I want to cut out the frame for the MP3DP on my MPCNC and I was wondering if its better to cut the 1/2" board with one pass 1/2" deep slowly, or cut multiple say, 1mm passes, quickly?
If you go too slow you will cause a lot of friction and heat and you will cook your bit. It will get dull and you will have to replace it. If you go too fast you will cause too much torque.
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I have found that for my build with a Dewalt 660 and a 1/8 bit on cabinet grade plywood that 2 mm deep passes works well for me. Off hand I don’t remember my feedrate. But this works well enough that I get small chips of wood not dust.
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I typically go at 5 mm depth but that’s not optimized, it’s just where I quit experimenting. 1/2 inch you should be able to do it in 3 passes or less and still save time compared to zipping along at 1mm DOC. If you use a finishing pass you can go faster since the deflection from cutting is corrected in the finishing pass. Even though finishing (which should be at full depth) is an ‘extra’ pass, it can end up faster overall and still have a precise contour.
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