How to Make a Wavy Flag on an X-Carve CNC Router

[@ald.3449]

Im a newbie at cnc. Just came across your video. Best explained video ive seen so far. You went into detail si that a newbie cab understand exactly what your doing. Looking forward to watching more of your videos. Ty

[@americansouthdesigns]

Thanks. I'm glad I could helpful for you!

[@james02mustang]

Thank you for this video. Had an X-Carve for 2 years and this is what finally motivated me to start making things to sell. Great walk through!

[@americansouthdesigns]

That’s awesome! Once you get the hang of it! It becomes an addiction!

[@Stoneforth]

shit i hope that doesnt happen to me. i've had mine for 6 months and only made 1 thing. it was awesome though

[@petesalvatore3465]

Thanks for the demo. Can't wait to try it.

[@americansouthdesigns]

Hope you enjoy it!

[@daneilers739]

An absolutely great video. Thank you for doing this!!!

[@americansouthdesigns]

You are welcome.

[@thehannaways267]

Just getting into CNC woodworking, love this video! Great job! I could watch it over and over

[@americansouthdesigns]

Thanks! Find me on FB. If you need anything, shoot me a message!

[@lightningfisher8177]

That machine does nice work.

[@americansouthdesigns]

Easy Button!

[@willhoffman6906]

Really liked your video 😎👍 cove bit I need that lol

[@americansouthdesigns]

It really helps to speed up the roughing pass!

[@adambrown4911]

Great video and nice work. I am just getting started in big carves like this and i appreciate the tips on cutting down on carve times with the 1" ball nose. Great suggestion.

[@erdeidesigns]

Great job by the way!

[@americansouthdesigns]

Thanks!

[@rogerbingham9466]

Great video.

[@billrolfe4662]

Great video. Thanks sharing.

[@americansouthdesigns]

Bill Rolfe thanks!

[@vincenzochiapperini1971]

LOVE the entire setup. also i have the xcave as well. where did you get those extended rails?????

[@americansouthdesigns]

Inventables acually use to sell them. Then they quite for some reason. I bought mine from them.

[@PeterErdei-e6z]

Great video. Where do you adjust the passes for the 1" ball nose? my trying to cut it all at once?

[@americansouthdesigns]

You have to make those adjustments in Vcarve or Aspire under the tool set up. You would adjust depth per pass and stepover percentage

[@tomnorcross4837]

Can you show how you set up that 1 inch round nose bit in aspire

[@americansouthdesigns]

It would be set up as a 1" ballnose bit. I typically set them at 40% stepover when roughing out material. Speed and depth per pass will depend on your machine and the material you are milling.

[@TheGrainSideUp]

Great video. Would you consider making a wavy board without the flag components?

[@americansouthdesigns]

KingsXish the flag components are a separate toolpath. So, to make a wavy board without them, would just require not cutting them. Is this what you mean?

[@TheGrainSideUp]

@@americansouthdesigns Yes. Do you have an email address where I can share what I need? Thanks

[@americansouthdesigns]

KingsXish [e-mail]

[@TheGrainSideUp]

@@americansouthdesigns Email sent. Thanks!

[@weldingbro]

I’m new here like day 1 but I like to try to think outside the box. Anyways....I wonder what would happen if you tool’d first then applied resin. Let that dry then did your rough so that way your resin inlay would be finished as the wave?

[@americansouthdesigns]

weldingbro hmm...trying to picture what you’re thinking.

[@tomnorcross4837]

What are the rough times for your roughing and finishing passes? I just followed your video and on a 10x22 flag it was about 3 hours for each pass (6hours total)

[@americansouthdesigns]

Roughing with depend on a few factors. I’ve gotten my roughing down below an hour. I run a bigger machine though…so it depends on your machine. There are also different roughing strategies that can improve it.

[@elalconcel3853]

Hi! Beautiful Work! What is your speeds and Feeds also Path Depthon on the bits that you used on carving this?

