I’ve seen people making pieces that (when complete) have little tabs in place holding the design to the board it was cut from. They then go in with a jig saw and sander to remove and clean up the piece.
What’s the trick to completely cutting out a piece? With clamps, they only hold the board edges, but not the area that is being cut out so it could move and get damaged.
Is double sided tape the best solution? Stick your board to the wasteboard and be sure to have some tape underneath the area to be cut out, so when cut it doesn’t move?
Yes, the double sided carpet tape is very effective. Are you wanting to avoid using tabs?
Another trick is to make the profile cut just slightly less deep than the thickness of the work material (.01 inch)
Then you can use a belt sander to remove the last bit of material from the back.
I use tabs and then a knife to cut the piece free. After I use a file and sandpaper to clean of the edges. You could use double sided tape, it would just be difficult to make sure there is tape under the piece that is being cut out.
I was curious what the “tricks of the trade” were.
I haven’t received my X-Carve yet, but I feel like it’d be a lot nicer to not have tabs you cut off and clean up and would be more precise having the machine just do the cut for you. (guess this also gives potential of screwing up your washboard a lot faster if you aren’t careful).
I’ll have to experiment with tape and the sanding options alongside the tape route.
I did order clamps as that’ll work great for carving, just thinking about when a piece is completely cut.
Consider a very small razor/kerf saw. It’s what I use for tab removal. Just need the tabs placement tool in Easel to avoid having tabs on curves where possible.
I’ve used tabs frequently, or with chillipeppr I will use an M6 (tool change, but in CP causes a pause) to stop the program at a designated point, and change my clamping once the first part of the profile is cut. For instance, cut out 80% of it, then use screws with large washers through the kerf to attach both pieces down, then resume the cut to sever the remaining material.
I ordered now, $9.57 + free shipping.
Hey Allen, Are you the one purchased 1/8 Colette from somewhere. I can’t find the link. This stupid insert adapters start failing.
On same page, on the right hand side it’s showing another sellers as recommendation.
I ordered Colette also.
Watch out, there are multiple Colette on same page. the one I purchased is $19.50, it says for Palm Router DWP611.
Almost all of my tools are either quarter or eighth-inch, so I should be good there! I ordered the 1/8, which will give me back access to the large pile of tiny endmills I have from the discard bin at work.
Not sure if these are available outside of the UK but I use this set. Small kerf saw, mitre block, excellent small sanding block and a ton of different blades. Makes tab removal and cleanup a breeze.
Use the saw to cut the tab close to the item, then a small paring blade to get it flush then the sanding block. Takes five minutes. I used to use double sided tape but that always seemed to leave residue.
