I do have Houston and have been going through the streets to get it ready to cut!
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I might need a few of those. I have some family in Huston and Conroe. 
Thank you
I’m in Austin. Out in the 4 points area. Have a couple of other CNC machines (not Maslow). I’d love some help getting going.
Thanks,
Tom
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Can’t say I like looking at maps, but the whole technique is pretty amazing. Where do you buy the epoxy?
I use West Systems Epoxy
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These are so cool! Do you mind if I try to copy your idea and make one of my home town?
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Go for it! I’m all for it!
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Does the epoxy sand smooth? I’ve used epoxy on a few woodworking projects and if i sand it, it has a rough finish unlike the glassy finish it starts with.
The epoxy does sand smooth, it has a flat finish when sanded but you can change that by using your preferred clear coat on it.
Was wondering programs you used to make the map and gcode?
The maps can be found on a site called CADMapper. I use Easel for the gcode, it is by far the easiest way I’ve found to create the gcode.
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For the information.
What bits did you buy for the 1/8” and 1/16” cuts? I am looking to try this as one of my next projects. I am in Houston.
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@brazz04 - how did you manage the two different bit sizes? I haven’t attempted that yet out of fear of losing position/z-axis zero.
I’m curious as to your workflow, was it two separate easel files and you just carved one over the other with the different bit? If so, how did CADMapper do with exporting the bigger roads and then the smaller ones separately? Obviously you figured it out because it looks great.
Thanks!
Maslow will detect a change in bit size in the g-code and will prompt you to make the change. Once you install the new bit, you can adjust the z-axis to define zero again and then press play to continue the cut.
Rock on! I knew Easel had that feature somewhere but I got distracted by trying to refine other things like chain tension.
Thanks!
Follow up question, how do you define which lines get carved with which bit (in Easel preferably, since that’s what brazz04 used and what I use currently)
Here’s a message I sent to another user that covers a ton of this.
This was my first CNC as well, so I had a lot of learning to do as well. This map was actually about the 17th revision I made to it, I think i’m on about 20 now. So I bring the CAD Mapper Map into LibreCAD (just because its free and it will export an SVG) and weed out what I don’t want in the final drawing. Then I use LibreCAD to set up two layers, one for the 16th" bit and one for the 8th" bit. Then I scale it to whatever board I’m going to cut (mine are usually 24x28". Here’s what the Austin Map looked like in LibreCAD before I exported it as an SVG. Notice that I put a border and the vertical line from 0,0. I use that to make sure that the export is imported and positioned correctly when I import into Easel. Then those can be deleted once you know its imported correctly. When I export the SVG from LibreCAD, I will turn off the 16th layer and only export the 1/8th layer, then I’ll reverse it and turn off the 1/8th layer and export the 1/16th. This gives you two maps to import into Easel.
Once you’re in Easel, you open a project and make two seperate pages, one will be the 16th cut and the other the 1/8th. I basically import each and use that vertical line on the left to make sure they are in the exact same spot on each page. Then for each page you can select your for each different cut. For the 1/8th inch cut, I would suggest not doing any word or north arrow, save those for the 1/16th bit. With both bits, I run the speed at 25-30inches per minute. I also do a cut depth of about .25", The maslow can do that in one pass pretty easily so I set the max cut per pass to 0.3". I would for sure suggest doing the cut in a single pass though as small imperfections may show up if you have to go over the cut multiple times. I will share my Easel Link with you so you should be able to see all of my settings for the cuts.
http://easel.inventables.com/projects/EKFgCgTBt6xtVcw79Qanvw 2
My biggest suggestion is go to Home depot and get the 4x8’ Foam Insulation sheets (they’re purple) and it will give you tons of practice room before you make your final cuts.
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Hey Brazz, bumping this again to clarify something: you’re not using Easel’s built in multiple bit feature, instead your are using the pages at the bottom of a project window to separate out what you want cut with each bit and just selecting that bit on the correct page?
I ask because I tried the built in multiple bit feature, which left me with two .NC files, one for “rough” and one for “detail” despite the two pages in the project with different components. Just trying to get the hang of this better. Thanks!
I am using multiple pages in easel, so I essentially have two cuts that are done in the same piece.