[@americansouthdesigns]

EL Alconcel thank you! I usually start my speeds at 70 ipm and watch how it’s performing. If I feel like I can increase it, I will. My final depth is usually .075” - .125”. I rarely go deeper than that. My pass depth is usually split up in fractions. So for instance, if I’m cutting .125”, I’ll set my pass depth to .025” and allow it to cut it 5x. That’s just an example and not always the case tho.

[@americansouthdesigns]

I’d have to go back to this design on the computer to check the specifics for this flag.

[@elalconcel3853]

@@americansouthdesigns Thank you so much for your tutorial on making a 3D Wave Flag. This has helped me a lot on designing a Hawaiian Flag with a Family name on it. I've been watching your videos and you do awsome work! How much is your design fee? Im having issues with creating a Honolulu Police Badge for my uncle thats retiring early next year.I just noticed that a drawing of the badge looks so different from photos of the actual badge. Thank you for your help and Happy Holidays!

[@americansouthdesigns]

EL Alconcel send me your designs at my email @ [e-mail]. I’ll take a look at them

[@garrettokeefe8976]

Do you rezero your bits on the 1" stock or the top of the waves?

[@americansouthdesigns]

Yea. I leave excess stock to rehome and rezero off of.

[@RonInAVan]

Great video!! Can I ask in what order do you start with on the bits? And what bit you end with? Thanks for the video.

[@americansouthdesigns]

I would Suggest starting with a roughing bit to remove waste, then a detail ballnose for the finish pass. If you’re cutting a design into the wavy model, that would be last

[@zinoorr1056]

This is incredible! How do you recommend a newbie to learn CNC ? Is there a training school?? So awesome thank you

[@americansouthdesigns]

Thank you! There are countless hours of videos on here. Some comes from experience as you progress.

[@benjaminl3084]

Love this. Great video! What are the hooks your installing for hanging? Is there a file out there for the recessed area they sit in?

[@americansouthdesigns]

benjamin lipinski I bought the hooks off of Amazon. I created the file in Vcarve based on measurements I took from the pieces.

[@benjaminl3084]

@@americansouthdesigns did you end up selling the flag? If you did may I ask what you got for it?

[@americansouthdesigns]

benjamin lipinski this one I kept, but I made one little bigger for $250

[@benjaminl3084]

@@americansouthdesignsdecided to design one of these in vcarve and using the same settings and bits as you in this video my roughing is estimated @ 3:06 hrs and the finishing is 6:11 hrs. Are those times close to what you were getting in your preview in this video? Seems kind of long. My model is 14" x almost 27".

[@americansouthdesigns]

benjamin lipinski I know we talked on the phone, and you got it down...what was your total time?

[@dennishuddleston2000]

I would like to make a wavey flag with my xcarve cnc but I only have Easel software. Can I purchase the tool path g-code as a file to import to Easel since I don't use or have V Carve software? Thanks for your help! GREAT VIDEO!!!

[@americansouthdesigns]

Technically it could happen, but it’s not advised. There are many variables that play into creating the gcode.

[@justinc1456]

@@americansouthdesigns Could you elaborate more? I don't have V-Carve either but I've been thinking about asking someone with design experience to incorporate an Army unit logo on a wavy flag. Just curious as to why this wouldn't be a good idea. You make great stuff man. I just need to pull the trigger on V-Carve Pro but damn....its expensive.

[@americansouthdesigns]

@@justinc1456 there are too many factors to consider when using a Gcode created by someone else. You have to know the exact measurements of the material (XYZ), the tools that are being used, feeds/speeds, post processing etc. Vcarve will pay for itself quickly.

[@brentalanrussell]

I’ve got a question for you...I can get my roughing pass & finishing pass to work on my 3D model, when I select my svg file & check the box project toolpath onto 3D model, I hit calculate & it doesn’t follow the contours of the 3D model at all. It cuts right through everything 3D as if it wasn’t supposed to be there.

[@americansouthdesigns]

What is you depth for your toolpaths?

[@stevenwilson4621]

Great video. I have my wood ready to start it. What did you put on the wood after the wavy finish cut, prior to cutting the strips?

[@americansouthdesigns]

I like to water pop hardwoods before my final sanding. I’ll either spray it with water or wipe it with mineral spirits

[@stevenwilson4621]

The stripes are cutting as I type this. They don't seem to be of consistent depth across the flag, taking consideration the waves. There are a couple spots that barely cut wood. Yours seem to be fairly consistent.

