Nice job! The epoxy element really adds a lot of time to any single project. I have three rooms in my basement I use to manage as many items as I can get started on. I have my cnc and its associated tools in one room, paints, epoxies, stains etc in another and one room is for pouring on a level surface and letting the stuff cure before taking it back to the mill for the next step. I Keep detailed notes within the folder of each project and even with that it's easy to lose your way. I am one to make lots of revisions to my Vectric files and those can add up to a huge mess if you aren't diligently following some house rules on file naming. The increment and save is great but I use more than one computer and have saved locally on one and not had it available on the other. Google drive solved that issue. I also screenshot origins and tool settings, just paste the images into the folder with the other files. I would say my biggest issue is file management. I really need to work on that. Thanks for making the video Mark!!
I have done a few of these, and Mark is spot on with everything he mentions in this series. If you want to do an epoxy project, watch the entire series and you will be well on your way. Thanks for doing this Mark!
Mark, I am so glad to see that you have completed this project and it turned out really well. Thanks for acknowledging Rob, as he has been so helpful to many of us, I would also mention Shane Peters, as he basically taught Rob, me and many others most everything that we know about this technique. It is great that you could bring this to your channel as you have such a large subscriber base and you have likely reached many more folks than the rest of us ever could. Although I have reached a point where I do several things differently than Shane, Rob and you do, if someone follows your steps exactly, they will have great success! I want to amplify your tip about pouring clear over the whole piece. I learned the hard way about this when I was doing an end grain cutting board and one of the overpours essentially ruined the project as it stained everything to the point where I couldn't surface the stain away. Another thing that I have done is to create a fixture for these, so that I can mount them quickly and they always index exactly the same. I have a preset "park" for my machine that I always use for xy zero for these projects. This has saved me tons of setup time. Thanks again for sharing these videos with the community! Your contribution is definitely appreciated!
Thank you very much for your kind words, Bill! I mentioned Rob so heavily because, while he didn't exactly hold my hand, he DID answer every question I had. This was only my second multi-color pour, so I was a bit nervous about it. He calmed me right down. I've had Shane and Rob on my live streams several times, and they're great people. I fully support both of them, and try to share their work wherever I can. I too have a preset "fixture" set up for this type of work. In fact, my last video was on creating that fixture offset. It works extremely well, and I'm very happy with the performance. Thanks again!
Thank you for all the information! I know I am a long ways from getting to where you are but it gives me goals! My first CNC will be here in a couple of weeks. I am playing with my vector desktop software. I need to learn vectors as they are mysteries to me. Again thank you! Keep up the great work!
Perfect Timing, just saw your other videos for this, because I‘m working on some Christmas Projects. Thank you very much for your clear and great tutorials, I Love it ❤
Mark, I have learned a lot from your videos, you do a great jib!! I am starting my first multi color epoxy project and im hoping that you will help me,
Thank you, James. If you've followed all 4 of my epoxy inlay videos, you should have no problems at all. Here's a link to my Epoxy Inlay video playlist. It includes all 4 of my videos, plus the Live Q&A sessions for those videos, as well as the Live Q&A sessions with Shane Peters and Rob Sandstrom, my epoxy gurus. Good luck!
Another tip I’ve figured the hard way. When finishing the back of the project make sure the painters pyramid aren’t touching epoxy areas on the front side. I’ve had tiny dents from the pyramid things in the epoxy before. Nothing worse than messing up a project at the very end
Thanks Mark, great video! Does it make sense to cut and pour all of the colors after clear layer before pouring the black? In other words, by cutting the other colors first, are you left with the black so it does not need to be cut in a tool path? I'm doing a multi-color epoxy project and the black in my design sees like it would be easier to not tool path the black because I would need to add closed vectors specifically for the black. Interested in your thoughts...Thanks Again!
