nose.
@CuttingTheCrapAlex The moulding toolpath just takes a drive rail and runs a profile along it. So, for your project, I created a half circle of a diameter of 2.1" or just over the diameter of the ball. Then, freehand drew a curved “track”. The software does the rest. I fiddled with it a bit to get a smooth run, but it’s pretty straight forward for this toolpath.
As @Chucky_ott said, another approach would be to create a 3D model. I can’t do that in VCarve. I would need to use Aspire in the Vectric family and I don’t have that. The upside of the 3D model over the moulding toolpath is that you can be a bit more imaginative. The downside is that the 3D model will take quite a bit longer to carve.
@CuttingTheCrapAlex There is no question that would make the project easy. I knew about similar bits, but I was trying to accommodate the 50cm ball. Also, I didn’t think to ask the max shaft size that your router/spindle can handle. (Mine will only take up to 1/4") If you can use that bit, you could take shallow passes to keep your machine happy. In VCarve and I would imagine in MillMage, too, this would be a simple profile toolpath, cut on the line. Very easy to do.
PS. If you can accept a 1/2" shank, both Whiteside and Amana have similar box core bits. They will be more pricey, though.
The 220V makita-rt0701c comes with a 6mm and an 8mm collet adapters when purchased on mainland europe. I added the 6.35mm and 3,175mm collets when I ordered my longmill, to be able to use the starter bitset purchased from sienci. It is however nice to have the 8mm option for larger bits I purchase locally and even the 6mm collet comes in handy when I can’t get the 8mm version. 3mm shanks I chuck into my 3.175mm collet.
If you feel you would,like to have a wee more chunky bits in your machine, the collets are available.
@CuttingTheCrapAlex Maybe it’s just me but I always get nervous when I see such a large diameter bit on such a skinny shank. Definitely use shallow passes like @gwilki suggests.
