So periodically… I make a mistake on the thickness and/or the depth of cut settings and send a cutter head 20,000 leagues under the walnut sea if you know what I mean.
BUT… sometimes I actually find out that I’ve got a cutter that with a lot more capability than I realized and that’s like discovering a whole new secret hideout place as a kid.
Anyone else have this experience?
Yes Sir, Love my Jenny bits. It is a cra* shot for the wood you are cutting, the sharpness of your bit, dialed in feed, and so many other reasons.
Each bit, each new piece of stock shows options that I should have done if the planets were aligned just right. There are no constants with material.
Depending on your machine, the recommended chiploads for wood are conservative. Like really conservative.
On the Shapeoko 5, some of us here push the machine pretty hard. I generally cut at the full 200IPM at depths 100-150% of cutter diameter.
What’s your WOC on that?
If by WoC, you mean step over… It depends. For material removal it’s 40-60% diameter. But for contour cuts I have a doc of 100% diameter and drops speed to probably 175 IPM.
The standard feeds and speeds are borderline designed to be quiet. Anything under 140ipm at 1/4 doc with a 1/4 endmill I can’t hear with the door shut.