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I’m still very much a newbie. I just finished maybe my 4th or 5th carve, and it’s the first one that I created in Fusion 360. Overall it came out quite well, but I noticed something that I’m curious about. Why do the circled sections appear to not have cut as far down as the rest? This is just a test carve so it doesn’t matter in this case, but I’d like to know how to correct it for future carves.
I should add that this was done with a 2-flute 1/16" flat end mill. I wanted to use 1/8" but this iteration was too small for that end mill to get to every part. I created a larger version that works with 1/8" which I will try soon.
Was that done with an upcut, or a downcut? If that was cut out of a larger piece of MDF that was only clamped on the edges, an upcut bit may have worked like a screw and pulled up some sections, cutting them deeper. In cases like that, the best thing to do is to provide more hold-down ability in the middle (with screws or double-sided tape), and/or to use a downcut bit.
That was done with an upcut bit, and it was indeed out of a larger piece of MDF that was mostly clamped on the edges (just one one top clamp). I’ve been wanting to try something with a downcut bit anyway, so this may be a good time to start. Thanks for the response.
Downcut bits are a great investment if you’re going to be milling a lot of wood. They help push the part down and usually provide cleaner cut edges, which means less sanding. Just don’t use them on plastic or metal, since they don’t remove material and re-cutting the chips causes them to melt and stick to the bit.
I expect most of my work will be with wood, some of it will be with plastic, and very little will be with metal. I have a couple of downcut bits right now, but most of them are upcut. I think I’ll order some more downcut bits this week. Thanks again!
