Looking to change my workflow from full cutout with 1/4" 2 flute downcut, to 1/4" upcut with 1mm radial left behind, and then cleanup edges with downcut. Save wear on downcut mill which is about 3x the price of upcuts.
Also considering move from 2 flute to 3 flute on the upcut, eg #201. More rigid… should be able to push the Pro more? Anyone looked at this?
I used the 3 flute in pine last week for the first time (didn’t care about the edges) and I wondered why I haven’t used 3-flutes before…
Have you considered compression bits? Upcut on the bottom, downcut on the top. Super clean cuts with almost no clean up.
I’ve been using Whiteside compression bits off Amazon and have been very pleased. I can do quarter inch deep passes which really makes jobs run so much faster.
It’s not a full depth of cut so compression would not be appropriate. (Plus those are even more expensive 
)
Compression tool are useful once you get past the upcut and into the downcut flute, most are around 0.125 to 0.250 depth of cut. There is a gentleman that designed his on compression that has a lower depth requirement.
Even though I don’t cut wood often, its always with a compression for maximum performance and minimal cleanup/setup/change over
I don’t doubt their usefullness, but my cost for a 2 or 3 flute upcut 1/4" quality carbide from my tooling supplier is 8USD.
Additionally, I’ll never get past the upcut portion for the pieces I’m doing, as there are 2mm step-downs.
These would all be cut with the upcut portion.
Who’s your supplier? Those prices are insane.
ah, that makes sense.
back to the og question. A three flute will take more power to run and have less space for chips and evacuation but will have a thicker core than 1 or 2 flute tools. More flutes does usually mean more material removal. YG1 Alu-powers are polished and razor sharp, might tear through your material very nicely, not $8 though
Ok I ripped through using the C3D #201. I had some typical thrum in Y movements that I seem to get often but no noticeable change in surface finish. Did 2000mm/min, 7mm DOC for the first depth. Second op 3mm stepdown, 4000mm/min. I could go 5000mm/min if I wasn’t worried about the table rattling loose (Husky adjustable height workbench)
Splitting it up like this let’s my first cut run as fast as I can with a single pass, as the first stepdown from the face is 7mm. After that there are mostly 2mm stepdowns all over the place, so I want to scream through those.
Yet to be tested final pass with the 1/4" downcut will be 1200mm/min. I need to be conservative, since the adaptive will not reach some smaller areas. This final path will inevitably machine some untouched stock and result in a high tool load.
The result is effectively the same amount of time machining, but with the wear primarily going on an 11$CAD tool instead of a 29$CAD tool! (Small reduction in machine time but 1 extra tool change)
Find a local supplier in your area that sells and sign up for an account with them… 1/4" carbide upcut 2/3/4 flute mills should be a commodity item for them. I was open that I’m low volume but looking to switch to Canadian manufacturers, no issues.
Next question… 1/4" 3 flute, or 8mm 2 flute… in terms of rigidity, thoughts?
8mm all day over 1/4
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