Milling wood in an old CNC machining center

[drafting3]

I have a project I'm working on where I'm milling 1/2" plywood into various shapes. I'm getting 8-12 shapes from a single 2'x4' sheet of plywood. I'm looking for tooling to give me a better finish on the final product. My scrap rate on this sample run is about 80%+, which is okay for now as I only needed one complete part. The edges of the plywood get curled up, or simply ripped off in chips. This is unacceptable.

 

When the customer approves this sample and decides to move forward with a full production run (300 units), I'll need more reliable cutting tools. So, I'm looking for a 1/4" endmill or router that can plunge, or at least ramp, and will cut plywood nicely without exceeding 3000 RPM (my machines max RPM). Suggestions on feed would also be appreciated.

 

 

Wood is not our primary medium, and I have no clue where to start.

[oz]

You could try compression cutters. They cut up from the bottom and down from the top. You can get them here http://www.royceayr.com/ they will also help you with your feeds and speeds or you can look here http://www.royceayr.com/production/chipload-calculator.

[drafting3]

thanks. i'll look into compression cutters. that sounds like what i need.

[48rich350]

A compression cutter will work fine as stated earlier however make sure that your upspiral geometry on the cutter is less than the thickness of your material or you will be right back where you started. I recommend Vortex tooling but that's a taste thing.

[Rotary Ninja]

FWIW, you RPM is your limiting factor here. Wood cuts better the faster the RPM as long as your tooling is sharp. Those compression cutters look like they would do nicely though. I assume the top is what is getting all chewed up? If so, try running a 1/8" tool just below the top surface around the profile first. You just want to cut as deep as the spliters are thick that you are getting. So .050" or so? But anyway, smaller tool = smaller splinters. Try conventional milling instead of climb. Maybe it will be better. Maybe worse. Just depends on the material.

 

Former Splintermaker Extraordinaire!

Kevin