Feeds and Speeds - Guide for beginners

Hi All,

I am looking for a comprehensive guide on how to set my Spindle speed, Feed Rate and Plunge rate for various materials - or as a rule of thumb, how these figures vary between MDF, Softwoods and Hardwoods.

I don’t have many bits at the moment, but while playing with the ones I do have, I tried moving from MDF to Hardwood pieces but am unsure how to adjust my speeds and feeds.

As an example - using a Bowl & Tray Bit - should I lower or raise the Speeds & Feeds when moving from MDF to Hardwood?

Thanks in advance

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If you join the Onefinity CNC Users Group on Facebook, A user Richard Kopp uploaded an excel sheet for Makita Feed & Speed Calculator. Hopefully that will help some.

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Would love to see the feed and speed calculator however I do not have a Facebook account. Is this available as a different link not on Facebook?

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Surely Richard Kopp would not mind. Here is a link to my google drive with the file.
Makita Feed & Speed Calculator by Richard Kopp

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Thanks Scott! Greatly appreciated!

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Thanks for the information everyone - it has been really helpful.

I think what I am battling to grasp is what would be considered a fast Feed Rate on the Onefinity. I’ve seen videos where they refer to 40-50 ipm as a conservative speed - so that is what I planned on using. However, when going through Richard Kopps Makita Calculator , I see that his examples referring to an 1/8 inch 2 flute End Mill - He suggests 12k RPM at 132 ipm or 16k RPM at 176ipm (For Ply or MDF), in order to obtain the correct Chip load for that bit .

Is 176ipm (or even 132ipm) not too fast of a Feed Rate for a small machine like the Onefinity?

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Thank you!!! I dont want FB

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Hey Kyle - 40-60ipm is reasonable and safe for most hobbyist machines. I’ve pushed mine to 100 so far without any problems. 176 is pretty fast - well outside the speeds capable by the X-Carve, but OF is capable of doing it. I don’t know what the upper limit for speeds. I hope to do some testing and post a video - maybe I’ll target Richard’s numbers to validate (not that I don’t believe them - I just like some comfort that my machine is capable).

-Tom

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I’d be interested to hear your results too please.

If only there was a database of supported tools that matched the OF that could be imported vcarve or other… :slight_smile:

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Toolstoday.com has a chart of all speeds and feeds for Armana bits on their website.
Hope this helps

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Thanks Paul. Whereabout on the site, if you don’t mind me asking? I can find the Tool Poster and the catalogue, but nothing about Feeds and Speeds.

https://youtu.be/W6pkPyxLo3U

No probs, follow this youtube video and you’ll get there bud

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Kyle
make sure you watch all the video, it is only 5 minutes long but it is full of all the info you will need to set up your tool database and personalize it. (speeds and feeds on about 4minutes in)

Hope this helps

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I saw this in one of John Saunders videos (NYC CNC) - https://provencut.com

Might prove to be a very good resource once fully populated.

-Tom

I did forget i did this. I did not use this for speeds and feeds but i did load it into my v carve for tool dimensions for whiteside bits https://www.whitesiderouterbits.com/ gave me a starting point for bitsbits downloads section

This might be helpful - and hopefully not too against the grain - but Carbide 3D (Winston Moy) did a series for cutting different materials for their machines (Shapeoko and Nomad). Its still a good starting point for those new.

I started to build out a reference table, mostly for my Nomad, but didn’t do anything on the Shapeoko, but might go back and do that, as it’ll cross over to the 1F easily. It’s a whole playlist, so be sure to check other videos in the series. 12 & 13 are good starting points too.

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Here’s an article that I think might be of interest to many of you. I think it does a good job of explaining the concepts. I don’t have any connection or financial interest in the company making the post, but I subscribe to his email list because I have found many of his posts interesting.

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And here’s another posting that is specific to wood.

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I downloaded their chart, but do you know what SFM means here by any chance?

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