Getting closer. Haven’t destroyed a bit yet so thats good.
2 pieces on the left are 3/16 mild steel.
.15mm DOC
180hz on spindle (not sure what exact rpm but should be around 10k)
3 flute 1/8in end mill
450mm/min
.5deg ramp angle
1 additional roughing pass
Its pretty close to my settings for aluminum just 3 flute instead of 2.
I did notice that cutting the holes was better at 600mm/min, but the outer contour path that was too fast.
Steel…fricken steel!
The first build on my dining table I was ecstatic that I could cut some aluminum. I thought for sure that was as far as it could ever go. To see people ripping through aluminum and even getting into steel is absolutely amazing, still.
I know people say it is slow (compared to big expensive CNC’s or manual mills), but compared to the size, cost, and that you do not have to turn cranks the entire cut while watching a DRO is pretty fast to me. Or at least well worth it.
Dang, you made my day!
Not sure what you’re using for CAM software, but it should be possible to set different speeds for these operations, no?
Perhaps set up 2 tools in the tool library that are identical, except for the feed speeds. Then it should be a simple matter of choosing the correct tool for the operation.
Oh you can, but then it sees it as a tool change and I need to set it up as 2 different cutting files. Limitations of free fusion360
I’ll see how long it works like this. I know I don’t have it dialed in completely as it seems to wear my carbide out a bit by the end.
At least these end mills are cheap.
I’m sure I’ll be playing around with more steel now as I go.
Also these were cut completely dry.
Couldn’t you do some minor cut and pasting of the g-code files to merge the two operations into one file?
Probably. Easier to turn the dial on the machine to 120%
I should be able to add an option to the Flyfisher604 F360 PP to pause if a tool requires a speed change. Would that help?
You can create a setup with two operations using the same tool, one for the holes and one for the outer contour. The first tab on each operation initially contains the DEFAULT settings for the tool which can be adjusted for each operation. If you then post process the SETUP instead of the individual operations the operations will be combined into one gcode file.
As soon as I change the travel speed on the same tool in 1 of the operations, I can no longer export it, as it says it is a different tool.
As seen in screenshot below. If I change the travel speed back to match, it will export properly.
Again, its much easier to just turn the knob to 120% or export as a 2nd operation instead of worrying about why I can’t put it into 1