This video was the last part of a 4-part series on doing this epoxy inlay. Here's a link to the playlist (you can skip the live streams if you'd like.) ua-cam.com/play/PLLuYLaC3-QRNkO3ZIYnEzTb32mn-_AE-J.html I explain all of my reasoning behind the order of the colors being poured in those videos. The short version is, pouring a color over black will mute that color. Sometimes make it so dark it's almost impossible to see. That's why I did the black last.
Great job. Using your video I'm on the final day of my multi color epoxy project. When you surfaced the final coat did you zero off the top of the epoxy? Im trying to figure out the surfacing toolpath. My project is on plywood (corn hole board) and I don't want to surface into the wood. Id rather leave a thin amount of epoxy to sand off.
I set Z zero off of the wood every time I made a carve, and when I surfaced it. I created the surfacing toolpath to cut .010 inches deep, but I was using solid wood. You can create a surfacing toolpath with a cut depth of 0.0, then set your Z zero to the top of the plywood. Depending on how good your Z axis is calibrated, how accurately you set your Z zero, and how well your spindle is trammed, the surfacing bit should just graze the surface of the plywood. Good luck!
Very nice! I've learned so much from these videos. Just one question Which color tint did you use? you did mention "Diamond"....If I missed them in your list of materials I apologize, very nice work! thanks so much
I'm in the process of writing a website article about that. I didn't have room in the description box to list/link the tints and colorants I used. The mica powders I used were Black Diamonds brand.
Thanks for sharing Occurred to me watching it (I'm less than 'newb', have only watched a bunch of CNC videos, hoping to get one some day)....would it be a good idea to mount the workpiece to another, portable spoil board, then index the portable spoil board onto the machine spoil board? Would save on detach/reattaching, would only have to do it the once. If portable SB is big enough outside dimensions of workpiece, could just clamp it down with clamps well away from work area and -Z thickness of workpiece. And, as you mention at the end, mistakes happen, but would only damage the portable SB instead of the permanent machine SB In this case, might want a masking tape 'dam' or something around the edge to not epoxy the work piece to the portable SB from spillover
I did a video on creating a Fixture Offset that addresses your question. It's basically a known location on the spoilboard that can be referenced repeatedly and accurately. I used that location to do this entire epoxy inlay over the course of 6 days, removing the piece each night so I could pour the epoxy indoors. In fact, the piece I made this pirate inlay with is the one I used to demonstrate the fixture offset in the video I'm linking you to now. Here's a link to that video: ua-cam.com/video/qo0h4Jdp-AQ/v-deo.html
@@MarkLindsayCNC Thanks I didn't explain my idea very well...I meant, to save work on detaching and re-attaching to the machine bed spoilboard those 6 times, just mount the workpiece once to a portable spoilboard overhanging (er, 'underhanging'?...the opposite of 'hanging'...'bigger than') the workpiece with enough room for clamps, use your index pins to index the portable spoilboard instead of the workpiece (the workpiece still being indexed because it hasn't moved relative to the portable spoilboard) To totally inexperienced me, seems it would be easier to clamp and unclamp the portable spoilboard 6 times, only taping and gluing once
I really don't see any advantage to adding a portable spoilboard to the mix. In fact, it complicates mounting unnecessarily, and introduces one more possibility of errors or mistakes. Mounting the piece directly to the machine spoilboard with painter's tape and CA glue takes just a minute or two, and it's never failed me yet. Clamps have.
@@MarkLindsayCNC The advantage I perceived (again, zero experience) was that clamps take seconds instead of the minute or 2. I was thinking you were using the tape to avoid the machine hitting clamps, didn't realize it was your default method for all around security. But, good to know, that potential saved minute is not worth the extra worry Thanks again
Hello Mark, did you create flat depth V carves and then change the order of the tool paths so that the v bit was carved first? Or did you use some other method?
