I am doing a military flag and I am having a problem when doing parts in fine detail. It keeps chipping out no matter how slow I go. Thanks in advanced Hunter.
What size tool are you using?
Are you cutting a slot just as narrow as the endmill?
Leave a roughing clearance and make a finishing pass?
Add geometry so as to cut as a pocket while using a smaller tool?
Switch to a V carving inlay?
I am using a 30 degree vbit. I am cutting a slot smaller than any endmills i have i am going to order a 1/16 bit and 1/32 bit. I only am doing a finish pass. i will try a v carving inlay.
What material is that? Some species are MUCH more prone to chipping than others.
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Birch butcher block. Would acacia butcher block be better for this?
Birch can be a bit chippy and stringy. A downcut endmill does help a lot. The harder/more dense you go with the wood, the less strings and chips you’ll get.
It looks to me like you are just asking the material to hold a level of detail it is not capable of performing. Also consider that wood is not a solid and consistent material. If you look at the grain direction the thin details in your photo are opposite the grain, so those thin walls are also (roughly) in the wood’s weakest direction.
Really dense wood, and maybe bamboo could be pushed to maybe 1/16 thick. But any tool deflection, or flaw in the wood and it would break. Even if it survives the CNC process it could break apart later (age, wood expansion-contraction, etc).
Warning: This is a slippery slope (but also fun). The overall shape could be pocketed out of the wood, then fill the pocket with resin. Once the resin has hardened you could then CNC the detail you are looking for.
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