I know feed changes based on material, depth of cut, size of cutter etc. But what is the theoretical maximum feed speed for the X-Carve?
Like, let’s say I’m using a 1/4" endmill made of unbreakable unobtanium, cutting .000001 deep in jello.
Using the given electronics - NEMA23 driven by the factory default Adruini/gShield/24Vpower supply - how fast can I tell it to cut?
In additional to the theoretical max above, what’s the fastest anyone has pushed it in wood?
The max speed is set via setting like this.
$110=8000 (x max rate, mm/min)
$111=8000 (y max rate, mm/min)
$112=500 (z max rate, mm/min)
The values shown are the X-Carve default rates.
Like, let’s say I’m using a 1/4" endmill made of unbreakable unobtanium, cutting .000001 deep in jello.
Using the given electronics - NEMA23 driven by the factory default Adruini/gShield/24Vpower supply - how fast can I tell it to cut?
I just visualized that, WOW! 
That’s just a roundabout way to say “no load” XD. If that’s the case then it’s 8000 on XY and 500 on Z by default, mind you those are just defaults, you’re free to modify them as you please as long as you don’t skip steps. On mine I left XY as it is, it’s plenty fast, and modified Z to be 1500 at 50mm/sec² after testing, I think 500 gives you the time to hit the big red switch.
The feedrate depends on what you’re cutting, the tool engagement, the length of your cutter (deflection), flutes and the phase of the moon, I would recommend getting the trial version of G-Wizard and getting familiar with the sort of speeds you can expect knowing that G-Wizard sorts of expects your machine to be rather rigid. If you’re aiming for speed, use the shortest end mill you can manage. There is a world of differences between 22mm stickout and 10. If your tool does more noise than your shop vac or spindle, your feedrate is wrong. ^^
Thanks. I’m not new to feeds/speeds. I was playing with another piece of software where someone had made all the defaults for every size and shape of cutting tool 10ipm. I can only imagine that the guy who wrote the program owned a CNC router powered by turtles instead of stepper motors. So while laboriously going through each one and upping the values, I got to daydreaming and wondering just how much power X-Carve had under the hood - how fast it could go if I stomped on the gas, popped the clutch and let it rip - what the top speed would be before the computer blew up or the spindle flew off. Then I wondered if anyone had ever tried to reach that speed. 
As for G-Wizard, I’m sure it’s got its place - but that place isn’t in my workshop.
Ah sorry I assumed wrong.
My guess would be that the tool would fail faster than the X-Carve if you ever overdid it (hopefully). But if you don’t overdo it enough and let it go on screaming and vibrating like crazy with the tool jumping all over the place you could seriously mess up the spindle bearings and your careful calibration. ^^
I guess if I had a larger and more expensive machine/tools I would value G-Wizard a little more as well but I end up just taking its results as baseline since I’m a big noob ^^, I only trust it when it’s forced to calculate for really low tool deflection. I always end up modifying the speed when the cut starts, sometimes just to limit the noise on long tools. XD
As for the jello I would assume that the rpm dictates if you’re actually cutting or just dragging it in XD.
