So I have a LR4 on a frankenstein table made of renovation surplus material. The spoilboard is made of underfloor chipboards which is classified as HDF as far as I know. So far I have really only cut pine gluelam panels (18mm thick), but I have burned up two bits (6mm 1F Sorotec, so quality should be fine), each in under 1h jobs. Burned to the point of changing color.. Speeds around 700mm/min, and 2-3 on the Makita router. DOC tested with ~3 to 4mm. Cuts are profiling cuts so cutting at full width. Slow speeds due to having had some issues with the gantry resonating/shaking under load, which has been reduced after tightening the belts (any comments on this also appreciated).
Definitely making chips when going through the pine, except when the chips get stuck in the cut.. Which is pointing my inexperienced finger towards the spoilboard material?
Blackened endmill should not really happen, the HDF also should not do it. Very weird. The settings sound okay as well. I have a 2-flute 3.175mm from sorotec that’s held up for years now…
2-3 on the Makita is way too fast, you’re making dust and not chips Try 1. If I could make mine go slower I would lol. Try a chip size calculator to verify, but otherwise your settings seem OK to me!
Thanks for your replies. The physical evidence from the pine cutting is chips on the table when dust collection is off, but the HDF probably turns to dust… Bits get shot, top one dull to the touch, bottom one a new one for reference. Now there are some sources that would indicate that the HDF (especially floor type) destroys HSS tools, so perhaps I should just swap it out.
Perhaps the issue to solve then is also this: Shaking gantry
As said, that issue was helped by tensioning belts, is there any way of measure the tension for GT2 belts? The guesstimate seems to be hard for me. Braided steel is easy with stretch% (when tensioning at 500kg, sailboats.. :D)
Bits get dull because of heat. Heat happens from too much friction (spinning too fast), and chips not being big enough to carry away the heat. Your eyes cannot accurately measure the chip size… try my suggestion of lowering your router speed to 1 and report back . worst case ontario is you burn another bit and confirm it’s the wood’s fault, but best case is that the problem you came here to solve is now solved.
Try 1. If I could make mine go slower I would lol. Try a chip size calculator to verify, but otherwise your settings seem OK to me!