Useful 'comment' section for tools

Software / Firmware EstlCAM
1

I was messing with a chip load chart, trying to make a good way to play with the numbers. I ended up converting some table screenshots into a CSV and copy/pasting it into my tool’s ‘comment’ section like in the screenshot below… I did have to do some tomfoolery like extra letters and hella commas to get everything to line up. You can line things up with spaces, but they get wiped out after you save:

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Table taken from the following guide, which assumes DOC = 1x tool diameter.
DOC of 2x tool diameter = chip load * 0.75
DOC of 3x tool diameter = chip load * 0.50

“ if the depth of cut is increased to around twice or thrice the tool diameter, the values in the table should be decreased by about 25% and 50%, respectively”

Makita speeds are taken from the manual. I did stumble upon this excellent post where a guy measured his Makita with a tach, also shows you the notches for 10k, 15k, 20k: Makita Router Tach Speeds - Machines (Original/PRO) - Onefinity CNC Forum

Table copy/paste:

Materialll	 3.175mm tool (1/8") , 6.35mm tool (1/4")
Hardwood	0.076-0.127mm,,,,,,,,,,,, 0.229-0.279mm
Soft/Plywood	0.102-0.152mm,,,,,,,,,,,, 0.279-0.330mm
MDF/Particle	0.102-0.178mm,,,,,,,,,,,, 0.330-0.406mm
Hard plastic	0.051-0.102mm,,,,,,,,,,,, 0.152-0.229mm
Soft plastic	0.076-0.152mm,,,,,,,,,,,, 0.178-0.254mm
Acryliccc	 0.076-0.127mm,,,,,,,,,,,, 0.203-0.254mm
High-p laminate	0.076-0.127mm,,,,,,,,,,,, 0.229-0.305mm
Aluminum	0.076-0.102mm,,,,,,,,,,, 0.127-0.178mm

DOC of 2x tool diameter = chip load * 0.75
DOC of 3x tool diameter = chip load * 0.50

Makita	min⁻¹
1	10000
2	12000
3	17000
4	22000
5	27000
6	30000

Now you can play with feeds and speeds to your hearts content :slight_smile:

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2

Just wanted to follow up with this; I’ve used the chart on my last few jobs (slotting out parts in plywood) and the calcs have held up very well! Meaning that when deciding on your feeds, speeds, and DOC, take a second to do the math, and your chance of successful cut goes up 10 fold compared to vibes alone.

Examples using the v1 1/8" single upcut bit, slotting thru plywood

  • 3 mm DOC, 20 mm/s, 10k rpm = 0.12 mm chip thickness, right in the middle range of the table… result: successful cuts, chips not dust
  • 6 mm DOC, 20 mm/s, 12k rpm = 0.1 mm chip thickness, again right in the middle range, and again successful cuts, making chips not dust. Keeping in mind that 2x diameter DOC requires chip thickness * 0.75. So I took my 0.12 mm chip thickness * 0.75 = 0.09, then I just bumped up RPM until chip thickness hit 0.1 mm (close enough to 0.09 mm for me lol). It would be dope if EstlCAM took DOC as a function of tool diameter into the chip thickness calc automatically, but no big deal :slight_smile:

I’ve been aiming for the middle range of chip thickness so I know I’m not pushing the envelope, but also not leaving all the performance on the table. I much prefer calculating the RPMs rather than go by the folks saying to “adjust it till it sounds good” lol. I totally get what folks mean by that, but I don’t know what sounds good and what doesn’t! I’m new, I’m wearing hearing protection, and running dust extraction, so it all sounds like glorious controlled chaos to me lol. Instead I’m like “well the numbers match up, and those are definitely little wood chips, so it can’t be too out of spec”, which puts my mind at ease and makes it all that much more fun!

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3

Hi,

I’ll make the comment textbox use a monospace font with the next update in a few days - then things are easier to line up.

Christian

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