This project was a real challenge since it was 3" deep and I was getting a lot of chatter with the
1/2" end mill, especially when cutting through a really hard knot on the back side. I incrementally increased the spindle speed and slowed down the feed rate to eliminate the chatter. When I finally got the chatter reduced I had a very low chip load which resulted in very fine chips and severe overheating. I had to shut the whole thing down when I saw a couple burst of flames shooting up my dust collection hose. Fortunately the short burst of flames didn’t make it back to my dust bin where it might have created a dust explosion.
I managed to finish the piece using a band saw and a disc sander.
I think the problem was using the wrong type of end mill. It was one designed for cutting steel with four flutes and probably different cutting edge geometry. I may try getting a 1/2" end mill
that is designed for cutting wood and try again. But using a 3" long 1/2" end mill on an X50 Woodworker is probably pushing the limits of the machine. It was completely maxed out in the Z travel. I had to manually edit the gcode to set the starting tool height to be just 0.05 inches above the material to avoid hitting the Z travel limits.
