Milling Text

I want to mill some wood letters. Each one will be about 8 inches tall. They’ll be for a wall display. My question is… how do I keep the letters attached to the spoil board? I see that Estlcam has tabs that can be added, but that doesn’t really seem like the right option. What would you guys use to keep the part from moving around? (I’m sure this has been discussed before, but I can’t find the right topic)

I use masking tape on the spoil board and the back of the work piece. Then I use hot glue to stick it down and tap it with a mallet. It does add a little height to the work piece and setup, but the stock I use is fairly consistent and I know the tolerance.

One thing about this is that it allows me to fully use up the stock to the edge and also keeps the counters of letters like A and R held down.

You can use double sided carpet tape. I haven’t tried that yet, but some folks use it.

Then there is the masking tape with CA glue. Seems to be a good solution for holding small stock for milling without a vice or clamps.

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I drill a hole in each corner of the board and use wood screws to screw it to the spoilboard.

The tabs are used on the letters themselves to keep them from coming loose from the waste before the cut is finished. I typically use half-height tabs and then pop the letters out with a chisel and mallet. A little sanding of the tabs and you’re good to go.

A lot of what I cut on my machine are letters for the wife to use at school.

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So to help clarify, I use tabs then use a flush trim bit in my router to flush trim the tab off when the rest of the part or “letter” is carved out. The tabs hold the 99% of the part in place while the part is being cut out. The main piece of wood is held by clamps, screws or what ever you have devised. Hope that helps.

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