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HS Toolpaths and Hardwoods


Zoffen
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I'm working on a personal project that involves lots of 3D milling into a hardwood and am wondering how Highspeed(Large Axial DOC - Low  Radial DOC) work for hardwoods.

I have very little experience milling wood and am wondering the best approach to this. For roughing will a traditional 3d roughing toolpath be better or a HS type toolpath.

I am also planning on needing some lolipop cutters for some tight features, should i got with the regular straight flute or a high helix (an aluminum cutter) type cutter? I'm thinking high helix will do better for wood....

I am also undecided on which hardwood to use. Does anyone have any input on a easy mill hardwood that won't chip out easily?

Thanks for any and all info i really do appreciate any input on this.

 

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20 hours ago, Zoffen said:

I'm working on a personal project that involves lots of 3D milling into a hardwood and am wondering how Highspeed(Large Axial DOC - Low  Radial DOC) work for hardwoods.

Doesn't really matter as long as you have a cutter and spindle interface that can handle it.  .02" per tooth isn't a big deal for a 1/2" wood specific cutter.  I'll rough walnut at mach fing booking with a long reach tool.  Think 3/4" x 2"LOC x 4.5" x 3 Flutes Necked in an ER32, taking 2" DOC x 40% stepover. @ 18000 rpm @  630 IPM.  Chip load is a little light, but I had to back it off as it was pulling out of the holder when it hit a slightly wet or hard spot.  This is a rougher mind you.

 

20 hours ago, Zoffen said:

I am also planning on needing some lolipop cutters for some tight features, should i got with the regular straight flute or a high helix (an aluminum cutter) type cutter? I'm thinking high helix will do better for wood....

Will regular ball ends work?  What diameters would you be needing?  Ally specific tools work ok, but they often don't have enough rake angle and radial clearance to really grip and rip without tearing the grain vs cutting it.  If you can use a standard ball end, look at LMT Onsrud or Vortex tool.  The sq and ball end cutters from Vortex are pretty much what I use all the time (pretty much exclusively cut hardwood....)

20 hours ago, Zoffen said:

I am also undecided on which hardwood to use. Does anyone have any input on a easy mill hardwood that won't chip out easily?

As long as your moisture content isn't too low < 5% , and you don't have tons of figure in the wood, it shouldn't be too bad no matter what type of wood you pick.  Pick you wood based on what you want the end result to look like.  Blank Walnut (medium hard hardness and dark), Soft Maple (medium  hard and light), Cherry (Medium Hardness and in the middle).

What do you have available, and how big a piece do you need?

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2 hours ago, huskermcdoogle said:

Think 3/4" x 2"LOC x 4.5" x 3 Flutes Necked in an ER32, taking 2" DOC x 40% stepover. @ 18000 rpm @  630 IPM

This is the information I am dieing to know/understand. I shape mods using cypress, and ply, but keep my feed around 200-250 ipm 14000 rpm with a 1/2 bull[or ball with a few changes] sticking out ~4.5-5". The online calculators give me figures that I'm dubious about. Example 1/2 bull 4 flute 5" out, 1/8 DOC X 40% stepover @14000 rpm / 320 IPM. I lack the experience to trust that. I've had a few times whereas the tools been yanked right out of the holder hitting wet portions of wood as well. 

 

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3 hours ago, Lord Wukits said:

I've had a few times whereas the tools been yanked right out of the holder hitting wet portions of wood as well. 

I had that tool come clear out of the holder once and sit spinning on the table to about 30 seconds before it came to a stop.  It wasn't torqued and It's a hunk of carbide, lots of momentum.  I can easily get 500 - 1000pcs. on a tool if the wood is the right moisture content, hit a wet batch of wood and you will need to put a new one in or modify the program with less axial engagement.  Wet wood is such a pita though usually we just set it in a dry room for a few weeks with some dehumidifiers and let them dry out a bit more.  All depends on if we have dry wood to run.

 

3 hours ago, Lord Wukits said:

This is the information I am dieing to know/understand.

I have found its a crap shoot, you think you have it figured out and then another wrench gets thrown in the gears.  But having a rougher type helps for sure.  It will stabilize the axial pull a bit, as well as cut smaller chips, lots of benefits.  I would try maximizing your loc over your doc, if you can keep your radial engagement between 20-40%, you should be able to feed .005"-.015" per tooth pretty easily without rubbing.  It's kind of backwards, but basically you want to set your spindle speed based on how fast you can feed.  Faster you can feed, the faster you can spin.  Otherwise you are going to rub your cutter to death in about the first 10 seconds. then no matter what you try its going to sound and cut like crap.  I rarely use new tools during a production proveout unless l have to as they are bound to get rubbed while checking clearances.  More and more I am using simulation, and trusting it as far as I can on whether something is going to clear.  I'll check what I can but once I get in cut, I usually let it fly so as to not ruin tools.

Try developing programs that will cut walnut, maple, and laminated birch, and have all them come out the same..... That's when it gets fun.  Just covering the range in wood grades for black walnut can be hard enough.  High figure stuff chips out when you look at it wrong.

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