Champhering Operation

[SkyMoCo]

I am trying to put a bevel edge (champhering) on some wooden plaques with my router and I am unsure as to which operation to use. I am using a 90 degree V-Carve bit, 1/2 wide with a 7/16th cutting edge. I already used a 1/4 routing bit to cut the plaque shape out of a larger board using the contour operation.

Do I use the V-Carve operation?

Also, is there way to have sheetcam always cut in one direction? Say clockwise.

[Les Newell]

To chamfer, use an inside or outside offset. SheetCam compensates for the V angle so you need to use finish allowance to create the chamfer. For instance if you want a 0.1" chamfer use a finish allowance of -0.1". You obviously also need to cut at least deep enough to cut the chamfer. Generally it is best to set the depth so that the diameter of the cutter where it touches the bottom of the chamfer is rughly equal to the diameter of the parallel cutter you used. The easiest way to tell if you have this right is to see if the cut paths from the cut-out and chamfer overlap.

Generally when machining you will find the cut quality on one side of the cut is better than the other. To allow for this SheetCam reverses the cut direction for inside cuts. If you want to cut clockwise for both inside and outside cuts, set the cuts up on separate layers and turn off 'climb cut' (in the cut path tab) for inside cuts. Turn it on for outside cuits.

I would normally recommend climb cutting unless your machine has excessive backlash as it generally gives a better finish and improves cutter life.

[SkyMoCo]

Thanks Les. That worked well. Although I used a trial and error approach to the cut depth instead of trying to compute it.