First time doing Oak

[Dusty.Tools (Ben Vincent)]

Hi all,

I have done a prototype in MDF of some tool trays I’m making.

As I switch to oak, do I simply change the tool in Carbide Create to hardwood and following the RPM guidance? Anything else I need to consider…?

Thanks

Ben

[gdon_2003 (Guy Donham)]

Yes change to the hardwood and regenerate the tool paths. Oak is hard and stringy so you could get some burning on small holes. Be sure to use dust collection if you have it.

[Dusty.Tools (Ben Vincent)]

Thanks! I’m guessing 20mm is not too small…

[Sherpa (Jon)]

Agreed I did a sign for a BBQ company and I will never use oak again stringy no matter what I tried, good for v carving strangely enough

[bpedit (Byrne Pedit)]

There’s quite a difference between red oak and white oak. White oak is harder, not so “stringy” and better to machine. I just got done milling some, no strings. For best results use quarter sawn if you are primarily milling the face.

[Dusty.Tools (Ben Vincent)]

My first one turned out brilliantly, yes I had to sand it down and round off the edges but I was planning to do that anyway.

Thanks for the tips, as always!

[gdon_2003 (Guy Donham)]

This is a 3 gun wall rack. I was using 201 bit which is an up cut bit. The fuzzies can be knocked off easily.

You can see on the he right I used a sanding block to knock down the fuzz with a few strokes.