Another new guy introduction

[KevinO]

Well, I took the plunge and ordered the Shark Pro Plus. It's due to arrive on Monday so I have a few days to contemplate what I've done. I wanted to introduce myself to the forum because I have a feeling I'm going to have a lot of questions over the next month or so just getting started. Being one of the few (if not the only) Shark owners on Long Island, New York, I'm going to have to rely on you guys to keep me out of trouble!
I hope to be able to carve wooden gears for some of the mechanical gizmos I've been building by hand up to now. I've built several kinetic sculptures by Clayton Boyer and hope to design a few on my own.
I've played with the VCarve and 3DCut software and think I get it in general. I'm an engineer and I've used 3D design software for quite a while. My concerns at the moment are these:

Can anyone recommend a starting set of bits for both 2D and 3D carving? Any recommendations for a good online source?
Is there a way to avoid tabs on internal pocketing of gears? I'm wondering if heavy duty double-sided tape might work.

I'm sure I'll have a million more questions when I start trying to make sawdust, but that's enough for now.

Thanks for any help.

Kevin

[Bob]

Welcome Kevin,
This is going to be fun. I'm working on a design by Alan and Gill Bridgewater right now. It doesn't do much...just moves.
I use a lot of carpet tape to hold gears while cutting. Watch out for "tape boogers".
If the internal pocket is big enough, use a trim router bit to clean off tabs.
For gears, I use .125" and .25" straight bits.
3D, I use .25" straight for roughing, and .125 round nose bits for finishing.
Lots more information will be coming from members to help you out.
Bob

[Eagle55]

Welcome Kevin. I'm not a major cog in the gear works area (LOL I love my jokes) but I know there are some guys cutting gear, and some of them super small, ie hard to even hold on your finger, so I know it can do it. I think you will be glad when you see all the mechanical stuff that it can do to replace a lot of the manual work that you have been doing. I have made several utility pieces that have saved a lot of time and turned out better. You will find a lot of post regarding bits and sources when you search, but Bob has hit on the main ones that many people use at first. I have recently bought some China made carbide .125 Round Nose bits on ebay. They look almost identical to the Presise Bit that I bought that is like it, although a little cheaper looking but seems to cut ok and where I think I gave around $20 plus shipping for the one, I bought 10 of the Chinese bits for about $17 including shipping. So even if they don't last as long it may turn out to be a good buy.

Theres a great base of people here on the forum and I have found them to be very knowledgeable and willing to help. Good Luck

Roger

[GARYR6]

Welcome.......
Learn to search the forum both here and on Vectric.
Like bits and sources. You are not the first to ask this question and not the last.
Most of us use 1/16, 1/8, 1/4 ball nose, 15,3o,60,90,120 v bits.
1/4 ,1/2 stright bits for roughing. Lots of places carry them, most of us have a favorite place.
Happy dust making.

[KevinO]

Well, it's been almost four months so I guess I'm no longer a "new guy". I've made a fair amount of dust so far with pretty good success. I recently modified a kinetic sculpture I had built the old fashioned way (that is by hand) and added a hand crank instead of a dead weight. The modification was done on my Shark and included several gears. You can see it in the attached picture. It's the Space Time Continuum Kinetic Sculpture by Clayton Boyer.

One problem I have in machining gears out of plywood with the Shark is the "fuzzies". I've tried all kinds of feed rates, cut depths, and router speeds without much luck. It adds a lot of sanding labor back into the process that I'd like to avoid. Does anyone have any suggestions for eliminating them? I'm sure there's some simple fix that I haven't thought of. I researched the forum with mixed results.

Thanks.
Kevin

[cjablonski]

"Well, I took the plunge and ordered the Shark Pro Plus. It's due to arrive on Monday so I have a few days to contemplate what I've done." GREAT opening line as i have just purchased mine on monday for a thursday delivery. Laughed heartily as i now feel the same way:).I have felt the same (happily) and it perfectly describes my first sentiment. I too believe that i will also need to rely heavily on others here for support to start, but am also anxious for its arrival and hopefull that many great things will come from its purchase. Best of luck and may the chips be of the productive kind!

[4DThinker]

One problem I have in machining gears out of plywood with the Shark is the "fuzzies". Thanks.
Kevin

I cut alot of plywood, and get the best results using a downcut spiral for the first shallow pass followed with an upcut spiral for the rest of the cut. Yes, it is a pain to change bits during a cut, but worth it if you're using alot of plywood. I didn't even realize there WAS such a bit until I got my Shark and was having the same fuzzies. Plywood varies quite a bit though, so results may vary from sheet to sheet.

[KevinO]

cjablonski: Good luck with your new machine. I've really enjoyed mine. This forum is definitely the place to come for answers to your start-up issues.

4DThinker: Thanks for the great tip about the downcut and upcut spiral bits. I am going to buy a few today. The minor inconvenience of changing bits would be way more than offset by the sanding time saved. I do a lot of complex shapes in plywood and the sanding part is tedious. I did find that part of my problem with fuzzies was using bits that were worn. I now replace bits sooner and that helps somewhat. Any thoughts about bit diameter, speeds and feeds when cutting plywood? I use an 0.062 inch diameter bit for gears, 15 inch/minute and pass depth of 0.031 inch. That's probably considered conservative but it works for me.

[Eagle55]

I pretty much agree with the theory that 4DThinker put forth, but wanted to confirm that you are going in the right direction with the feed speed. Although it might seem conservative, for that diameter bit it needs to be slow and shallow. And although stronger bits can be run faster I am a be supporter of "slow" is better. It gives the router time to cut at a speed that is not only much cleaner but more accurate because you don't put higher pressures on the gantry assembly which can flex it causing less accurate cuts. There are a lot of benefits of the Shark and some disadvantages too. One of the thing that greatly reduces weight and cost is its construction, but that comes with a price.... the flex in the overall machine. My theory is if I want speed and accuracy too, then maybe I should be looking at a $20,000 which would mean I break out the Rockler Letter routing templates, because I wouldn't be in the CNC class any more. Its a great machine but you have to test the limits then stay within them. You do some very good work. I love your gear "machines". I'm not sure I have the patience to do the design work for that just yet, but maybe some day. LOL

Roger

[4DThinker]

I keep to no more depth per pass than 1 x the bit diameter. 1/4" bit = 1/4" per pass. I keep offset at 40%, but a lower number if you're getting lots of splitting as it cuts. The Onsrud site has table for different material. Take the value they list for a specific bit, then plug it into the formula at the bottom of each page.

For example, on their sheet for Soft Wood Cutting Data: They list a 1/16" bit as .001-.003. I don't have their particular bit, but using.002 as Chip Load and their formula: Feed Rate (Inches per minute) = RPM x # of cutting edges x Chip Load. Using 16,000rmp, a two-edged bit, I get 16,000 x 2 x .002 = 64. So 64 inches per minute is their recommended feed rate cutting 1/16" deep in soft wood. They add to reduce chip load (in the formula) by 25% if you cut 2x (1/8"), and reduce it by 50% if you are cutting 3x (3/16").

Oh the fun, eh?