Hi Guys!
I’m hoping that you might be able to give me some quick advice on a job that I’m about to run off. Right now, my total machining time is going to be about 1 hour : 36 min. It seems like a really long process for what I’m cutting.
Could you take a look at my settings and let me know how I can speed up the process without compromising quality?
Here are some screenshots. I can also send someone the vcarve file if need be.
Thanks so much!
Trevor
Hi Trevor,
Some observations: You are using V-Carve version 11.015, which is several versions behind as depicted (top/right) 11.506 is available for free upgrade. I see your pockets are 0.15 inches deep which is pretty shallow, so hopefully you are going full depth in a single pass? I would also double the feed from 80 to 150-200 inches/min. Plunge should also increase from 30 to about 100 (usually half the feed). I also notice the rapid rate is expressed in metric, while everything else is imperial. The spindle speed looks about right though. I do recommend each pass be at least .125 inch per pass for depth of cut, as a compression bit is meant to be plunged into the material at least as deep as where the cut direction changes on the bit.
Also, Trevor, you’ll find that V-Carve’s estimate of the run time probably bears little relation to what your controller will calculate when you upload the file.
Also check your rapid height (z-axis raise) and ratchet it down to something like 0.2" so when it lifts to move over for the next plunge it won’t have to go up very far.
Change the scale factor to 1 and that will be very close to what the controller will show as actual machine time. If I remember correctly, once changed, the setting will remain.
Your feeds are very conservative (I’m assuming youre using a makita as the spindle speed is also a little on the slow side too so im assuming you just left a default). I’d go deeper and faster. That will get you what you need.
If you haven’t, consider increasing the jerk and/or acceleration of your machine. You will see great gains on toolpaths that have a lot of turning or lifting and lowering of the z axis. I saw some parts reduced to a third of their initial cut time from factory settings when i went to 10k.
You can also reduce the safe z height in vcarve to mitigate some of the time wasted raising and lowering the Z, which will buy you a lot of time on detailed pocketing jobs with lots of different sections like your butterflies seem to have.
Thank you for your reply and the link the the video. I remember watching this a year or so ago and changing my motors to the max 10,000 jerk setting. I just doubled checked and it is still set to this.
Below are my tool settings for the Jenny bit. I initially input these values based on the manufacture’s recommendations and have never changed them. I bet all of my tools are off because I use the default. I wish I knew more about proper settings and what I could get away with but I’m new to CNC.
Thank you everyone for your suggestions. I really appreciate the help!
Below are my tool settings for the Jenny bit. I initially input these values based on the manufacture’s recommendations and have never changed them. I bet all of my tools are off because I use the default. I wish I knew more about proper settings and what I could get away with but I’m new to CNC. If anyone feels like letting me know what all of the settings should be changed to, that would be great!
Cheers!
