Poll: Do you have a CNC Shark Routing System?

Anything and everything CNC-Shark-related

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Do you have a CNC Shark System?

I do!
48
84%
No, but I definitely want one
4
7%
I'm considering one/shopping around
1
2%
I have a different CNC system
1
2%
No, but I use one at work/use a friend's
1
2%
No, and I probably won't buy one
2
4%
 
Total votes: 57

KimAdams

Poll: Do you have a CNC Shark Routing System?

Post by KimAdams »

Let's take a poll: Who's got the CNC Shark System? (Or the CNC Shark Pro, either one)

FredJuergens
Posts: 14
Joined: Tue Aug 10, 2010 3:10 pm

Re: Poll: Do you have a CNC Shark Routing System?

Post by FredJuergens »

I'm a member of a woodworking club in Evansville, WI. We're considering buying a CNC Shark Pro. Its first purpose will be to engrave as many as 400 small wooden plaques with the names of donors to a planned Community Center that will be built here. We're trying to learn as much as we can about the machine's capabilities before we plunk down the money.

I've seen the Rockler videos on YouTube showing the "Welcome" sign, and it appears to be pretty large. I'm wondering if anyone knows the minimum dimensions of wood blanks that can be held in the machine. Also a minimum height for engraved letters, using a narrow-point router bit. By "height", I mean the "Y" dimension. We're hoping for a minimum of 1/4" for upper-case letters, if possible.

All comments welcome. Thanks!

spinningwood
Posts: 191
Joined: Wed Aug 04, 2010 11:28 am

Re: Poll: Do you have a CNC Shark Routing System?

Post by spinningwood »

Fred - For a job like this you would use a large sheet of material and carve a bunch at once. That way you don't have to worry about clamping and unclamping a bunch of pieces. For example on a 10 x 20 blank you could set up 25 1.75" x 3.75" tags to cut in one run. 16 runs and you have yor 400 tags.

The machine will carve the text and whatever other embellishments and then cut out the tags (leaving small tabs to keep the router from flinging the cutout across the room. The parts are easily removed from the waste wood and the tabs are easily sanded off.)

The machine will not be the limiting factor in terms of how small you can go. The material will be your limiting factor. The tighter the grain in the wood the smaller and crisper the text you can carve. If you mill your own wood and use end grain slabs of a tight grained hardwood (preferrably straight grain without interlocking) you can carve so small that you will need a magnifying glass to see it. If you are using commercial lumber, any good grade tight grained hardwood will let you carve text as small as you would reasonably want to go for this type of project.

If you want to post some dimensions and sample text (a sketch of what you are looking for if not a simple rectangle) I'll run a sample for you and post a picture if I have time. You can judge for yourself then.

Ed McDonnell

Tim Owens
Posts: 361
Joined: Wed Jul 28, 2010 3:51 pm

Re: Poll: Do you have a CNC Shark Routing System?

Post by Tim Owens »

There is also a function in Vcarve that allows you to create the single place then replicate it in a grid pattern. You can also provide a text file and it will automatically add the list of names to the tags.

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