Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Wood Router clearing chips

Hi Ron;


You have gotten some good suggestions already but I thought I'd add my
slant.

The first problem with any sort of router is that you are free to move
in any direction. This unfortunately means that you can not optimize
your swarf removal system. So you need a vacuum attachment that is
omni directional.

The swarf removal is something that has to be considered right at the
onset of design in my opinion. Your tooling is probally a little
smaller than some uses these machines are put to, but I'd still would
want to see a large vacuum hose integrated into the machine. The
design of the pickup is another issue and depends a great deal on how
much vertical movement you want out of the tool. Sounds like you
have an almost ideal situation with sheet materials so maybe a simple
ring will do the job.

Others have mentioned up cut bits but I'd have my reservations with
respect to that sort of tooling. The tendency with your thin materials
would be to pull the sheets up. So unless you have a robust vacuum
hold down system, I'd think that I would want to check out such tooling
before committing to it.

When tooling is fixed in direction of travel it often helps to make use
of high presure jets of air to break and loosen swarf flow. This is
kinda hard to do on a router due to its omni directional nature. In
any event the trick is to have lots of air flow, with your machined slot
being one of the avenues for flow.

Actually I think your idea with the laser head would be almost ideal for
the material you are cutting. Of course like all good things it takes
time to implement.

Dave


Ron Ginger wrote:

>Ive just finsihed a new wood router to make model parts. It is 16"x32" and I
>want to do most of my cutting with the smallest possible bit- Id like a
>laser, but thats another project. Im going to cut mostly thin stuff- 3mm
>plywood, 1/16 basswood and some plastic sheet.
>
>I have ground a single lip 1/16" dia tools and it cuts very well at about 15
>in/min and .100" deep But it leaves the cut path tightly packed with chips.
>It cant be cutting clean with all those old chips stuck there.
>
>What will help clear the chips? I treid slower feeds, but then the chips
>burn and smoke, obviously worse. I tried faster and the tool seems to 'swin'
>around a bit, causing errors in the cut line.
>
>Pic of the machine are at http://plsntcov.8m.com/CNCrouter.htm
>
>ron ginger
>
>