I would love to see a Video of you doing this. How do you keep your set up from moving?
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Look at his first pic. Jig clamped to the table.
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I saw that, but I could not tell for sure if he was attaching it to the slats or not which it doesn’t seem like the slats would hold it very well.
Card Etch Fixture v14.f3d (1.1 MB)
Three part fixture, cards loaded into middle plate. tabs on bottom or side are clamped to table (under cross member.)
For settings, I like -.08" at 100 IPM. One pass for aluminum is great. For steel, I’ll run the pass twice.
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Another one, this time for mothers… I made two, but forgot to program firecontrol to make the second one automatically.
This CNC is addictive.
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I got started on two more eagle flags for a couple of my cousins in NC. Their Dad was a decorated career Marine stationed at Cherry Point, NC. He spent 5.5 years as a POW during Vietnam after his jet was shot down over Hanoi. His first tour was as a chopper pilot. So, they grew up in a patriotic family and will really love these.
This foreground is 16 gauge, and the background will be 22 or 24 gauge. Gotta see what I have left in the rack.
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Be sure to pass on a thanks for service and sacrifice.
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That is bad ass! did you design the Eagle yourself?
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No, I started with a template. But to get it to cut, like always, I think I redrew about 80% of it. So many of the loops were too close it was a mess when I first tried. Also, I changed the eagles head/face to give better details.
The painting is a bit of a pain (4 colors), but when they are done I really love the result. I use a mocha metalflake for the feathers:
Eagle Flag v8.f3d (2.7 MB)
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The ‘pain’ is where the “glory” comes in. Well worth it. That is first class Bret!
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Hats off to this gentleman! If he is still living, please tell him thank you! My dad served 2 tours in Vietnam. A couple of years ago my dad was privileged to be able to go on an honor flight sponsored by Nucor Steel. I think they do 1 or 2 a year from SLC. It was such a great experience for him. They had police escorts for the busses and the overpasses had fire trucks hanging large American flags. A band lead them through the airport at each end. While he was at the Wall Memorial looking at a friend’s name, a Korean women came up to him, bowed and gave him a hug and told him thank you. It was a really touching moment for him. At the homecoming banquet I heard him talking with another gentleman. With tears in their eyes, I heard one of them say. “I am not sure we deserve all this” I assured them they did…and told them it is the welcome home they should have gotten the first time. Irrespective of politics of the war… most of these young men didn’t choose to be there. They got a letter in the mail telling them to be. They showed up and most of them served with honor despite the difficult situation they were thrust into and the terrible actions of a few. He is headed back to Vietnam with my mom and some of my siblings this year.
I have started to respond to this a couple of times then abandoned it… But anyone who can survive 5-1/2 years in a prison camp deserves some public recognition! My dad had a friend Nick who escaped after 5 years. He wrote a book about it called 5 Years to Freedom. My dad had me read it when I was in HS. He describes the conditions and how he overcame them and his escape. The military had him come out of retirement to develop a survival course for POWs. I think the course is still a special forces qualification course. Again, respect to your friend’s father. It is hard to find words adequate to express the depth of appreciation he is owed for what he must have gone through.
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He passed away at 62. Those POW years really took a toll on his body. He finished his Marine Corps service as a base commander at MCAS New River.
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Got lazy, used the wrong nozzle (65 amp instead of 45 amp)
First time running the air dryer at least
Oh well, I like it
Just a little 22" x 13" piece to go above our aquarium
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That’s nice. That starfish has some really thin areas. You’re really getting the best out of your equipment.
Not sure if it really helps any, but it helps me mentally… 
but I try to turn my HF air dryer on 15-20 minutes before I do any cutting. I figure getting those coils as cool as possible before pushing any air through can’t hurt.
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I will definitely remember that for next time!
I did have the HF dryer running for about 20 mins before cutting, but by accident. I was grabbing a bucket of water to fill the table, placing the metal on top, adjusting my air pressure, etc lol
But noted for next time!
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It’s hung up now
We’ve got a lot of room in the house, but with a 1 year old walking about, we wanted small corner to throw the tank in versus making a metal stand to put it on.
The small sign was all that was needed to fill the empty wall; entry from the garage.
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You mean you didn’t even consider this image?! 
Now that image would have “filled” the space. You tastefully accented the space.
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Granted we have the same few guests come over and stay with us, I think this might change that
That and I only have a Pro, not an XR, and don’t care to index! 
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Touche! Well played kind sir. (Extra words needed to fill minimum to post 
)
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Someone in the PrimeWeld group wanted one so being the kind of person I am, I took a bit more care in cutting it out
It’s also 5% larger than the one I made for myself
You’ll notice a bit more detail was retained, specifically the shell on the right
Just have to wipe it with acetone
Then package it up
One of my snails was really going to town on an algae wafer
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