I have a question regarding varying depths of cut across a 20” panel.
Elite Journeyman
PwnCNC 80mm 220v air cooled spindle
IDC 1/8" round-over
¾” white oak, 20” wide
Held down by AirWeights table
Surface was flattened with ½” end mill
I’m making some small trays. First cut is 1/8” roundover bit with Depth of Cut 0.09” (per IDC)
The cuts on left side are too shallow, the cuts in the middle are about right, and the cuts on the right side are too deep.
I thought if I flattened the panel first that would give a flat surface relative to the 1/8” round-over bit. But varying depths of cuts are occurring.
Any ideas / suggestions on how to get consistent DOC across the panel ?
to me sounds like you need to check and see if your machine is level, and while your at it i would check the tram on the spindle.
When i first got mine, i leveled mine with a 48" level i bought at home depot. I was getting the same thing.
Well i wound buying a highly accurate ( .0005 over 12" ) mitutoyo level, and found out the home depot level was crap and machine was not that level. I guess i could have turned the level 180 deg and checked again but i didnt.
anyways it fixed mine. my table is now flat within .001 over 24". good enough for me.
Thanks. But do you mean level as in “bubble level” ? Or do you mean level in that distance from cutting bit to table is same left to right and front to back. I was under the impression that flattening a spoil board created a perfectly flat surface (within tolerance) relative to the spindle.
I need to make one clarification. After I surfaced the material I flipped it over to do my round-over cuts. In my mind the material was dead flat on both sides from planer (bottom) and CNC (top) so it shouldn’t matter which side was up. But a buddy of mine looked at it and said it was probably the AirWeights table with 1/4" MDF and tile gasket that wasn’t perfectly flat. I’ll do some test cuts with and without the AirWeights / MDF-Tile Gasket and see if that makes any difference. If it does I just won’t flip the material the next time and just cut out my trays on the side that I surface/flatten.
Bubble level,
I thought mine was perfectly level until i flattened spoil board, then i saw some small steps here and there. Then the machinist came out in me. So i bought a good level, re-leveled machine not using the bed but using the the rails on the 1F, That is what the machine is riding on is the rails not the bed. after i did that i trammed the spindle close. then i brought home an indicator and my indicator arm that is 18" long, drew a small circle in middle of bed, and moved in x&y always putting indicator tip in circle.
I had to shim to get it trammed in.
after i did all that i cut spoil board again, I did not see a single step, i then parked my spindle in center of table and rotated my spindle with indicator and arm, so with an 18" radial swing, my .0005 brown and sharpe test indicator did not move. I probably over did mine, but its mine. you probably don’t need it that close.
another thing i am going to do before summer sets in, is i am going to replace the crappy MDF and put some real wood on for the bed, If sweat or you accidentally set your beer can down on the table, the MDF will bubble some, So i am going to put on some nice wood and stain it.
