So I ran the same code several times. In MDF I had no issues at 12mm depth of cut at 1.5 speed on the dial with a 1/4" single flute. In Baltic Birch it would shake violently. If I increased the RPM all the way up it was better (either way I would get a nice cut). To get a good sounding cut in Baltic Birch Ply, I had to do 6mm Depth of cut at a 5 speed on the dial.
Any idea what gives? Is it the glue? The ply is so much lighter and less dense. I have been preaching MDF as the toughest wood to cut for YEARS…I am a liar!!!
No expert here, but two flute works great on setting 1-3 using Baltic Birch with DOC 5.
At least I did like 40 jobs using that setting with great result on my LR2.
I even think & 1 flute worked using the same settings.
Have to be carefull though, some layers are that hard the router jammed on it ruining the piece/job
Try MDF, super easy, you can double your PLY settings no problem.
I do think you should give a single flute a try. Very clean cuts in both, it gets the chips out better, and for our RPM range I think it is better suited. If I am using the minimum RPM setting in MDF that implies I need to increase the feed rate, or slow down the cut a bit more. For PLY it fluffs up considerably so I do believe the increased chip path decreases re-cutting. If you are using minium RPM with your two flute, to me that is a solid indicator of you needing a Single flute or to cut a bit faster. (or find a lower RPM Router…).
This testing is all to finally start selling this giant stack of 1/4" single flutes I have. So far I am loving them but one of us that did some testing had some odd plywood results I needed to verify for myself. I will say, start with a low RPM in ply or you will burn up your bit very quickly. Any scorching of your cuts and you are going way, way too fast and will kill your endmill in minutes.
No I think I got 12mm DOC. It is a large bit and in harder materials I am not sure how deep these machines can cut. I was getting these for wood, plastic, and Aluminum.
If you are cutting wood or less dense materials, then you can get pretty long.
I think the difference probably lies in the fact that the birch ply still has fibers that are much longer than the “chip” that is being carved out, while the MDF is already “powdered” and pasted back together.
I think it would be easier to cut mashed potatoes than potato gratin. Same goes for MDF and ply, though it really depends on the wood.
I cut poplar ply which is really light with one of the 1.5mm diamond endmills at 1200mm/min, 3mm DOC, same settings in beech plywood will destroy the endmill in 0.1 seconds. Baltic birch is harder than poplar, but not as hard as beech. Also had some for, this seems to be on the level of birch.
I haven’t tried those with my 1 flute except the birch. I did cut beech at 6mm DOC and 2000 mm/min with a 6mm 2 flute endmill, max RPM and it went pretty well.
Anyone else cut OSB? I felt like it was a bit of a pain, required pretty high RPM for me with a 1/8" bit. Just got some 1/4" bits to try out, but was a little slower going than the baltic birch I have.
