And UHMW is fine too!

Ron,

Carbide for plasticS? No, for all the reasons you said...

Carbide for UHMW? Yes, for the heating you mentioned your friend
having, and its effects, which you also correctly state. And because
I've found from experience that this particular type of plastic (when
cut with a router) responds well to carbide tooling, which is why I
made the distinction.

Thank you for the excellent post.

Ballendo


--- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com, R Rogers <rogersmach@y...>
wrote:

> Ballendo,
>
> I was not specific when I mentioned what types of machining

he was attempting to do. This was UHMW about 3" thick and large width
and length. He was drilling holes and counterboring deeply into it.
Thats what was producing the heating problems. As I'm sure you know
drilling into UHMW over an inch or so creates heating problems due to
the material trying to close up on the bit. When I was there even the
milling portion of it was not going well. I suggested that he relief
grind the drills and counterbores (reduce the diameter just above the
cutting face). I heard later that he completed the job so, he
obvioulsy found solutions to his problems. One material that is a
real pistol to keep from melting is ABS. Very frustrating. Delrin
(acetal) is the machinists friend. That is the nicest material to
machine. Precision UHMW? My experience with this material is
everytime you clamp it down it distorts in every direction . Put a
piece in a vise, like 1/2" and it will bow up in the

> middle about 20 thou depending on its width. So, I'd have to try

and find a happy medium between bowing and flying out of the vise. Of
course a vaccuum fixture would allieviate alot of that for thin
material. Carbide for plastics? Plastics like razor sharp cutters.
(i'm talking about the mill here) Generally, carbide cutters for
mills arent very sharp. They are meant for toolsteel where a keen
edge is pointless. The material will wipe it away instantly. Carbide
endmills are for machining very hard materials in the mill. Like D-
2 , stainless and cutting through the case of thompson shafting. I
know you guys use alot of Carbide in your routers. Carbide can take
the heat alot better than high speed steel. Thats what destroys high
speed steel, The cutting edge being thin heats quickly, weakens and
goes bye bye.

>
> Ron
>
>
>
>
>
> ballendo <ballendo@y...> wrote:
> Hello,
>
> UHMW was giving a router problems?!? This is another material that
> routers cut day in, day out... (Okay, much of it is HDPE (Boating
> accessories, cutting boards, wear strip; but the specs for HDPE and
> UHMW overlap, and again my personal experience does not come near
> matching this response.) I bet he was trying to take too big a cut.
> UHMW is TOUGH, but not hard. Gummy. It "likes" to be cut in shallow
> bites; trying to hog it out WILL lead to despair.
>
> When I use my router to mill UHMW, I set the speed to 20K rpm
> plus, and go like a bat outta **** feed-wise. Sometimes freezing

the

> UHMW first helps (in hot weather), but ya gotta watch the dims; if
> it's a precision part. So you correct for it, just like any

material

> where heat changes the dimensions...
>
> BTW, I don't use coolant per se, but do keep a stream of air aimed

at

> the cut point. I've always believed its real purpose was to clear

the

> chips, rather than cool (because I useta not use it and things

worked

> fine then too), but it does help. Carbide tooling for sure.
>
> Hope this helps,
>
> Ballendo
>
> --- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com, R Rogers
> wrote:
> > Of course the best way to prove anything is try it. But, I would
> think that the router spindle speed would be way too fast, even

with

> a 1/4" cutter you'd need to be well under 2000 Rpm. A friend with a
> cabinet shop called me one day for assistance and he was attempting
> to machine UHMW (polyethylene) in a big gantry router and it was

just

> burning up the material. It didnt matter what speeds, feeds,

coolant

> methods or cutters we used. The spindle was just too fast. Thinking
> back, I worked in a shop where they routered aluminum. They were
> radiusing the edges of these large plates. It was just a table with

a

> router below. How well it worked I dont recall. I never used it
> myself. I would be very careful with it. Press "cycle start" and

run

> like hell :-)
> >
> > Ron
> >
> >
> > camfambmw540 wrote:
> > Hi all, new to the group...seems like a very excellent group :-)
> >
> > My name is John; I live in the Chicago area. I have a nice

compound

> > milling table that I would like to use in a very simple cnc

setup.

> > My plan is to fabricate a very sturdy z axis for a porter cable
> > router (1.75 hp), use the compound milling table as my x-y axis.

I

> > have 2 nema34 173 oz in stepper motors for the xy, still have yet
> to
> > get the z motors. I also have yet to get the controllers or power
> > supply. I have a 1 GHz pc dedicated to my shop needs.
> >
> > I plan on cutting odd shaped holes (1.5"x2.5") into 1/4 and 1/2
> inch
> > 6061 aluminum. I also would like this setup to be able to assist

me

> > in making a much better cnc sysem (when wife approved funds

become

> > available).
> >
> > Question: Does anyone see flaws in my idea? Will I be able to cut
> > holes of this size in aluminum (if I go slow and keep lubricant
> > constantly sprayed on the metal)? Any suggestions on how to
> > fabricate a z axis that will hold a porter cable router (simple
> > plans??)
> >
> > Thanks all...sorry for such newbie questions
> >
> >
> >
> >
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> http://www.metalworking.com/news_servers.html
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> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/jobshophomeshop I consider this to be

a sister site to the CCED group, as many of the same members are
there, for OT subjects, that are not allowed on the CCED list.

>
> NOTICE: ALL POSTINGS TO THIS GROUP BECOME PUBLIC DOMAIN BY POSTING

THEM. DON'T POST IF YOU CAN NOT ACCEPT THIS.....NO EXCEPTIONS........

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