[@stevenwilson4621]

I had a thought. My flag dimension is 10x19. I adjusted the wavey model toatch but should I have adjusted the 3d effect? Yours seem to be a bit flatter than mine and it's the right hand side of the wave that is shallow cut.

[@americansouthdesigns]

@@stevenwilson4621 that’s correct. As you adjust the XY dimensions, you can adjust the Z height. As you increase the XY the Z gets taller...but you can adjust that to work with your material thickness

[@beckybinder7689]

how hard would it be to add an eagle to the carve. Also, I followed your video and it says that it will take almost 22 hrs for the wave roughing, using the same settings on my xcarve.

[@americansouthdesigns]

It wouldn’t be hard if you’re using Vcarve/Aspire as your CAD program. If you’re using Easel Pro, you’d need to create a whole new STL model. Play with your settings and see what you can improve

[@beckybinder7689]

I have tried changing the settings and was able to incorporate the eagle in the flag. Even with using with your settings as shown in video, and no eagle it still says over 22 hours to complete. how did you get it to 3 hours? Is there a way to send you my files to look at?

[@americansouthdesigns]

Yes, you can email them to me. [e-mail]@@beckybinder7689

[@MrEVBaker]

Where did you get the larger drill driven sanding brushes? Also why use an 1/8" downcut as opposed to 1/8 inch ballnose for the stars and stripes?

[@americansouthdesigns]

I purchased the larger sanding mops off eBay. I tried finding a link but couldn’t find a current one. Also, I don’t currently have a 1/8” ballnose. have considered trying a ballnose, but wasn’t sure how it would turnout. A ballnose doesn’t reach its full diameter until a certain depth is cut, whereas a downcut reaches its diameter at any depth

[@americansouthdesigns]

rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F173863662600

[@beckybinder7689]

how do you do tiling for a 35X25 in vcarve pro 11 I have the xcarve pro

[@americansouthdesigns]

I’ve honestly never used the tiling function.

[@erdeidesigns]

How do you make sure you always start from the same xy?

[@americansouthdesigns]

Easel has a function that allows you to reuse XY. I never change it. For 3d designs, I always leave some waste material that will remain consistent across the carve...reusing it for XYand Z

[@mrroboto1109]

i have an xcarve using easel is there anyway i could get this file ready to go to easel from you

[@americansouthdesigns]

Unfortunately there are too many variables that won’t allow that.

[@blaineford3790]

Great video, I have been wanting to try a wave flag. I have a question. Why do you use the V-bit on the stripes? Personal preference or does it add something to it? Thanks.

[@americansouthdesigns]

Vbits can fit into the corners of the stripes, making them sharp. If I used a normal endmill, i'd have rounded corners in the stripes.

[@blaineford3790]

American South Designs that’s what I was thinking. I use a .25 or .125 end mill and leave them a little rounded.

[@tonyoligmueller8914]

Great design and video. I followed along and created the file. I'm currently using a CNC at a Makerspace with a Dewalt Router and Vcarve Pro. My estimated machining time is 8 1/2 hours using your same feeds and speeds. I can't nor would I want to sit there for that long. Any suggestions?

[@americansouthdesigns]

Tony Oligmueller what size is your flag?

[@tonyoligmueller8914]

American South Designs same dimensions as the tutorial

[@americansouthdesigns]

Tony Oligmueller hmm...Is that the time that Vcarve is giving you? I haven’t had much luck with that time being accurate.

[@americansouthdesigns]

Tony Oligmueller are your stepovers the same?

[@tonyoligmueller8914]

@@americansouthdesigns The flag is the exact same including all of the settings. I may try to scale it down to shorten the time to see how accurate it is. The few things I have done, the time has been relatively close but usually longer. Roughing 1:30, finish 3:53, Vcarve Clear 2:36 and Vcarve 0:29

[@stevegronsky8904]

What version of Vcarve were you working in, please?

[@americansouthdesigns]

Steve Gronsky I have vcarve Pro Version 10. But this can be done on Desktop.

