I have made a few round bowls and I am getting bad results in the end grain sections (between 10 - 12 o’clock and 4 - 6 o’clock). It seems to be burning the wood in these sections and leaves wood fibers that have to be sanded away. Am I running my bits too slow (IPM)? RPMs too low/high on the router? I am running 100 IPM and 17,000 RPM.
A lot of variables to consider here, but my guess is that your chip load is too low, or your bit isnt sharp. What is the material? Depth of cut? Is this a 2d/2.5d cut or 3d carve?
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are you using a router or a spindle?? I had similar problem with my spindle once just to find out somehow a setting was wrong and was running in reverse. Changed the setting and ran much better.
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This is how I have tried to work through issues like this:
Adjust
- Speed and RPM
- Depth of cut
- Conventional vs Climb paths
Make sure bit is sharp.
For numbers 1-2 above, I use a piece of scrap or somewhere on a waste part of the workpiece and will adjust the RPM while making test cuts. If the RPM doesn’t do the trick, I start adjusting the feed rate (or direction) in Vectric and continue with testing.
The only time I encountered fuzzy fibers is when doing a 3D carving (e.g. wavy flag) and using a flat end mill. When the bit is on the upslope or downslope, only the very edge of the bit is touching. I solved this by using a finishing pass with a ball nose.
Lastly, I’m no woodworker, but I think the grain direction (and possibly wood species) has part to do with the fuzzies. Out of the few dozen wavy flags I’ve made, some of them result in what looks like I used a “flocking” bit, and others don’t.
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