First Cut - Side Panels With The X-Carve

In my Test Carve Of Side Panel On CNC entry I mentioned using Visio as an in-between for SketchUp and VCarve Pro (VCP).  My reasoning was it being easier to lay out the cuts accurate enough for my desires.  At first I felt the results were acceptable but as I dug deeper into the VCP imported file and the actual measurements, I started to change my mind.  Some of the lines were not straight enough nor the right size.  Having said that, I do tend to micro-design and, in actuality, the differences could have been negligible.  But I decided to try direct design in VCP and the process was not as difficult as I had initially assumed.

Using the VCP's guidelines, and the ability to zoom in a great amount, I was able to create the vectors and align them to my liking.  Once the right side was done I copied and mirrored to make the left side.

From there I generated the carve files, clamped the boards so they would not move, and began carving.

So far, so good.   Each panel is about 18" deep and 29" tall. I was quite nervous fearing a mistake on a $30 board but everything came out all right.  Next step is to cut out some of the interior pieces - framing structure and the large play field.  Also I will be adding the walnut edging to the side board.