[@stevegronsky8904]

@@americansouthdesigns Thanks. I have V10 also. May I ask where you got the "wavy flag" model?

[@americansouthdesigns]

Steve Gronsky it’s from Etsy. Designsbyphil

[@stevegronsky8904]

@@americansouthdesigns Thank you. I'll look him up.

[@frankfrati4]

Did you make your wave patterns or did you buy them somewhere? If you made them do you have a video for that?

[@americansouthdesigns]

I’m this particular video, I used a bought file. However, I make them now, using Aspire.

[@gun_ape]

What if some of my stars and some stripes along the wave wont show on the detail path? I'm not sure how to adjust my depth for wave or flag

[@americansouthdesigns]

Did you make sure to select the box that says “project toolpath on 3D model”? You can adjust the depth of the model in the modeling tab. You have to make sure the z axis height of your model isn’t taller than your designated material height.

[@bigtim0081]

Is there a way to do wavy flags with easel program?

[@americansouthdesigns]

You would at least need a program like Vcarve to generate the gcode. Once you have the gcode, you can send it through Easel.

[@CMRCustom]

Subscribed from your fb post. Thanks

[@americansouthdesigns]

CMRCustom thank you!

[@TheAusherGuy]

How many ipm you carve at?

[@americansouthdesigns]

That machine I used around 75. The machine I have now, 125-250.

[@rushalvorson4092]

so....We aren't tied to the "x-carve" bits?? The little color coded,with the rings..... wow

[@americansouthdesigns]

Nope. Amana Tools has a lot of nice bits.

[@txvetdan1700]

Good Stuff … How long did it take to in Easel

[@americansouthdesigns]

Txvet Dan the carve total was 3 hrs

[@ghulamnazik6204]

I need details about this cnc machine.

[@americansouthdesigns]

Ghulam Nazik check out my other video on my Xcarve. It’s basically a modified XCarve from Inventables

[@christopherballard3560]

Do you have the file for sale? Love to have this in my shop.

[@americansouthdesigns]

This specific file isn’t mine, it is Phil Johnson’s. I do have several wavy flag patterns on Etsy

[@christopherballard3560]

@@americansouthdesigns Nice drop me a link let me see what you have. Does he sell this one as well?

[@americansouthdesigns]

I’ll get you some links shortly

[@americansouthdesigns]

www.etsy.com/shop/AmericanSouthDesigns

[@christopherballard3560]

@@americansouthdesigns awesome thanks

[@SwapnilBhartiya]

Is it Xcarve Pro ?

[@americansouthdesigns]

No, this was the XCarve 1000 that I modified to a 1800mm x 1000mm

[@sandmandave2008]

Good work and it looks nice. I’m just not crazy about the unnatural angle of the waves.

[@hunterholder669]

What do people pay for these?

[@americansouthdesigns]

It depends on size, material, and design used. My walnut flags (which I don’t make a lot) go for $350^

[@MrMaacin05]

So a water born finish on an oil finish? Yikes.

[@americansouthdesigns]

Still holding up well. I have it hanging in my shop. So no yikes there.

[@MrMaacin05]

@@americansouthdesigns sure thing mr defensive what do I know

[@americansouthdesigns]

What do you expect with a comment like “yikes”. I’ve made hundreds of signs, using oil based stains, finishes, etc with water-based finishes and when done properly, you won’t have any issues. So am I defensive? Sure, if you want to call it that.

[@MrMaacin05]

@@americansouthdesigns when the word yikes offends you… it’s time to grow a sack. You’ve made hundreds of signs and what you check up on them to see how it’s holding up? Unless you’re waiting 30 days for the oil based to cure or using dewaxed shellac as a barrier layer… it isn’t being “done properly”. Sorry if the truth is offensive

[@americansouthdesigns]

@@MrMaacin05 ok bud. Thanks for your insight. I’m definitely not offended and really wasn’t being defensive. I also won’t go back and forth with you on here as it’s pointless, considering the platform. If you’re confident in how you’d make things, keep doing you and I’ll keep doing me.

[@MrLaroygetz]

Great Video