So I saw an earlier report of someone using a micromark fly cutter on the nomad, has anyone else tried this, or used any other kind of fly cutter? Interested in actual use, not just testing, especially on plastics such as ABS or delrin.
I got one of the micromark fly cutters and have used it to square up some cast acrylic and HDPE stock. The cutter for the tool needs to be ground to shape before cutting. It’s a bit difficult to hold and because it’s so small and heats up quick. This means lots of dips in water as you grind. A bit of bother, but not so bad. Be sure to google fly cutter sharpening before you start grinding. What I have read leads me to believe the exact angles and shape are not too critical. I ground the cutter sorta like the pictures and did a little honing with a fine grained stone to get the edge nice and sharp.
I didn’t do anything special for the tool length sensing. I just let the tool hit the switch and zeroed out the Z as usual. the depth of cut repeatability was about as good as with a solid carbide tool.
My surface finish was outstanding on HDPE and cast acrylic. I could get the cut face on the acrylic passably clear just by rubbing briskly on some note paper, not glossy clear, but you could see through it clearly and it showed the face to be free of gouges and chatter. I was able to get fairly good material removal but if you are surfacing a rough face, make sure you are starting at the high point of the face. Cut too deep and you will stall the spindle. It worked fine on Renshape, really mowed a face down in no time, but the resulting powder was a pain.
For HDPE I was cutting at 800rpm, 0.5mm deep at 300mm/m. I do not recall my settings for the acrylic but it was not a lot different. Please remember, this is with a hand ground cutter of less than ideal shape, your cutter will have it’s own sweet spot. The spindle seemed to take the punishment just fine, but only time will tell. I have not tried any metals.
Interesting fly cutter stuff:
http://www.cnccookbook.com/CCFlyCutter.html
Anyone else used the Micromark cutter?
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