The short answer is yes. The long answer is, I broke up the project over a number of days, carving and pouring sections that wouldn't interfere with one another. I did carve to a flat depth, as outlined in the video series, and I almost always run the v-bit toolpaths first. I get a much cleaner carve that way. I then come back and run the clearance toolpaths after the v-bit toolpaths.
@@MarkLindsayCNC thank you. I had not watched the full series yet. I was looking for a video explaining how to use epoxy and this video was returned in my search. I was originally looking for a way to cut through material with fine details like a laser cutter would be able to do but using a CNC instead. Think scroll saw silhouette on the wall.
Also, at one point you poured some epoxy and then swirled in what looked like another color. Was this to create a swirled effect? Wonder if this technique could be used to creat trees with dark and light green patches?
I wouldn't attempt it. I mixed in another color in an attempt to slightly change the color I had already poured. It was a risky move, as that tint has to be mixed well into the epoxy, or the entire pour will not cure properly. The unmixed tint would remain tacky. I took a chance, and I got lucky. When I did it, I was totally prepared to carve that epoxy pour out and start over. If you want to create a swirled effect like that, you can try mixing 2 separate well-mixed colors and try swirling them together, but odds are they'll just blend together into one color. Your best bet would be to just carve and pour the two colors of green separately, 24 hours apart.
One thing I'll never do is intentionally lie to you. If I mess up, that's on me. If I lie to you and you mess up, that's also on me. Neither of us want that.
Question: when setting the X and Y positions do you use an end mill but? Seems like if you use a v but the position wouldn’t be accurate as it’s width isn’t constant along the height of the but?
Yes - you use an end mill (or a precision ground steel dowel) if you're using a 3-way touch plate to set your X Y zero. If you're not using a 3-way touch plate, a v-bit is the easiest way to accomplish the same thing. You can put the point of that bit right on the zero point you've selected for that project.
@@MarkLindsayCNC gotcha. Thanks for the clarification. Onefinity shipping this week, hopefully. Will have to actually put all of this into practice soon. You’re teaching and guidance has been invaluable.
Onefinity has a great support community made up of regular people who use the machines. Those folks know your machine best. I've never used their control software, so I don't know a thing about it. Check out their support forum! forum.onefinitycnc.com/
When I’m doing multiple pours in a single setting and they get close, I’ll run a bead of hot glue around the area to make a dam to keep different colors from overflowing into each other.
I'm interested to know if you made this to sell or for yourself. As a cnc and epoxy sign maker, I find people don't appreciate or understand the envolvment in making your piece. You have at least 4hrs of physical work and 2 hrs machine time, plus about $30 in materials. I would have to charge a minimum of $150. Conversely, someone with a sublimation setup could do it in an hour or so for $40.
I made 2 of these. I kept one for myself. I gave the piece I made in this video series to a subscriber during the Live Q&A for this video. Yes, epoxy work is expensive. I'm a home hobbyist, so as a result, I don't do much of it at all.
Nice job! The epoxy element really adds a lot of time to any single project. I have three rooms in my basement I use to manage as many items as I can get started on. I have my cnc and its associated tools in one room, paints, epoxies, stains etc in another and one room is for pouring on a level surface and letting the stuff cure before taking it back to the mill for the next step. I Keep detailed notes within the folder of each project and even with that it's easy to lose your way. I am one to make lots of revisions to my Vectric files and those can add up to a huge mess if you aren't diligently following some house rules on file naming. The increment and save is great but I use more than one computer and have saved locally on one and not had it available on the other. Google drive solved that issue. I also screenshot origins and tool settings, just paste the images into the folder with the other files.
I would say my biggest issue is file management. I really need to work on that.
Thanks for making the video Mark!!
I have done a few of these, and Mark is spot on with everything he mentions in this series. If you want to do an epoxy project, watch the entire series and you will be well on your way. Thanks for doing this Mark!
Thank you, Jim!
