Cam Clamp Down Combo

Good use of the undocumented height-map feature in Easel! I'm going to cut some this weekend.

John McWhirter · June 05, 2015

Thanks John! Yeah, any work that I can have the X-Carve do, that. I don't have to, is good. :)

Jeremy Richards · June 06, 2015

Hello, John, Where did you find info about the height-map feature? What is it exactly?

Martin · July 12, 2016

thanks for this! made a few of them so far. wondering, what size bit do you use? when I have it on 1/8" it says bit is too large and I seem to get it with a 1/16" bit also, I still cut it anyways but I'm not sure if I'm missing any detail or something. I'm new lol

Casey kookla · August 17, 2016

You are welcome Casey. I believe that when I carve them I use a 1/8" bit and just ignore the message because it is most likely to do with the gradient. If it still comes out ok then I wouldn't worry about it.

Jeremy Richards · August 17, 2016

What type of material ? I'm thinking of trying a plastic

Phil Barrett jr · August 23, 2016

Hi, may I know how was the gradient saved into the svg file?

Seamus Koh · November 03, 2016

Hi Seamus, The gradient is actually a bunch of depth rectangles in succession creating a stepped version of a gradient effect. Check out the forums for more info, where I and others discuss how to achieve the effect.

Jeremy Richards · November 03, 2016

Hi Jeremy, thanks for the reply, I will check them out :)

Seamus Koh · November 03, 2016

Hi can easel machine text on an archive?

Kevin meek · May 03, 2017

Sorry I meant an arc.

Kevin meek · May 03, 2017

Sorry Kevin, I don't think it does, but InkScape or Illustrator or other vector apps do and you can import an svg into Easel if that helps.

Jeremy Richards · May 05, 2017

Wish I could find someone with an open version of Illustrator I could get for my Mac or even Pc would work .

Bob Dick · December 30, 2017

Hi Robert, Try InkScape. It is probably what you are looking for.

Jeremy Richards · December 30, 2017

Tried this it cuts fine except for the back end. wont cut the edge on both sides and leaves it attached . ? help

Bob Dick · January 07, 2018

This could be for multiple reasons Bob, the waist board might not be level or maybe tabs are enabled on the outline cutout... can you post a pic on the forum? Tag me in the post if you do.

Jeremy Richards · January 07, 2018

I posted two pics in forum , but did not see a way to tag you .Jeremy Richards

Bob Dick · January 08, 2018

Cut this project using Easel and while it did cut the clamps fine it did not cut the gradient part. What am I missing?

Dominick Marino · May 27, 2018

Hi Dominick, Easel has changed a bunch since I created this file, but it should still work. Try sending the cutout outline to the back and see if that changes anything.

Jeremy Richards · May 27, 2018

I sent them all to back, but didn't make a difference. Its like Easel is totally ignoring the gradient part and and just cutting outline only.

Dominick Marino · May 27, 2018

Its weird cause in the preview they totally look cutout but the actual toolpath is ignored completely.

Dominick Marino · May 27, 2018

This cam idea may work beautifully for my mosaic tile project in my class, but how it the work piece held down (in Z-direction)? Did you also use the regular stepped clamp blocks? Thanks!

Cad Melrose · December 27, 2018

Hi Cad, For any operation that I use these for, all I use is the cam. There is enough friction from the side clamping to hold the work piece down.

Jeremy Richards · December 27, 2018

Got it. Thanks for the response! I'll give it a try.

Cad Melrose · December 28, 2018

Hi Jeremy, what is the screw setup you use? Also, is that a washer or some sort of sleeve in the screw hole? Can I use one of the stock inventables clamp screws with this setup?

Bob Vandigriff · April 14, 2019

When I tried importing the svg into easel it gave me the following error: "Your SVG contains objects that are not supported by Easel. Cannot import shapes with clipping paths (clip-path attributes)." I am wondering if this is because of the gradient at the end to create a slope?

Cad Melrose · May 16, 2019

Hi Cad, Try clicking on the “Open in Easel” button, and see if that works. What looks like a gradient in the SVG file is actually just a bunch of this boxes with different depths

Jeremy Richards · May 16, 2019

That worked, thanks! I didn't even notice that button.

Cad Melrose · May 20, 2019

Great design works fabulous. Had to bring the outer cut to the front of the design so my 1/8 bit would work but it was an easy fi. Thanks for designing this.

Jeff Cooper · May 13, 2020

awesome but it didnt finish the cut where the gradeint is.

Gerard Enos · November 09, 2021

down to where the clamp is tapered, I notice that the bit does not cut around it, all the way through. how would I cut it out?

Henry Rivera · June 11, 2022

made some today 01/31/2023 but it did not cut out around the gradient portion of the clamps.

Shawn M Paris · January 31, 2023

Hi Shawn, glad you were able to make some. What size bit did you use? It may have ignored the gradient due to the size of the bit… otherwise, I made this so long ago that the changes in Easel over time might have caused a problem.

Jeremy Richards · January 31, 2023

i am having the same problem that Shawn Paris is having, got any hints on how to fix it?

robert allen gustafson · June 09, 2023

Hi Robert, I went and double checked it and it all seems to be working. You have to be using a 1/8" bit and have it set to 1/8" otherwise it will skip the ramp parts. Hopefully that helps.

Jeremy Richards · June 10, 2023