Newbie - CAD/CAM for banjo inlay work?

[dixdance]

I'm a banjo maker, brand new to cnc. I picked up a Techno Davinci at local auction, want to cut intricate pearl inlay and pockets with the machine. I've started learning Fusion360 (gotta love the price!) but I'm wondering if there is other CAD/CAM that is better suited and easier to use for this sort of 2-1/2D inlay work?

I create my drawings in Illustrator, import them as .svg. The CAD part of Fusion seems pretty straight forward, but the CAM is proving less so. Haven't been able to generate g-code that isn't seriously jittery.

Thanks,
Richard

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[ger21]

V Carve Pro has an inlay function that's easy to use and works great.

[jahnj0584]

The issue is you cant cut the pearl inlays with a V cutter.


CAM is easy once you know. Watch a few tutorials and youll be ready to go. Inlays just need the 2D contour and inlays will use a pocket command.

[ger21]

V Carve Pro's Inlay toolpaths don't use V Cutters.

[dixdance]

I'm sticking with Fusion for a while, short on $$. I have to spring for a G540 to update my machine, movement is just too jerky for the tiny endmills I need to use.

[dixdance]

I have gotten much more comfortable with the CAM, no longer an issue. The support and tutorials for Fusion are great, got a lot of help from the forums. I thought my problem was the size of my program, but once I figured out smoothing and tolerance and tightened things up, I realized that the Davinci's controller wasn't able to smoothly handle the data.

Interestingly, I learned that a 3d contour makes smoother code than a 2d contour. More arcs and fewer straight segments. Here's link if anyone is interested
https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/compu...s/td-p/6831791

[AMG Guitars]

The jitters will go away if you dial back the acceleration rate of the machine. Using my machine to cut pearl with a 0.022" bit, I had to dial back the acceleration to 3, and the feed to 3 to 5 otherwise I would constantly break these tiny bits. What size tool and what feed rate do you use? I found that turning down acceleration rate smooths things out considerably as does using continuous motion. Does your machine have servos?

[dixdance]

Once I replaced the old Techno electronics with the Gecko 540 and Mach 3, all my problems disappeared! I kept the original Techno steppers and power source, worked just fine.

I was able to cut pearl, inlay pockets and scratch layout lines for hand engraving. Also cut blind fret slots in fingerboard and profile it.

The accuracy was amazing, and it was fast. Now I'm back to making banjos, hope I can remember how I did it all when it's time to inlay again.