I have an OX that I modified to 5'x5' with a Quiet Cut Spindle & Speed Control. I would like to mill this simple kiteboard out of extruded polystyrene (blue DOW insulation). This will be my first project and I have some questions about the CAM setup.
3D>Parallell seems like a reasonable option. The head will move from tip to tail of the board with X and Y, milling the 'rocker' with the Z Axis. The board will be flipped over to mill the other side in the same fashion. I'll have to make some tabs or standoffs of some sort so there is enough stock left to keep the piece flat on the table top when it's flipped over.
First issue is Tool Selection. I have a few end mills I ordered from Inventables. I thought this 1/8" Ball End would be the most suitable although will probably be painfully slow. Open to reccomendations for other bits for tooling foam. Planning to do a lot of it.
So this 1/8" Ball End could be used for a number of applications, and I am getting the impression I can make a 'New Tool' for each? Feeds and Speeds is something I need to get into (so many calculators...) but when I get my settings for foam, I input them into the New Tool creation and save it so that whenever I tool foam I can select this tool and it will apply the saved feeds and speeds? I could make another tool with the same dimensions but different feeds and speeds for wood or plastic? If so, very handy. One tool with different settings for multiple applications
Moving onto Geometry / Heights / Passes / Linking. Lot of options and I can't seem to find a combination that will generate a toolpath and show me a simulation, which has me thinking maybe Parallel isn't what I want or I'm missing some setting or on the wrong track.
Please advise ????
Edit: Found the task manager and realized it was generating a toolpath just taking a while. The toolpath seems pretty complicated and at 15 hrs I'm hoping can be optimized.
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Hey peasant-wizard,
I would first off recommend getting a larger tool (and probably a flat or bull nose) for roughing operations, and then like a 1/2" ball endmill so you can take a larger stepover which will help reduce the machining time.
You are right that you can make a couple versions and save different feeds and speeds for different materials. Support for different materials for the same tool is coming soon as well!
Hope that helps!
cutting stuff like that you can get away with using router bit's and the cheap one's to will be ok only ok.
the best way to do it is use the biggest cutter you can for the cut, if you do it cut by cut using the biggest you can it save hours.
when you are cutting that stuff you wont to see a chip coming of not dust and if it starts to get stinky that's bad to.
think of snow when it's snowing you have fine snow (powered) or flakes, flakes is what you wont.
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feed and speed is a learning curve in a half.
Thanks for the replies. Very useful information!
My spindle can take up to 1/4" shank and I found a couple cheap Rotary Burs at the hardware store. Worked pretty good. Definitely needed some sanding but that's no problem. Got machine time down to a little over an hour per side, pretty reasonable but still working on it.
Just ordered a few of these Rotary Burs (1,2,3), better quality than what I found locally. Has anybody seen larger ones? If I could run a finishing pass with something like 1" diameter that had a very mellow curve... not sure how to describe it, satellite-dish-like?
Also curious: When creating a Tool in Fusion for a Rotary Bur, how do I determine flute count?
You would be hard pressed to find a rotary burr any larger than what you have found, although MSC in the USA does carry for very large ball burrs
http://www.mscdirect.com/browse/tn/Abrasives/Points-Burrs/Burrs-Burr-Stands/Burrs?navid=#nav...
the other option available to you is router bits. Goold ol' 2 and 4 flute brazed carbide router bits which are available in many sizes and custom grinds. You may even find one that is a shallow dish...
For the tool definition, I wouldn't even concern myself with that number, as it's only used for feedrate calculation, which you would over-ride anyways in the machining operation
Burs arrived, worked on the model a bit, found a CAM setup that seems (somewhat) appropriate. Hoping to get some feedback on the plug board.
Can't seem to get a satisfactory Adaptive Clearing - toolpath's all seem to waste time running about. Settled on two opposing Parallel passes. The first one roughs out enough material so that the second pass can work at the appropriate depth. I finished the edges with a Contour, set for slope 22-90:
Run time is longer than I'd like and curious about the vertical paths at the nose and tail of the Contour? Ideally the path would just run around the edges a few times without all the retraction.
Anyways would appreciate any tips or feedback if I'm moving in the right direction or should be exploring different methods. Thanks for your time ????
Thanks for your interest @LibertyMachine
Cutting time is down to 1:22 with the Parallel and Morphed Spiral above. I abandoned Contour once I realized it was restricted to horizontal. Morphed Spiral combined the edge finishing I was looking for with a toolpath pretty close to my initial Parallel finishing path.
I checked Share the Latest Version in the public link.
I'm in the shop now and discovered another snag. Gantry is 5'x5' but effective cutting area is 48"x50" because of the spindle assembly. I had always planned to figure out a way to work on stock larger than the machine by running it through in sections (the Y axis is open-ended) so I guess now is the time. Any leads? Can't recall which CAM program I saw it featured, but they had a method of separating an operation into 'tiles'. Does something similar exist in Fusion? Mill half, machine pauses, move stock, resume.
I'm afraid I've bogged down this thread with too many questions - thanks for your patience.
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