I first made a “Random Tree” model a few weeks ago using Inkscape Render and Gcodetools extension. Since then, my wife thought that a scaled-up version of the original would look nice on the wall above a doorway in our house. Although I have a 7×12 router, my “tree” ended up about 7″ tall and 6″ wide. It could have been slightly larger, but given the proportions, this was close to the limit of my machine. The scaling was done in Inkscape, with the proportions locked. Gcode was then generated in the same way as the first post.
After it was cut, I unfortunately had to cut it out more with a Leatherman tool as I didn’t cut deeply enough. I set it to cut a depth of .256 inches, so either the material was oversize, I didn’t zero correctly, or somehow the router was loosing it’s position on the Z-axis. I would guess it was a combination of the first two – since the shaft of my spindle can be compressed slightly, this could have also contributed. This happened on my little random tree as well using a Dremel tool, so I may need to start cutting deeper on 1/4 inch MDF.
After cutting, the MDF Read more »
