I have the Woodworker Elite with a water cooled 2.2kw spindle, 240v. After getting used to the machine with the free Bits&Bits endmill and some others randomly, and perhaps blindly, from Amazon, i now want to start picking up some quality bits that will be used pretty much daily. When considering chatter, cut quality and ensuring that i have 20mm minimum shank in the collet, i’ve settled on 3 bits to cover the range of thicknesses i’ll be machining regularly.
All are down cut & 2 flutes based on the supplier i’ve settled on. I don’t need to maximise speeds & feeds so i’m keeping things conservative. Have i made the right choices? Any advice very much appreciated!
You might want to add a roughing bit to the list Tom provided, especially if you work with thicker material. It will prolong the life of your other bits, and also speed up your jobs.
Thanks for the comprehensive response. I fear i’ve misled you with a poorly worded question. Rather than going for an endmill that is long enough to cover everything from 18mm to 50mm, i’m looking at keeping the overall length so that it’s no longer than necessary to avoid deflection & chatter plus making sure i have a safe amount of shank in the collet. So, for 18-25mm stock, a 55mm long bit with a 22mm flute is sufficient to clear the stock whilst keeping a decent portion of the shank in the collet. Essentially, anything longer is unecessary. I may well be overthinking this and one bit is perfectly ok to use from say 32mm down and maybe up to 50mm? Most of what i cut is A/white & Euro oak but also maple, cherry, walnut, ash, tulipwood, western red cedar & beech.
I have everything else you’ve recommended but hadn’t appreciated the impact an up vs down cut bit would have on the finished surface quality. I only considered down cut bits to ensure a clean cut on the face but, as i don’t intend on cutting any ply material and any edges are eased or rounded over afterwards, breakout from an up cut bit isn’t really going to be an issue? A clean surface for trays and therefore less sanding is definitely more desirable.
Yes, i’ve been lazy so far and opted for using the same bit for area clearances to avoid a bit change. Now that i’m about to buy bits that i want to look after, i think getting a roughing bit is wise advice.
So based on your information, you are cutting mostly hardwood.
I think the important parameters are your speeds and feeds, DOC and toolpath strategy.
The length of the bit will increase deflection. Always use the shortest bit possible.
I found that chatter varies and sometimes be reduced through better hold down methods and changing the harmonic resonance by changing the spindle speed a little bit.
There are great youtube videos on overcoming chatter.
An interesting side note is if you are cutting toolbox foam, you are going to need to use down cut bits and very long ones. upcut bits in foam do a very poor job indeed. the edges will be ragged as hell. I cut foam a lot for my clamping kits.
Hi Keith - frankly, unless you are cutting metal, deflection is not too much of a problem. Yes, it may result in chatter, but that can be compensated for through DOC and feed rate. The length of your end mill is not terribly important as long as it’s not excessively long. Though I will say shorter is better unless you need the length.
I rarely cut more than 1" thick – if I need to go deeper, then I use the CNC to create a path for a flush cut trimmer router. Faster and easier. Remove the waste with a jig saw or band saw and clean it up with the router.
Again, completely depends on what you are going to do with the machine.