Be careful tightening the eccentric nuts, too tight can be worse than too loose. Are you using a single flute bit?
@AllenMassey Everything seems to be solid. Eccentric nuts are tighter as per the inventible instructions (just to the point where the wheels donāt turn with light pressure). There seems to be an extremely minimal amount of play when pushing on the bit. Here is a video:
Here is a picture of the bit and a result of the carve for @sketch42
It looks pretty solid. There are a few things to try.
- increase the feedrate to 20 inches/min and the DOC to .1 at .05 you are only using the very tip of the bit which may be dull.
- try a different bit
@AllenMassey Will give that a try. I got the bit yesterday brand new so i hope it not that! what type of 1/4 inch bit would you recommend for cutting like this?
A much shorter bit will really help. With that spindle, you want the least amount of bit sticking out of the collet. My original spindle sounded just like that and then it fell apart unfortunately. If you are careful, you can cut the top off of that bit with a dremel and a cutting wheel. Possibly a hack saw but that would be painful.
@Earwigger Having a long big is essential to what I am doing with the x carve. Need to be able to mill out 1 inch into the wood, A shorter bit would not allow me todo that
I have a one inch long 6mm 2 flute upcut bit that is my goto bit for most bulk removal. @Earwigger is 100% correct when he says longer bits are trouble.
@AllenMassey Damn that is not what i was hoping to hear at all. I might be able to cut off some of the bit and see if it helps. Would upgrading the spindle to something like the bosh or dewalt allow me to use a longer bit to mill out the depth I would like?
Eventually, you will want to move to a router. Do you have a dremel laying around? Mine fit perfectly into the stock spindle holder and it enabled me to cut more aggressively, with longer bits and no chatter. However, I was limited to 1/8" shaft. Itās a pretty quick swap and will demonstrate the impact of more torque, speed and horesepower on your machine to give you a feel for how much an upgrade to a router will increase your capabilities. When I had the stock spindle and I needed to cut large pieces out of 3/4" birch plywood, I used the Dremel and cut 10x faster. .125" depth 30" per minute as opposed to .05" per pass. I have since moved on to the Hitachi 12mv which is way overkill. Any tiny palm router would be more than sufficient. Everyone seems to really like that Dewalt with the LEDs on the bottom. I now have LED envy.
@Earwigger Thanks for that. Donāt have a Dremel but do have a roybi router. Seems like it would be a major beast to mount onto the X-Carve though. I bought the X Carve specifically for this application so I guess an upgrade will be needed in the very near future to get what I want out of the X-Carve. I plan on getting the smaller X-Carve to take to trade shows at some point for engraving work so i guess i could re use the stock spindle if I go that route.
You mounted an M12V? Wow! Iāve got one and itās the only power tool I have that Iām afraid of. The soft start is a nice feature though, especially for a 3.25HP router.
With all of the above being said, since Iām planning on cutting out large-format pieces from 3/4" stock, what spindle config would you guys recommend I order? I defaulted to standard spindle, but Iād rather be setup for success right out the gate.
Thanks,
Chris
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Dude - use your Hitachi! Here is my build link. I love that thing, plus I already had custom collets made for it from Precisebits.com in 1/4, 1/8 and 1/2". Hitachi 12vc is AWESOME!
I am using the Dewalt 611
Using a 1" long 1/8" bit, 2/3 diameter cut depth at 100 ipm in MDF no deflection.
Using a 3" long 1/8" bit in Pine at the default Easel setting s for MDF no deflection
Using a 3" long 1/8" bit, 2/3 diameter cut depth at 100 ipm in MDF noticeable deflection! Though it appeared to be flex in the bit not the collet.
Why do I even have a 3" long 1/8" end mill?
It was my go-to final profile cut bit for use on my old MaxNC when milling wax, usually over 2" thick.
The M12V is almost 12 pounds! Does the X-Carve support it soundly? I was worried about the weight of the Dewalt 611.
Short answer: no. But with the steel sandwiched into the y axis and mid-x-axis supports itās like a freaking rock. The substantial mass of the router actually contributes to system stability. There is NO chatter. Plunging into aluminum or hardwood is like sinking into butter. Whereas even with the 600 watt spindle at 100 volts, I noticed the resistance on plunge or when the y axis was moving ++ (when the bit is being dragged behind the gantry). It just wonāt deflectā¦ unless something goes terribly, terribly wrong. Also, so far, regardless of cut depth or feed, the RPMs remain absolutely consistent. The force of that big ole armature spinning at 15,000-20,000 rpms is impossible to overcome, further reducing vibration and increasing the smoothness of the cut. Consequently, despite my initial skepticism, I now view mass as my friend.
I havenāt had time to really experiment because I have had these deadlines, but I will try some aggressive aluminum milling soon. I just hate to waste my aluminum stock on a test - Iād rather someone need a part or something productive.
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Wow, it sounds like you have mounted Thorās Hammer on your X-Carve! You have turned momentum into your friend.
If you get a chance I would love to see a video of your machine in action.
Since posting in this thread I have come a long way! I have upgraded my unit to the dewalt spindle and have done the strengthening mod which has done wonders for my machine. I have decided to bite the bullet and start using fusion 360 to hopefully get better control out of my machine as I have not been happy with easel to complete the jobs. I was wondering if anyone with some more experience in Fusion can help chime in on this.
Here is my design this far:
One of the main problems I was having in easel was getting the lid for the box to fit right after the carve, but instead I had todo much sanding which ended up ruining the precision which I am after. So with this design what would be the best way to create a tight fitting lid with the perfect tolerance.
I appreciate any help! Thanks
Are these machines rigid enough to climb cut?
I would say that a standard machine straight out of the box that doing any serous climb milling would be difficult in wood and impossible in metal. Light finish pass climb milling could be OK.
Dave