I am trying to make a lot of game pieces that are tetrominoes. I am cutting these out of red oak because that is the raw material I had available and it provides a nice final product. However, I have yet to get through a full cut without the machine “sticking” somewhere, typically losing it’s mind on the X-Axis.
In fact, the X-Axis is a constant source of frustration with me on this machine. The belt will typically begin to slip off the end of the drive gear after a while. But even if it doesn’t, when I am dealing with projects like this one, it seems to be occasionally skipping when there are quick angles in succession.
I can certainly just babysit the job as I am currently doing, but it is getting frustrating. Is it a problem with how I have the job set up? Is this just something I have to deal with with the belt driven X axis?
I have attached my file below if anyone wants to take a peek. I am using 3/4" Red Oak (and am totally open to considering other options)
First thing I notice is you’re cutting a 1/8" slot, 3/4" deep with a 1/8" tool. The tool is fully engaged and possibly cutting beyond the flute length?
I would recommend cutting a 3/16" slot using a pocket toolpath to give the tool some clearance & the chips room to get out of the way. This also prevents binding of the tool shaft in the slot on the deeper cuts.
As I was standing there staring at the thing running, that thought did, in fact, cross my mind. I’ll see about spacing everything out a bit more and putting some relief spaces in there. There’s plenty of stock at the top for more spacing.
I just wish I could control the cut order of the pieces.
You can control the order by cutting each one separately. Get everything setup & adjusted with the first one, then just select each set of vectors & Duplicate Toolpath. You’ll get an copy with the same parameters, just the new geometry.
I ended up spacing everything out so that I could use a 1/4" endmill to run a contour 0.5" down. This is well within the capabilities of that mill. That effectively became the pocket that the 1/8" needed. So I start with the 1/4", do a tool change at 0.5", drill out the dog bones, and then finish with the 1/8". There’s practically no saw dust during the second half (though I do clean it up between tool changes), and I can run at 200 ipm @ 24K rpm.