So I am trying to make a simple sign.
I got the neato whiz bang zero flute upcut 1/4 and 1/8 bits. This is the second time I am trying to make this sign. The 1" font is Impact, and I’m using the 1/8 bit. They look horrible, this one said to use 20000 rpm. Any Ideas? Or is it impossible to detail cut 1" letters with a 1/8 bit? This is so aggravating. Enclosed are the pics of the settings and the incredible botched cut.
What feed rate are you using? I have only cut in starboard and the plastic wood stuff from HD and I had to use higher feed rates to get clean cuts. It looks like the bit is not moving fast enough on the smaller letters. Chip load is high on O flute bits and they need to move faster than normal bits. One, to clear material and two, to prevent heat buildup and “melting” of material.
I have upgraded your account to a Regular member, so you should be able to upload multiple images in a single post.
For text, it is necessary that the narrowest region be a bit wider than the tool in question, and it helps if the tool is markedly smaller than the width of the text — unless one is cutting wood and can use a V carving toolpath (not suited to plastic).
For thermoplastic use a O-flute: has one cutting “tooth”.
avoid any heat to be collected at the site where that tooth cuts. Try your settings, if you cut chips you are right, if you smear around: wrong.
Rule of thumb: avoid friction at all cost in thermoplastic. Means: low rotation speed to cause as little heat as possible at the site, and feed speed as high as possible to move away the hot bit from the place as fast as possible.