Working in Trex - simple sign

I saw some Trex composite decking in the cull pile at the Home Depot, so I bought a piece to try out. I don’t really like the fake wood grain, but it has a brown shell on top of a black core, so I thought I could get a nice two-tone look from it.

Drew something with Carbide Create, and cut it on my new S3 with the C3d #102 bit (.125"). I used HDPE as the material in Carbide Create (I think that’s the main material)

Here are some pics pre-cleanup. The top layer gets pretty fuzzy, but I’m probably using the wrong bit for the material? But the bottom material seems to machine nicely.

The forum won’t let me post multiple pics, so I’ll try to add a post-cleanup pic later. I like the two tone, but I wish it was a bit darker. I used a chisel to just clean the top layer’s edges.

Anyway, I didn’t see anyone here who had tried trex yet, so I thought I’d add a post. I love my S3, this is only my second project and everything in the Carbide ecosystem just works well.

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More fuzzy detail:

And post-cleanup:

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I could be totally wrong but in looking at their site I think Trex (& most engineered lumber) is actually going to turn out to be a blend of low & high-density polyethylene since they recycle from so many sources.

To reduce splintering you could consider getting a “down-cut” tool instead of a standard up-cut end-mill, which is what they use for laminates & such in the cabinet industry. Onsrud makes a bunch of great tooling for wood and such:

Check out their “new” downcut for wood composites: 57-200MD
(pg 35 according to the table of contents, 36 in the PDF)

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@chainax, Nice! Ive been curious about that material.
What settings did you use?

For cleanup, I think you may be able to run that job twice, often those loose “hairs” will come off in a second pass.

Try PVC board. I use it for a lot of my projects and it cuts very well. It has one smooth side and one textured side so you can use either. Comes in several widths up to 11.25 inches.