Lighter case #2

[KarenW]

Second lighter case (I'm no longer calling it by the trademarked name)
Walnut, 12x18, rare earth magnets, and the bonus carve of an old lighter engraved at a depth of 0.002 with a nearly worn out 60º v-bit. The name plate is a piece of 25 yr old .125" cherry with that beautiful natural aged patina.
I can see I'm going to have to read up on photographing these projects to avoid the glare and still keep the colors true if I plan on continuing - sorry about the poor quality of the picture.
Had a bit of a problem with a very slight bow at the glue line that wasn't detectible by eye but was very noticeable in the combat medic badge because of the fine outline vector. Main fix was to isolate the shallow areas in a separate tool path and re-carve them at a greater depth while leaving the rest of the badge untouched. The slight bow is still there but the eye is fooled 100% now.
Finish is 3 coats of semi-gloss lacquer shot from a gun.

And this is the last lighter case that will have hand drilled holes for the magnets.
I managed to find a .25" Forstner bit with a smooth shaft and after a bit of trial and error (and checking all this .00x math, lol) I've finally worked out the toolpath to drill them on the Shark.
Don't ya'll laugh now.. I know everyone else out there knows how to do it already. Well now I do too.

[BillK]

Forster bit to drill holes? I'd use a 1/4" end mill or an 1/8" end mill and a pocket tool path to what ever depth you need. Works great.

PS., Photos come out great in natural light, no flash, for me anyway.

[Eagle55]

I would be interested to know how or if the forstner bit works. I'm like Bill, that strikes a sour note to me from what I have experienced with forstner bits. I guess if you took the feed way down and maybe ease up on the peck depth it might be ok, but I would opt to go with an end mill also. Using the same tool path method as a drill just using the end mill for the flat bottom hole.

Roger

[KarenW]

Yes, a .25" Forstner bit.
I ran tests with an end mill and a brad point bit both and neither one cut as cleanly as the Forstner did. The end mill had just enough deflection on the touch down to make me decide it wasn't acceptable. I set the plunge rate much slower to correct that but I still wasn't as satisfied with that hole as the Forstner hole.
No need to set a Peck depth as these holes are a mere .1036 in depth. Added bonus of a small hole in the center from the bit point which allows for glue without having to drill the hole deeper.
Left the feed rate at 80 but slowed the router speed down a bit but I wouldn't go back to an end mill or a hand drill for these very small holes again.

[geraldjohs]

When using an endmill, make sure it is a plunge endmill. A regular endmill will give you deflection.

Gerald

[KarenW]

Thanks Gerald - had no idea there were different types.