Mark, I am so glad to see that you have completed this project and it turned out really well. Thanks for acknowledging Rob, as he has been so helpful to many of us, I would also mention Shane Peters, as he basically taught Rob, me and many others most everything that we know about this technique. It is great that you could bring this to your channel as you have such a large subscriber base and you have likely reached many more folks than the rest of us ever could. Although I have reached a point where I do several things differently than Shane, Rob and you do, if someone follows your steps exactly, they will have great success! I want to amplify your tip about pouring clear over the whole piece. I learned the hard way about this when I was doing an end grain cutting board and one of the overpours essentially ruined the project as it stained everything to the point where I couldn't surface the stain away. Another thing that I have done is to create a fixture for these, so that I can mount them quickly and they always index exactly the same. I have a preset "park" for my machine that I always use for xy zero for these projects. This has saved me tons of setup time. Thanks again for sharing these videos with the community! Your contribution is definitely appreciated!
Thank you very much for your kind words, Bill! I mentioned Rob so heavily because, while he didn't exactly hold my hand, he DID answer every question I had. This was only my second multi-color pour, so I was a bit nervous about it. He calmed me right down. I've had Shane and Rob on my live streams several times, and they're great people. I fully support both of them, and try to share their work wherever I can. I too have a preset "fixture" set up for this type of work. In fact, my last video was on creating that fixture offset. It works extremely well, and I'm very happy with the performance. Thanks again!
The final piece is amazing. It was a complex project with all those steps too. Even the test one looks great with the finish on!
Thank you, man! It was a fun project, and it certainly won't be my last.
Thank you for all the information! I know I am a long ways from getting to where you are but it gives me goals! My first CNC will be here in a couple of weeks. I am playing with my vector desktop software. I need to learn vectors as they are mysteries to me. Again thank you! Keep up the great work!
Perfect Timing, just saw your other videos for this, because I‘m working on some Christmas Projects. Thank you very much for your clear and great tutorials, I Love it ❤
Amazing, really enjoyed watching and learning. THANK YOU.
Awesome job Mark! I absolutely love your pirate. 😄
Mark, I have learned a lot from your videos, you do a great jib!!
I am starting my first multi color epoxy project and im hoping that you will help me,
Thank you, James. If you've followed all 4 of my epoxy inlay videos, you should have no problems at all. Here's a link to my Epoxy Inlay video playlist. It includes all 4 of my videos, plus the Live Q&A sessions for those videos, as well as the Live Q&A sessions with Shane Peters and Rob Sandstrom, my epoxy gurus. Good luck!
Thank you for all your hard work!
This is great. Loved how it turned out. And the video is very clear and informative. Thanks for all the time you put into this. Love it.
Thank you, Jay! I had a lot of fun doing it, and I will be doing more.
Very good video again Mark and very nice job!
Another tip I’ve figured the hard way. When finishing the back of the project make sure the painters pyramid aren’t touching epoxy areas on the front side. I’ve had tiny dents from the pyramid things in the epoxy before. Nothing worse than messing up a project at the very end
Outstanding work and clear informative explanation.
Great job Mark!!
Thanks Mark, great video! Does it make sense to cut and pour all of the colors after clear layer before pouring the black? In other words, by cutting the other colors first, are you left with the black so it does not need to be cut in a tool path? I'm doing a multi-color epoxy project and the black in my design sees like it would be easier to not tool path the black because I would need to add closed vectors specifically for the black. Interested in your thoughts...Thanks Again!
This video was the last part of a 4-part series on doing this epoxy inlay. Here's a link to the playlist (you can skip the live streams if you'd like.) ua-cam.com/play/PLLuYLaC3-QRNkO3ZIYnEzTb32mn-_AE-J.html
I explain all of my reasoning behind the order of the colors being poured in those videos. The short version is, pouring a color over black will mute that color. Sometimes make it so dark it's almost impossible to see. That's why I did the black last.
