I have an upcoming project. I am making a mold for some casting that has some small detail in it. I decided to get a 1/16th end mill for the detail. I will be cutting either hdpe or MDF depending on advice from the manufacturer of the casting material. Looking for recs on feeds and speeds with that small of an end mill. Depth of cut is only going to be 1-1.5 mm.
Thank you,
Brad
More than one variable to consider, but assuming your mpcnc is small enough to maintain rigidity, I’d turn the router all the way up (27k-30k rpms) and start with 0.02mm/tooth then crank up the feed rate as it goes.
Both of those materials are pretty soft, and the 1/16 endmill is small enough that even at high speed I wouldn’t think melting should be a problem in hdpe as long as you feed fast enough.
Ok, so I am still very green, but using these numbers in feed and speed calculator thats over 1kmm/min? Am I doing this right?
Must be 2 flute then? I get to something like 1200mm/min at 30krpm, or 47ipm for my barbarian bretheren. I think that’s a great starting point for just 1mm doc in mdf, and I’d be surprised if you could go fast enough to give it any trouble on an mpcnc.
I haven’t cut hdpe, but I’d also be surprised if that gave you any trouble.
Good luck!
yes 2 flute, I was just surprised it was that high, I don’t want to rip a hole in time space continuum or anything
Not as fast as it sounds because mms are so small. Make a dry run with no stock and see if you are more comfortable.
With the hdpe you want air blast, or really good vacuum.
Just dug up the only file I still have that used a 1/16 endmill. I was running at 1200mm/m for a 3d cut. This was in bamboo, which is harder than both the materials you’re planning on using. I hit the z axis speed limit for this.
