Pardon me, but your McFly is down

How To
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I’ve been using my McFly to surface S4S boards down from 0.75" to 0.70" to get rid of any minor bowing and to have a consistent stock thickness to work with. I’ve been using a DOC of 0.01" at 200 IPM and 0.5" step over. Results have been fantastic. I’ve cut maple, cherry, walnut and zebra with the same speeds and feeds.

Now I have a larger walnut panel that I want to surface down from 0.75" to 0.50" by removing 0.125" from each side. At a DOC of 0.01" and 200 IPM it’s a 23 minute cut (per side), at a DOC of 0.02" it’s 16 minutes. If I get really saucy and do DOC of 0.03" at 200 IPM it’s only 9 minutes per side. Question is, in y’all’s experience am I “red lining” the machine by using a 0.03" DOC? Or just over thinking it?

Setup is a Shapeoko 5 Pro with the Carbide 3d Spindle kit.

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Geez, somebody, please, tell us that a 5Pro with a spindle will cut more than 1/32" @ 200ipm! Or I’m gonna lose complete faith in C3D new machines.

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I think you could probably get away with 0.100 DOC, but I’d ease into it. Try a test pass @ 0.030 with a feedrate of 100. Bump the Feed up and watch & listen. It will tell you if it’s struggling. :wink:

I’d recommend using a custom surfacing path, rather than the CC pocket path. The first pass on a pocket path is full engagement. On a custom path starting on one edge the stepover is consistent all the way.

cleanup_CC_6x6

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I was cutting some wood for surface cleanup with an off brand 1" surfacing tool. I ran to a depth of .03 for the pass and let the program give me the desired feeds and speeds. Once I started making the cut, I realized that the cuts were very conservative. I ended up bumping the override up to 180% and let the machine rip. There were sections where the material was taller then the .03, maybe even .06 to .08 taller. I had a stepover of .5. I have a S5P and this machine can do the job well.

I think when we own our own machines and are not experienced enough with them and with tools we use on them, we tend to be more conservative and cautious with running them. I cut a panel that was 18"x24" with the 1" surfacing tool I have and was able to finish the cut within 6 minutes. Making a cut that is .01, ,02, or even .03 DOC is really nothing for the bigger types of cutters. Think about how we plunge router a 1/2" router bit into a piece of lumber by hand routers, and then feed them hard across the wood clearing out grooves, pockets, chamfers, round overs, etc. Don’t be scared to push your machine to find limits. You will never know how fast and how hard you can push something without a bit of testing, and a bit more guts.

Holding back so much would be the same as having a Hellcat car with 700hp and always driving it no faster then 30 mph and taking off very slowly to reach that speed. Seems like overkill on car when you maybe should just drive a Volt or VW Bug for this kind of driving. Lol

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So I set up the zig-zag tool path, set DOC to 0.0416" (0.125" divided by 3), set IPM to 100 and let it rip. I was quickly able to bump the IMP to 170 with little issue. I feel confident that I could have gone up a bit more, but bringing the cut time down from 23 minutes to 9 was a big win. And, 18 minutes (9 per side) is enough time for a quick shop tidy.

I really appreciate all of y’all’s input and giving me the nudge to FAFO!

@CrookedWoodTex Rest assured, 5PRO w/spindle can RIP!

@Tod1d I like the zig-zag surface pass, little longer that a pocket (in this case anyways). Using the zig-zag though allows you to control how the cutter moves in relation to the grain.

@Bigsmooth911 I love the car comparisons. I use those all the time at work and my coworkers make fun of me, but it helps the clients (I think).

EDIT 5/26: DOC was 0.0416", not 0.416".

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Typo; should have been 0.0416" per pass, but I wouldn’t call that a “RIP!” :smiley:

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We, at least me, still don’t push the Shapeoko 5 Pro on some of the cuts to see its potential. There are limits to feeds to the stepper motors. If the machine moves too fast in the stepper motors and stops abruptly and changes direction, that momentum is transferred into the stepper motors, and then to the frame of the machine. Thus creating movement on top of the table the machine is sitting on.

My rule of thumb for using any cutters per depth of cut, is to not go deeper then half the diameter of the cutter, i.e. 1/4" diameter endmill wouldn’t push past 1/8" depth of cut. There are exceptions to this rule where someone might want to cut the full depth profile of a piece for cleanup. As far as the surfacing tool, be it the McFly, or another surfacing tool, I wouldn’t cut past half the thickness of the tooth of the cutter, not half the diameter of the cutter. For example; the 1" McFly would not be good to be cutting 1/2" deep. It would be better to measure tooth width and divide in half. But do we really ever need to cut really deep when surfacing a piece of wood?

In my opinion, and this is just my opinion, if I were cutting a depth of .125" on the McFly tool, I wouldn’t hesitate to cut that full depth if I so desired, but I think about finish and tool deflection as well. So, I would still make this cut in two passes, but the depth of cuts wouldn’t be split in half. I would more then likely make my first pass at .100" and follow it with a second pass for the remaining .025" for good cleanup.

Of course I would still take into consideration the type of wood or material I was running. I wouldn’t run as fast across hard woods, but would still push the machine still the same. I work with a lot of red oak where I’m from and running this stuff does create a lot of tool noise.

I believe it is best to know your material, have measurements of tools, if they are not standard tooling size, and be prepared to push yourself a bit with your machine. But, I also want to say that if you are a person that wants to feel safer with their machine, that is fine also. You can be very conservative with your machine and make cuts lightly and safe. The key take here for anyone is to run your machine at what feels comfortable to you. Also, always be safe, think safe, and protect what is valuable to you, yourself, your family, and your home, or business, wherever it is you have your machine.

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