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?
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.
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?
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).
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)
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.
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.
