Step one of the profile carving.

Step one of the profile carving. I will be amazed if this actually turns out! Will post the results. Good, bad, or ugly.

Well, I guess it’s good, bad and ugly. Set my material thickness wrong, so it didn’t cut deep enough for this. I guess I can make it look okay with a lot of tedious sanding.

Did you resolve your original issue? If you are losing steps, you will never be able to do a decent relief carving? If you did resolve it, post back so others with same issue can use in the future. You seem to be trying to sprint before you are even walking.

@Kelly_Burns No way to know if I resolved the missing step issue without doing some cutting. All I could do was to back off on the cut depth, and feed speed, and have a go at it. That seemed to solve it for the most part. Yeah, it looks like crap, but I believe the wood is a bit on the damp side. Haven’t had a chance to try it again with another, drier slab of wood.
It doesn’t miss steps unless I’m cutting something. It kinda sucks to stop 30,000 steps into the code to recheck my zero, only to have to start from the beginning if it checks out. One major thing that’s missing with Bcnc, is the ability to restart where you left off.
I don’t want to post that it’s fixed until I know for sure.

@Hobby_Fab Much too kind. Am cutting it again with a few changes. Should come out better. Will post the results.

I have to say that this turned out a little better. .25" upcut end mill roughing. 40% step over .125" ball nose finish. Single pass along the Y axis. 10% step over.

Relief carving is something I have never done myself. It looks really good to me.

@Kelly_Burns Thanks. I’m learning more every day about it.

@Hobby_Fab Thanks for the compliment and advice. I do have that option within Cut3D, but chose not to add the 8 ADDITIONAL HOURS to the job. I have too many more projects for that kind of nonsense, lol.
This one actually looks better in person. I guess if you are not viewing it from different angles, it fails to show all of the other details. I will have others to add soon.

I am still missing something. I think I need to start the cut just below the surface or something. I shouldn’t have had the flat surfaces, like the hands. There should have been more details, like maybe fingers! It shows them in the software, when I simulate the finish cut.

@Hobby_Fab I always visually set z until the bit just touches. Usually with a thin piece of paper between

I thought I should close this post with the last “Last Supper” I did. This post is the very first thing I tried with my new machine. I told a few people what I was going to carve with it, and they all asked the same question. "Why would you try something so difficult for your first attempt? … I just answered, Because I should be able to.

It was a predetermined goal I had set for myself. I ran the code and it turned out a bit unlike how I imagined it. I did a lot of reading on other posts and forums, and I realized some mistakes I made with cut settings. I read more posts and realized my feed speeds needed adjusted, my step over amount was wrong.

There are many variables that come into play when it comes to getting that perfect result that everyone is looking for. Patience, the willingness to learn, and the determination to achieve your goals are some key factors to getting those results. Every machine is going to perform different, and all depend on the user to figure out what each one needs to perform at it’s best.

Try not to get frustrated with it, and don’t be afraid to try different things until you get it right. It will be worth it in the end, and it will give you a deep sense of satisfaction knowing that YOU did what you set out to do!

Is this last carving perfect? Nope. Is it better than the first attempt? I think so. Can it be made better? Absolutely! I will keep on reading and learning until there is nothing left to learn.

I know that is one goal that can never be achieved!