Hey all.
The last few days I’ve been working on a simple “Feeds and Speeds” spreadsheet for my own reference. It’s not done yet, but you can see the current version here:
Obviously, none of this is set in stone or 100% for everyone, but it seems like a good baseline for me so far.
I’m not sure if anyone else will find this useful, but I thought I’d share. If there is enough interest, I can make a publicly editable version that we can all contribute to.
Great thanks 
This is great. I was going to get a little notepad to hang next to my machine to go over this exact same thing based on how I have my setup… Of course feed rates, etc depend on how much slack you have in your motors, and how much they can take before it starts to skip, but this is an awesome start… Thanks NAM.
What endmill size are you running HDPE at 45ipm?
Definitely interested in getting a copy of your sheet!
I think a community version would be good. With a column to enter whether the values have been verified on the X-Carve and possibly link to photos or those results. Data! Collect the data!
That would be really fantastic. With a +1 / -1 voting system to verify the settings work for different standard bits, and even an option to upload a picture or two of the result. If you go to the database and look under Acrylic and there are +23 votes for 45ipm at 0.2DOC with Dewalt 611 set to 1 with a 0.125" 2 flute, you’re probably good to go using those settings.
Done…
Why no column for RPMs? Or chip load?
Likely due to most people being unable to adjust or measure RPM effectively. Chip load relies on RPM, so…
I’m basing all of this off a Dewalt 611 running at around 1.5 to 2.
I’m FAR from an expert, but everything I’ve read seems to indicate that at the level of the X-Carve (meaning hobby-level hardware) chip load is a pretty inexact science. My intention is to populate the “Recommended End Mill Type” column with a recommended bit and leave it at that,
feed speed.pdf (55.0 KB)
Lol that was all pulled completely from my something-something.
Measuring the RPMs is easy… even on the DeWalt 611 - just use a Digital Laser Photo Non Contact Tachometer. You can find them online for about $20.
And “chip load is a pretty inexact science” WTF?
Seriously?!?!
Chip loads seem pretty exact to me… is it just that people can’t do math or measure the RPMs?
I think it has to do with poor RPM confidence with the Dewalt. It has no readout, varies slightly from router to router, and sags during cutting. Still, I agree that at least theoretical chip load should be included in a feeds and speeds spreadsheet.
It is not a problem of measurement. The problem is that even at the lowest setting the Dewalt RPM is too fast to have optimal chip loads at the feedrates the X-carve can achieve.
I’ve definitely experienced this. I looked up chip loads and played around with feedrates/DOC until I was milling HDPE at 0.024"DOC and 124ipm with a 2 flute upcut flat endmill, with the Dewalt set to one. I’m not getting fuzzy cuts any more, but there’s certainly chatter and reduced accuracy flying through that hard of a material at those speeds, even with a stiffened makeslide assembly.
That’s why I have a SuperPID in the mail right now. And some single flutes.
Hey I have a feed / speed spreadsheet too! : https://discuss-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/original/3X/9/8/988930d2ef4c574b732dd258e048fa8cbaac63f7.xls
you can read about it here. Repeatable process for setting Feed Rate and Depth of Cut in Easel and elsewhere
making one of these is starting to feel like a rite of passage,
like breaking in a new glove,
or calculating the trajectory book for your new howitzer…
am I naieve to think someday we may get to a single canonical version of one of these…?
Thanks for your work on this, I use a locally saved copy of this to get in the ballpark every time I get started with a new material
feel free to improve it based on your own experiences, and post it back…
we all learn from each other, and I based what i did on the work of others before me…
