CNC Checkering!!

CNC checkering using Mach4's Surface Mapping.

And a hammer. Always a hammer.

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Music: Fiesta de La Vida - AaronKenny

[mymechanics]

Two videos back to back?!
This is like christmas 🥳

[RonCovell]

Very cool, Tony, and it's wonderful to see your videos more frequently! I'm going to ship you all 46 of my bodywork hammers to be checkered - hope you don't mind.

[noahhastings]

"I marvel at the technology we have at our fingertips"

I too, marvel at hammers sometimes

[gafrers]

The fact that Tony assumes we haven't watched the previous video is hilarious 👍

[useoftoaster]

Hey Tony, you got great results considering the soft wood and the bit used! Here is a tip that helps with the cut being "fuzzy", coming from somebody who has done a lot of CNC checkering on a lot of types of wood.

Use a 90-degree engraving bit instead of a V-groove bit. An engraving bit usually has just one flute, it's basically a cone with one side cut flat like a "D bit". But that's NOT the important part. The important part is that it has a slightly off-center tip. A V-groove bit doesn't cut at all in the bottom of the groove because its very tip, rotating on-center, has a surface speed of...zero. So no matter how sharp a V bit you use, the centered point is just dragging in the bottom of the cut and it'll always come out fuzzy in anything softer than, say, rosewood. Not a big deal if you're trying to cut a huge groove, but for the little .025"-.030" deep grooves in your average checkering pattern, a little fuzz makes a BIG impact.

The engraving bit solves that problem and gives crisp results. The off-center point technically cuts a tiny flat in the bottom of each groove, but it's not something you would notice.

[bazzatron]

Not only is TOT back, but two videos one after the other? Best Christmas present ever.

Hope you're doing well Tony, loved watching you step away from metal and into my material where mistakes are expected and the tolerances don't matter.

Loving the fancy checkered hammerhead hammer - hope it doesn't end up as a wall hanger!

[austinthomas]

All the ToT is amazing! Keep up the great work. It’s been good to see you back at it!

[sandlinds]

"Before you know it, we'll all be Dead-" Good to know you'll keep 'em coming until then, Tony

[karatos]

Heya, gunsmith here. One of the issues with checkering the harder woods is they become brittle and rarely can be shaped to a proper point. I don't know if it was just convenience or secret planning but one way you can help make stable checkering on harder woods is reduce the ratio of the diamonds, so making them squares like you did gave them the best chance. Normally we use diamonds about twice as long as wide. Another way to help the more brittle woods come to points is to seal and bolster the wood first. I am in the habit of brushing the pattern with a thinned oil mix every time I change direction, even on good walnut. A proper sanding sealer can sometimes be just enough that it helps keep the wood together, which is why we usually finish the stock first then checker it, even though checkering a stock risks damaging the finish (beyond the bit we are intentionally damaging that is). It is possible to do the reverse but not having to avoid checkering while sanding down a finish is also very convenient. It is way harder on the tools but about the only way to reliably get a good pattern on maple is to layout your lines, add CA glue, then cut your points and add more any time you notice the wood getting kind of powdery. On layout, we usually set a pair of master lines in the center of the work then we offset from there. The reason we start in the middle instead of the edge is we cut along (usually with a guide) as close to even with the line next to it as we can. Because we often are cutting on curves we tend to only cut a few lines at a time on a single pass of the tool, the cradle we use to hold a workpiece only gives us so much freedom, so it may be that two or three lines are perfectly spaced by the tool then one line is close to perfectly spaced and as you go on with the pattern the tolerance stacking can start to show. We try to find the common minimum distance for the pattern to be from any particular line and make that the master line, be it a fill in or a point pattern. The advantage of cutting a piece by hand in a cradle that lets us put the pattern over the flow of the surface is the points always go out, not merely up, and they do not deform on curves (as much at least) giving a more uniform texture. That can be remedied to some extent with a 4th or 5th axis but as long as (and I say this with all of the love in the world) amateurs put out work like this it just makes good artistry shine even better. Thank you for the video!

[Jedermeister]

Love what you do Tony. Its interesting, hilarious and has got me wanting to learn machining.

[ChesterEnright]

Our company does lots of wood checkering - you hit on the main issues, but I would also add you might want to try running your lines fully instead of jumping around (by that I mean, cutting each row in one pass, instead of cutting around each diamond). The changes in direction have inertia to deal with, so it might reduce your chipping. Love your work!

[Moose]

I think you've really hammered the point home about how useful a surface probe is.

[justinherx]

For a first go on with a handle that started out in rough shape and a slow spindle, that looks pretty good! I think there might be a much easier way of doing the checker pattern in Fusion just using the outline. Run a 2d Contour for the outline, then a parallel op on the "pocket" inside the outline. Tell Fusion the angle you want it to run the parallel passes at and set pass depth and stepover appropriately for the bit you are using. You can then add another pass at 90 degrees to the first pass (in the dialog for parallel) and voila, checker pattern. That won't make your spindle any faster, but it would give you an easy way to control the check pattern without re-drawing it every time. Great to see the new videos pouring in lately.

[jairm.jr.]

2 videos in 2 days?? I haven't felt this much Christmas spirit since I was a child!

[sloob]

I feel like we don't deserve the amount of great video ToT is putting out lately.

[larryjepeal]

Around the year 2000 I got to do a tour of the Marlin firearms factory and see how they did their forearm checkering. It was a 5 axis set up with a lot of moving parts and miles of hand written g-code. I think I like your way for non production items, software has made small runs and one offs easier. As a side note I was there to give them a price to replace their large CNC router.

[andrewchapman]

Big up Kenny Phillips, without whom we would have at least one fewer gag in this video.

[dismalfist]

You know when there's a new ToT video, and you're just HAPPY? I got that happiness. 😁😁

[kevinsonofdad]

Loving the frequent uploads! Great to have you back! Keep up the good work!

[TheNQb]

I am so glad you're back. Your sense humor cracks me up, it's a light in these dark days. Thank you