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Author Topic: Cutting thick materials on a mill  (Read 10293 times)

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Cutting thick materials on a mill
« on: March 25, 2015, 10:14:24 AM »
I'm new to cnc and am using mach 3 to run a mill on which I am cutting 3" thick Gatorfoam.
Since the bit is very long I can't seem to slow the x and y movement enough to keep the bit from breaking off at the collet.
How do I slow the x and y speed?

Offline Tweakie.CNC

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Re: Cutting thick materials on a mill
« Reply #1 on: March 25, 2015, 11:58:49 AM »
Check that your Gcode uses G01 moves for the X and Y then edit the Gcode to reduce the F*********x (feedrate). Alternately, the Feed Rate Override slider can be adjusted downwards (main screen).

Tweakie.
PEACE

Offline RICH

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Re: Cutting thick materials on a mill
« Reply #2 on: March 25, 2015, 12:29:08 PM »
Consider doing multiple depth cuts and a finish cut at full depth.

RICH
Re: Cutting thick materials on a mill
« Reply #3 on: March 27, 2015, 09:13:50 AM »
Both of those things helped a lot but I also ended up plaining the bed. It turns out I had some pretty nast high spots which were cathing the bit. I also ran into a problem when I slowed the feed rate too much. The bit melted the foam. The learning curve is pretty steep on this stuff. Thanks for the help.