Hey guys. I’ve been using the default settings on my small projects to start but wanted some improvement suggestions on a larger project I’m starting now that currently has a cutting time of over 5 hours.
Basic info:
Shapeoko 5 Pro 4x4
Carbide Create basic version
VFD Spindle
Endmills available: I have the endmill starter pack
Material: 1/2" paint grade plywood (not sure species, I’m guessing Birch)
Project Size: 42" by 20"
All the cuts are to stock bottom
I’m using the #102 1/8" endmill for all the interior cuts because I want the angles to be sharp, it seems wrong to me though to use such a small bit for so much of the project. Any way to use the #201 1/4" but finish the angled corners with the smaller endmill?
In general, can I be more aggressive with my cutting parameters/speeds/feeds to reduce job time? I’m a total beginner when it comes to this so please dumb it down for me.
I haven’t set tabs yet, do all the smaller interior cuts need tabs?
On the right side, I have the outer cut overlapping with some of the interior cuts. Right now I have it set so the interior cut does the full cut as normal and then the finishing outer cut just goes over half of it. Is there a better way to set that up or is that fine?
Is V-Carve the way to go here if I want to cut out all of the material in the contours? From what I understand that’s used for pocketing out larger areas more quickly but I’m cutting the sections out completely
I’m looking to keep the edges sharp like above but avoiding using the 102 bit for the entire project.
My initial thought is I could create separate vectors for the edges/corners and contour those using the 102 while cutting the straight lines using the 201. Wonder if there is a faster way to go about it though.
If you have Pro, you could cut them all out with a 1/4" tool, then use a pocket with rest milling to pick out the corners with a 1/8" tool. Using the default settings with slightly larger DOC (0.1875, 0.100), will get your total cutting time to just over an hour.
Without Pro you can simulate rest machining by offsetting all the pocket vectors by 1/8” or a little less. Then run the 1/4 bit on the inner vectors and the 1/8” between the inner and outer ones. It would be tedious to do the design perhaps but maybe worth it.
Or even do them as contours rather than pockets but all those pieces may create issues as the break free.
