Yo Bjorn, someone postet an album on imgur about where he/she has been, and I knew the name of the one city sounded familiar…
It looks so great! I’d love to come visit some day… 
Like, in 10 years, when my kids are older. So you’ve got some time to prepare. 
You are welcome to visit! I can’t promise you lodging and weeks of guiding, but I’ll for sure meet up and have a little makers-gathering in my shed!! And I’ll give you directions and advice on how to get around and what to see. Our kids are always happy to meet other kids as well 
I live at the x
I’m currently trying to carve a famous mountain from Tromsø, since I’m going down south for a makers faire (shameless self promotion, I know)
I don’t have any proper ball noses, so I’m trying to figure out finishing pass using v bit. But even the small piece (12x15cm) takes 5 hours with a decent stepover (5-8%). Is it a hopeless project with a v bit? I feel like I want to go even lower, to be honest, but that would take 10-12 hours!
Any thoughts?
Edit: actually, I’ve got one of these - but they are not properly endmill shaped, so I don’t know if it’s worth the try? 114 Cutting & Carving Bits | Dremel
Edit #2: I’ve been thinking a little more about this (it always help typing it out!) I often end up discussing with myself in these posts, writing out a problem is a very efficient way of organizing your thoughts. Who would’ve known!?
Well - I think a ball nose would be no good, because I want to have the small details in the ravines and the inner contours of the mountain. So I guess a v bit is the best way to go, and I just have to accept the extra time it takes. I’ll do a test run on a small patch first, just to see how it turns out.
What is the stepover of 5-8% of? The diameter of the shaft or the tip?
But yeah. This kind of operation takes a really long time. That is why Steve Potter got so obsessed interested in increased speeds.
Are your roughing passes at least lower stepover and a flatter bit?
For your test, you could do a smaller scale, but it might be more informative to do a smaller crop. 4"x4" of some more interesting section.
The actual machine Z speed might even be slower than estlcam expects. Which could make it take even longer.
Tip/ball
Are you sure? I think estlcam uses the diameter of the shaft. With my 30 degree endmill I always see groves when using 5%, 2% nearly eliminates it.
Not at all. I have never used a tapered bit, I just assumed it used the tip diameter since that is what matters.
He just released a video a few days ago, explaining it:
Does anyone know if he will do them in English though?
He’s got old ones in English for the functions in Estlcam 11.
Sorry, I guess I should have asked for version 12. I would like to know the differences I have used cc translation before, but with estlcam in (german, I believe) it really causes me to not understand, LOL
It’s the same for both, the stepover is calculated by the size of the shaft.
The stepover percentage indicates how much of the shaft diameter is outside the next path. 100% stepover would lead to 3.175mm distance (in theory) between each v-bit groove, with a v bit with 1/8" shaft. With a flat end mill 100% stepover means no step over. (kinda self contradictory!)
Yes - indeed they are. But the roughing passes are really miniscule compared to the finishing passes. At least as the stepover increases.
Too bad that for each percent I reduce, an hour is added! I wonder if a sharp v bit with a flat end (0.1-0.2mm something something) would be a good for this application.
I have a 3.175mm endmill with 60° and a flat tip, 0.2mm. It does make a difference, but still takes ages.
What about using a tapered ball nose endmill like this?
Downside is that I’m only seeing 2 flute options so you’ll have to change your feeds/speeds. Also not sure if it’s available in your area.
Seems like an interesting compromise! But in the end, it’ll all be a trade off between accuracy in steep recesses and speed with flatter/rounder tips.
Would’ve been great if it was possible to differentiate areas for different kinds of mills for the finishing job! Perhaps vectric has this option?
I did a test run! 3% stepover with a 45 degree v bit. I used pine - should’ve tried on a nicer kind of wood. But still - it looks amazing! This is only 4x4x2cm, the whole mountain is supposed to be 10x12x4cm.
Only trouble is that 3 % stepover takes 7 and a half hours, 4 % stepover takes 6 and a half and 5% takes 5 and a half. So I think I’ll go for 5% stepover and do some light light sanding.
@stevempotter - any thoughts on the process?
Yes! I have many many thoughts on this. Most of them are in my Instructable,
https://www.instructables.com/Carving-3D-Terrain-Topographic-Relief-Maps-on-a-CN/
I use a long 7 degree tapered 2 flute upcut with a 1.5mm diam ball end, 6 mm diam shank. I think a 45 degree taper may limit the steepness of the hills you can carve. But your little mountain looks very good, so maybe not.
If you have more specific Qs, just let me know!
