CNC Signing

[Jeff Walters]

Hi All,
Been a while sine I have been on here. Just curious if anyone out there are signing their bowls with a CNC (Not A Laser) and what their results are. What type you are using and what bit. I am trying to decide if I want to get a laser or CNC.
Thanks,
Jeff

[Alex Zeller]

I just got my CNC a couple days ago and haven't even turned it on yet. But I see no reason why you couldn't create a digital image of the signature you want to use and then do something like a V-carve to the bottom of the bowl. In fact if you really wanted to you could make the whole bowl on the CNC and avoid the lathe all together (but I think it would take more time than it's worth). My CNC has the ability to mount a laser in front of the spindle so if I want to I can add it as an option.

[Richard Coers]

I just got my CNC a couple days ago and haven't even turned it on yet. But I see no reason why you couldn't create a digital image of the signature you want to use and then do something like a V-carve to the bottom of the bowl. In fact if you really wanted to you could make the whole bowl on the CNC and avoid the lathe all together (but I think it would take more time than it's worth). My CNC has the ability to mount a laser in front of the spindle so if I want to I can add it as an option.

A hobby CNC would be painfully slow doing a bowl. The final step over cuts would take hours if you didn't want a day of sanding.
A laser will give you a charred signature while a CNC will need to be filled to really stand out. Also a laser will give you the same fine font line as a pen. Even a super fine router bit will give you a much wider line. The super fine carving bit has very little surface speed at the point and will do a fuzzy cut on many woods. I'd go with one of those $100 3.5w lasers. You can set the laser on standoffs giving you little need for a deep Z axis.