Great job. Using your video I'm on the final day of my multi color epoxy project. When you surfaced the final coat did you zero off the top of the epoxy? Im trying to figure out the surfacing toolpath. My project is on plywood (corn hole board) and I don't want to surface into the wood. Id rather leave a thin amount of epoxy to sand off.
I set Z zero off of the wood every time I made a carve, and when I surfaced it. I created the surfacing toolpath to cut .010 inches deep, but I was using solid wood. You can create a surfacing toolpath with a cut depth of 0.0, then set your Z zero to the top of the plywood. Depending on how good your Z axis is calibrated, how accurately you set your Z zero, and how well your spindle is trammed, the surfacing bit should just graze the surface of the plywood. Good luck!
Great job again Mark
This is so insanely awesome! Great work, Mark!
Awesome Work and instruction
Very nice! I've learned so much from these videos. Just one question Which color tint did you use? you did mention "Diamond"....If I missed them in your list of materials I apologize, very nice work! thanks so much
I'm in the process of writing a website article about that. I didn't have room in the description box to list/link the tints and colorants I used. The mica powders I used were Black Diamonds brand.
dude, thats awesome
Pretty cool, Mark!
Thanks for sharing
Occurred to me watching it (I'm less than 'newb', have only watched a bunch of CNC videos, hoping to get one some day)....would it be a good idea to mount the workpiece to another, portable spoil board, then index the portable spoil board onto the machine spoil board? Would save on detach/reattaching, would only have to do it the once. If portable SB is big enough outside dimensions of workpiece, could just clamp it down with clamps well away from work area and -Z thickness of workpiece. And, as you mention at the end, mistakes happen, but would only damage the portable SB instead of the permanent machine SB
In this case, might want a masking tape 'dam' or something around the edge to not epoxy the work piece to the portable SB from spillover
I did a video on creating a Fixture Offset that addresses your question. It's basically a known location on the spoilboard that can be referenced repeatedly and accurately. I used that location to do this entire epoxy inlay over the course of 6 days, removing the piece each night so I could pour the epoxy indoors. In fact, the piece I made this pirate inlay with is the one I used to demonstrate the fixture offset in the video I'm linking you to now. Here's a link to that video: ua-cam.com/video/qo0h4Jdp-AQ/v-deo.html
@@MarkLindsayCNC Thanks
I didn't explain my idea very well...I meant, to save work on detaching and re-attaching to the machine bed spoilboard those 6 times, just mount the workpiece once to a portable spoilboard overhanging (er, 'underhanging'?...the opposite of 'hanging'...'bigger than') the workpiece with enough room for clamps, use your index pins to index the portable spoilboard instead of the workpiece (the workpiece still being indexed because it hasn't moved relative to the portable spoilboard)
To totally inexperienced me, seems it would be easier to clamp and unclamp the portable spoilboard 6 times, only taping and gluing once
I really don't see any advantage to adding a portable spoilboard to the mix. In fact, it complicates mounting unnecessarily, and introduces one more possibility of errors or mistakes. Mounting the piece directly to the machine spoilboard with painter's tape and CA glue takes just a minute or two, and it's never failed me yet. Clamps have.
@@MarkLindsayCNC The advantage I perceived (again, zero experience) was that clamps take seconds instead of the minute or 2. I was thinking you were using the tape to avoid the machine hitting clamps, didn't realize it was your default method for all around security. But, good to know, that potential saved minute is not worth the extra worry
Thanks again
Hello Mark, did you create flat depth V carves and then change the order of the tool paths so that the v bit was carved first? Or did you use some other method?
The short answer is yes. The long answer is, I broke up the project over a number of days, carving and pouring sections that wouldn't interfere with one another. I did carve to a flat depth, as outlined in the video series, and I almost always run the v-bit toolpaths first. I get a much cleaner carve that way. I then come back and run the clearance toolpaths after the v-bit toolpaths.
