# Deviated from Pine



## honesttjohn (Feb 17, 2015)

This is the Last Supper I did for the lady in Wyoming. She wanted it to match her new dining room so we settled on her doing the finishing and I upgraded the wood from pine to baltic birch since she already paid Etsy. I took one of those 1 x 12 x 48 baltic birch panels from Menards, cut it in half and glued it up. Finished size is 22 1/2 x 11 x 1 1/2. Made for a nice solid piece that will show off nicely. A lot heavier than those 1" pine panels, but it didn't bend and don't think it'll warp. Dropped it off at UPS today. Shipping was a bear with the added weight. UPS was actually $5 less than USPS.


----------



## edison auto (Nov 13, 2015)

Nice job


----------



## MEBCWD (Jan 14, 2012)

Turned out good. How long did it take to carve it?


----------



## honesttjohn (Feb 17, 2015)

This was an all day affair, just for the finish cut. Couple hours the nite before for the roughing with a 1/4 end mill and set it off the following morning with 1/8 ball nose - was done before supper. I probably could have used a 3/16 ball nose but wasn't sure. Would have saved a little time. I'm sure a 1/4 ball nose would not have shown the detail as good as the smaller bit. Besides, this was an experiment with the baltic birch. It cut real well, but I also used the smaller bit with a 10% stepover to avoid any splintering that could very well have occurred.


----------



## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

My neighbor would love that , good job John. Maybe if I end up buying a cnc router table, I’ll make her one so she doesn’t complain about the noise . 
If I committed to getting one , I’d go with a water cooled spindle like David’s, but there would still be noise regardless as the bits cutting. 

In before James ,Vince, Tom and countless others say Insulation might help :grin:


----------



## honesttjohn (Feb 17, 2015)

Rick,

I just think the air cooled spindles are just easier all the way around. And I've run mine as much as 20 hours a day sometimes with no problems.

But ... on another note --- been considering a bigger machine and was leaning towards the Saturn II. But it is quite heavy and bulky the way it comes. Don't know how I'd get it in the basement. Soooooo I thought back on your discussions and CNCrouterparts came up. I can do the 4 x 4 Pro. Just have to put the frame together and hook the boxes up with the right wires. They have it now where you don't have to be a lectrical genius to get one of their's up and running. I would have to learn Mach 4, though.

More food for thought.


----------



## 4DThinker (Feb 16, 2014)

Probotix sells the linux PC and Unity controller as stand alone items. Not sure how complicated it would be, but I'd ask CNCrouterparts to put the right connectors on their steppers for you so you could use software and controller you are already used to. 

Just a thought.
4D


----------



## UglySign (Nov 17, 2015)

RainMan 2.0 said:


> _If I committed to getting one , I’d go with a water cooled spindle like David’s, but... ...others say Insulation might help_ :grin:


Rick, save your dough. Forget insulation and with the water cooled spindle, use a bunsen burner
to keep from freezing. Sterno's perhaps?









Best of both worlds in used in unison, no?? :grin: :wink:

Commit and go the Sterno route... i gotta see this.


----------



## 4DThinker (Feb 16, 2014)

Every time I see a new last supper carving I again question the validity of the tale. The last supper (carved) is only the last one until a later one is carved.


----------



## difalkner (Jan 3, 2012)

Nice work, as usual, John! Have you considered stepping up to Maple instead of Pine?

David


----------



## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

honesttjohn said:


> Rick,
> 
> I just think the air cooled spindles are just easier all the way around. And I've run mine as much as 20 hours a day sometimes with no problems.
> 
> ...


I’ve done a lot of research over the past five years, and haven’t heard a bad thing about cncrouterparts. I’ve talked to Cory on occasion, and they are very helpful and available.
You can also deviate from there design ,and request a different size.
In my case I want a 5x5 ,as there’s certain quality of B.B. that only comes in that size . 
Dealing with CNCrouterparts would be the closest place possible for me shipping wise also . 

I like the Saturn also, and with David’s input I suspect Nates addressed most of the issues .
Although the gantry can be removed, I can hardly imagine trying to get a 4x4 Saturn into a basement lol. 
But a CNCrouterparts would be a cake walk . 
As I mentioned, I would like to follow in David’s footsteps and build the electronics myself . I want a better understanding of the system,and I would like to have things laid out in a bigger enclosuse to make trouble shooting easier . I love working with electronics anyways, so that helps . 

There’s a few good videos on assembly of the CNCrouterparts Pro version


----------



## honesttjohn (Feb 17, 2015)

difalkner said:


> Nice work, as usual, John! Have you considered stepping up to Maple instead of Pine?
> 
> David




I really like cutting maple, oak, birch, most all hardwoods. I just used the pine because I could get the panels thicker than the normal 3/4. And already glued up. I'm cutting an oak Last Supper right now. I'm just trying not to get in the planing, jointing, and gluing business too.

Rick, that's about as far as I want to go on my own. My iddy biddy brain couldn't handle much more. Of course, once I got a 4 x 4 I'd have wished I got a 4 x 8 or 5 x 9. As long as the hook ups are straight forward and the wires are different colors, I might be able to make something like that work. I'm wondering if their $1600 spindle is that much different than the ones that Probotix gets from Automation Technoligies for $500.


----------



## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

I was wondering the same thing about there spindle and vfd John . It seems a bit pricey to me , and I believe David is happy at a quarter of the cost .
If the bearings are of a decent quality in the Chinese spindles , I would think a person would be ok. Haven’t heard a lot of bad things about the Chinese spindles yet , but have heard some sellers are selling generic vfd’s ,as there not what there labeled as .

I think CNCrouterparts gets a lot of buyers on there electronics because it’s way to easy being plug and play.
I’m just assuming, but from the pics of Nates plug and play system , it looks like he’s buying it from CNCrouterparts and reselling it


----------



## difalkner (Jan 3, 2012)

I've been happy with the Chinese spindle but chose not to scrimp on the VFD and went with Hitachi. It not only has larger fans and capacitors but emits far, far less electrical noise than the Chinese VFD's. And, the 2.2kW Hitachi VFD is rated to handle my 3kW spindle so that was another consideration. The final consideration is that I can call Drives Warehouse in Dallas and talk to a real person who knows the Hitachi VFD like the back of his hand. 

David


----------



## honesttjohn (Feb 17, 2015)

I would probably go with a Sunfar 300 or 500 VFD. My Probotix has the 300 and has worked since I've had the machine.


----------



## beltramidave (Jan 6, 2016)

I have a VFD from Automation Direct. They are located in GA and also have very good technical support and are of a better quality than the Sunfar or Hy controllers. You can order online with free shipping and usually 2 day delivery.

I use the 2.2kw air cooled spindle from Automation Technologies as well. No issues to date with either.

BTW John, the Last Supper carving looks great.

Dave


----------



## hawkeye10 (Jul 28, 2015)

John, your carving of the Last Supper looks very nice. I wouldn't have thought it would look so nice using ply. If I had bet on it I would have lost my money.


----------



## honesttjohn (Feb 17, 2015)

That's not ply. Those are glued up baltic birch boards. Solid wood. Heavy too.


----------



## artman60 (Nov 22, 2015)

Tres Bien! ( I think that means Very Good in French)


----------

