Fluting Seat Scooping

[Bob]

This is a child's rocking chair that I have made using the Shark (Notice the flat seat.):

Rocking chair

When I make the next one, it will have a scooped seat. I have been looking for 3D solutions to this improvement, and have found that using the fluting feature on VCarve Pro is an easy solution. This prototype has been lightly sanded, and would need to have edges eased a little for the completed project:

Scooped seat

(I used a flashlight to illuminate this picture to show the contours better.)

Room light:

Scooped seat

I'm finding the fluting toolpath to be a very versatile tool.

Bob

[KarenW]

Neat -- what size bit and how long did it take?

[Bob]

That was done with a .25 end mill. It took 33 minutes to machine. The time could be cut in half with more aggressive stepovers and feeds. A wider bit could also speed up cutting. If I were in production with these, I would take the time to alternate the starting point for each cut. That would be the fastest way to cut time in half.
Bob