@@MarkLindsayCNC thank you. I had not watched the full series yet. I was looking for a video explaining how to use epoxy and this video was returned in my search. I was originally looking for a way to cut through material with fine details like a laser cutter would be able to do but using a CNC instead. Think scroll saw silhouette on the wall.
Great video, I’m sorry if this has been answered somewhere but how deep do you cut the tool paths for the pours?
Thank you
This video is Part 4 of a 4-part mini series. I covered toolpathing in Part 3. Here's a link: ua-cam.com/video/ANIY3O26Ip8/v-deo.html
Great Job and awesome explanation
Thank you, Bob!
Wow! Great job!
Also, at one point you poured some epoxy and then swirled in what looked like another color. Was this to create a swirled effect? Wonder if this technique could be used to creat trees with dark and light green patches?
I wouldn't attempt it. I mixed in another color in an attempt to slightly change the color I had already poured. It was a risky move, as that tint has to be mixed well into the epoxy, or the entire pour will not cure properly. The unmixed tint would remain tacky. I took a chance, and I got lucky. When I did it, I was totally prepared to carve that epoxy pour out and start over. If you want to create a swirled effect like that, you can try mixing 2 separate well-mixed colors and try swirling them together, but odds are they'll just blend together into one color. Your best bet would be to just carve and pour the two colors of green separately, 24 hours apart.
@@MarkLindsayCNC ummm, you’re supposed to say “Jeff, that’s a brilliant idea.” And then my problem would be solved. Lol
One thing I'll never do is intentionally lie to you. If I mess up, that's on me. If I lie to you and you mess up, that's also on me. Neither of us want that.
Did you use the black diamond for the white color?
No, I used SRC white resin pigment. specialtyresin.com/product/white-pigment
Question: when setting the X and Y positions do you use an end mill but? Seems like if you use a v but the position wouldn’t be accurate as it’s width isn’t constant along the height of the but?
Yes - you use an end mill (or a precision ground steel dowel) if you're using a 3-way touch plate to set your X Y zero. If you're not using a 3-way touch plate, a v-bit is the easiest way to accomplish the same thing. You can put the point of that bit right on the zero point you've selected for that project.
@@MarkLindsayCNC gotcha. Thanks for the clarification. Onefinity shipping this week, hopefully. Will have to actually put all of this into practice soon. You’re teaching and guidance has been invaluable.
Onefinity has a great support community made up of regular people who use the machines. Those folks know your machine best. I've never used their control software, so I don't know a thing about it.
Check out their support forum! forum.onefinitycnc.com/
one more question...did the layers of poly effect the color of you pirate?
Not one bit. The colors stayed true.
If you remove the board between cuts with the cnc, how are you reallighing it to the same exact place as before
By using a Work Offset, as I set up in the video just before this one. Here's a link: ua-cam.com/video/qo0h4Jdp-AQ/v-deo.html
looks awesome
Thank you, Herb!
When I’m doing multiple pours in a single setting and they get close, I’ll run a bead of hot glue around the area to make a dam to keep different colors from overflowing into each other.
Great tip! Thanks!
I'm interested to know if you made this to sell or for yourself. As a cnc and epoxy sign maker, I find people don't appreciate or understand the envolvment in making your piece. You have at least 4hrs of physical work and 2 hrs machine time, plus about $30 in materials. I would have to charge a minimum of $150. Conversely, someone with a sublimation setup could do it in an hour or so for $40.
I made 2 of these. I kept one for myself. I gave the piece I made in this video series to a subscriber during the Live Q&A for this video. Yes, epoxy work is expensive. I'm a home hobbyist, so as a result, I don't do much of it at all.
What is your method/products for coloring your epoxy?
I'm in the process of writing a website article about that. I didn't have room in the description box to list/link the tints and colorants I used.
My-t-fine on all points. 0 to 10 you get a 12.
a small bead of hot glue would have solved your problem on min 4, and so you could have poured on the same day.