Have read thru the posts recommend bit appears to be Single Spiral “O” flute
Have Polycarbonate 14" X14 "0.25 " thk - will route thru that thickness
Can a Carbide Tip Upcut 2 Flute Ballnose - 1/8 in Cutting be used Instead ( Pt # 30852-01)
Either way
Need advice and recommended cutting parameters -speed ; depth of pass have a pre 2012 X Carve w/ Dewalt 611
Have cut a lot of poly carbonate over the years, you will need to experiment a little buuuut this is what I do.
I use a 1/4" two flute upcut and feed it at around 3000mm/minute. I usually take 2mm per pass and if using a step over make it about 10%. Use up cut to clear the chips out of the cut & spin the bit as slowly as the router sounds happy, 3 or 4 spd on the Makita. No matter what bit you use, spin it as slowly as you can and feed it as fast as you can. I never use 1/8" bits as I fear they may break off. I use a machinists deburring tool to clean up the edges and give them a little bit of a chamfer.
If I needed to use a 1/8th bit I would follow the same rules as above but would slow my feed to about 2000mm/min. Unfortunately routers need speed in order to develop any real power, but I figure router bits and materials are usually cheaper than routers, so my number one concern is to be easy on the router. You are going to have to experiment a little as each machine and each job is different.
Hope that helps.
Do some testing on scrap… Buuuut I’m fairly certain that a ballnose is just going to melt the plastic instead of cutting chips (which takes away the heat, preventing the plastic melt issue) the way that an o-flute will.
Thanks
Step overs - If I have my file already developed and tested on a pc of wood , Can I go back into the file and edit for step overs- Sorry a novice question however I will definitely need step overs and thanks for rest of the input
You can change the stepover before carving, but typically the default stepover is fine with a single o-flute cutting plastics from what I have found.
Machine>General Settings
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Brandon R. Parker
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Great !