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General Mach Discussion / Re: Speed for cast acrylic
« on: September 15, 2010, 05:12:09 AM »
Hey Jeff,
Check the following links:
http://www.onsrud.com/xdoc/FeedSpeeds
http://www.onsrud.com/xdoc/ChipHardPlastic
http://www.onsrud.com/xdoc/ChipSoftPlastic
These numbers are obviously for their bits, but it still may help. Honestly, I don't know if acrylic falls into the hard or soft plastic category, so hopefully someone else will speak up. You may also want to look into getting bits designed for cutting acrylic. Onsrud and Precise Bits are two I know of.
If you're seeing melting, then you need to either slow your rpm's or increase your feed rate. On my machine I set up a small test where I cut a straight line at the desired depth a few inches long. Check the results and then adjust your settings as needed and test again. I think you need to be prepared to waste a little material to determine the most optimal settings for your machine (that is unless someone here can give you numbers from their experience). I've also broken a couple small bits in testing!
Stings, but I consider it the cost of learning.
Once you've dialed in your settings a little, try cutting a few circles and see how they come out. That should tell you real quick how those settings will work. If your settings aren't right, the machine could lose steps and your cuts/parts will not be accurate. If that happens, then back off the feed rate some.
All that applies for any material really, so with your balsa and plywood, run the same tests to determine the best settings for your machine. And make notes for each bit you test in case your ever need to reconfigure your machine or you lose your config somehow.
I'm no expert myself and all this is from my own experience in learning how to cut materials on my machine, so don't take this a gospel, but I hope that helps!
Dave
Check the following links:
http://www.onsrud.com/xdoc/FeedSpeeds
http://www.onsrud.com/xdoc/ChipHardPlastic
http://www.onsrud.com/xdoc/ChipSoftPlastic
These numbers are obviously for their bits, but it still may help. Honestly, I don't know if acrylic falls into the hard or soft plastic category, so hopefully someone else will speak up. You may also want to look into getting bits designed for cutting acrylic. Onsrud and Precise Bits are two I know of.
If you're seeing melting, then you need to either slow your rpm's or increase your feed rate. On my machine I set up a small test where I cut a straight line at the desired depth a few inches long. Check the results and then adjust your settings as needed and test again. I think you need to be prepared to waste a little material to determine the most optimal settings for your machine (that is unless someone here can give you numbers from their experience). I've also broken a couple small bits in testing!
Stings, but I consider it the cost of learning. Once you've dialed in your settings a little, try cutting a few circles and see how they come out. That should tell you real quick how those settings will work. If your settings aren't right, the machine could lose steps and your cuts/parts will not be accurate. If that happens, then back off the feed rate some.
All that applies for any material really, so with your balsa and plywood, run the same tests to determine the best settings for your machine. And make notes for each bit you test in case your ever need to reconfigure your machine or you lose your config somehow.
I'm no expert myself and all this is from my own experience in learning how to cut materials on my machine, so don't take this a gospel, but I hope that helps!
Dave
